# Samsara integration: hours of service and ETAs > Samsara feeds Roadmark hours of service, location and engine data every few minutes, so tracking ETAs, dispatch planning and detention all use current data. URL: https://roadmark.ai/integrations/samsara Language: en Last updated: 2026-09-26 **TL;DR:** Roadmark reads hours of service, location and engine data from Samsara every few minutes. That feed is what tracking uses to calculate an ETA, what Planning checks before it puts a driver on a load, and what detention is billed from. ## What syncs One row for each kind of record: which way it moves, and when. | What | Direction | When | | --- | --- | --- | | Hours of service | Samsara to Roadmark | Every few minutes | | Location | Samsara to Roadmark | Every few minutes | | Engine data | Samsara to Roadmark | Every few minutes | ## Setting up Samsara 1. **Sign in to Samsara:** An admin authorizes Roadmark from Samsara, so it can read hours of service, location and engine data for the fleet. 2. **Choose what syncs:** Turn on hours of service, location and engine data, or leave any of them off. 3. **Test with a real load:** Run one load through it and check that the ETA and the hours a driver has left match what Samsara shows, before turning it on for everything. ### Before you start - A Samsara admin who can authorize the connection. R. Diaz's unit reports hours of service, location and engine data to Samsara every few minutes, and Roadmark reads all three. It's the same feed behind three different screens: [tracking](https://roadmark.ai/tracking) turns it into one ETA per load and explains the math in plain words, dispatch planning checks it before putting a driver on the next load, and billing measures the dock arrival and departure times it reports against the free time in a rate confirmation to bill detention. None of that needs a new device in the truck. Samsara's own [REST API](https://developers.samsara.com/docs/rest-api-overview) is what Roadmark reads from: an admin creates a token from Samsara's dashboard, under Settings → API Tokens, and grants it the scopes for the data it should read, such as [hours of service logs](https://developers.samsara.com/reference/gethoslogs). Nothing about how Samsara runs in the cab changes. Once it's connected, the ELD is one of five sources Roadmark checks for a load's status, alongside the [driver app](https://roadmark.ai/driver-app), a carrier's own app or an EDI 214, visibility networks, and a check call when nothing else is reporting. When the truck slows down or stops, that shows up in the ETA before anyone calls to ask, and it's the same dock-arrival and dock-departure data that turns into a detention line on the invoice, without someone timing it by hand. For a fleet already running Samsara, that mostly means the load board and the invoice catch up to what the truck has been reporting all along: an ETA that reflects the truck's actual position and hours, a plan that respects the hours left on the clock, and a detention charge that matches the dock clock instead of a guess written on the back of a BOL. ## Questions about Samsara and Roadmark ### How often does Samsara data reach Roadmark? Every few minutes: hours of service, location and engine data all sync on that schedule, the same figures tracking, planning and billing use. ### Does connecting Samsara change how detention is billed? No. Roadmark bills detention from the ELD's arrival and departure times at the dock, measured against the free time in the rate confirmation. Connecting Samsara is what supplies those times. ### Does Samsara feed dispatch planning as well as tracking? Yes. Hours of service from the ELD in the cab are on the same card as a unit's trailer and home time, so a plan never sends a driver somewhere their hours won't cover. ### Do I need to change anything in the truck? No. Roadmark reads from the Samsara device already in the cab; there's nothing new to install. ## Related pages - [Tracking](https://roadmark.ai/tracking): The few loads that need you, with reasons - [Asset carriers](https://roadmark.ai/carriers): Fleets that plan, dispatch and settle - [Billing and settlements](https://roadmark.ai/billing): Invoices, driver pay and carrier pay - [Driver app](https://roadmark.ai/driver-app): Stops, documents and pay on the phone - [Detention calculator](https://roadmark.ai/tools/detention): What a truck's time at the dock past its free time comes to, on the invoice and on the driver's pay. - [Truck detention: how to measure it, bill it and pay drivers](https://roadmark.ai/blog/truck-detention-billing): How detention time is measured (ELD, geofence and dock timestamps against the appointment), free time, billing without disputes and the driver's share. - [Motive integration: hours of service and DVIR](https://roadmark.ai/integrations/motive): Motive feeds Roadmark hours of service, location, inspections and diagnostics, so tracking, dispatch planning and detention billing use current ELD data. - [Geotab integration: location, fault codes and idle time](https://roadmark.ai/integrations/geotab): Geotab feeds Roadmark GPS location, engine fault codes and idle time, so tracking's ETA, a unit's card and dispatch planning all use current data. Companies, people and shipment figures in product examples are fictional. They illustrate workflows and are not customer testimonials or measured results.