Why Samsara is pursuing GovRAMP certification

Public sector agencies deliver essential infrastructure and services that keep communities across the United States running. These services ensure safety, reliability, and quality of life for citizens—with technology playing a vital role in making it all possible.

GovRAMP, a nonprofit organization, sets rigorous federal security standards for technology providers, enabling state and local government agencies to confidently adopt solutions like Samsara to improve safety, while protecting sensitive data, and ensuring regulatory compliance. Samsara’s designation for GovRAMP authorization is “in progress.” Samsara is actively pursuing full certification to help state and local agencies maintain the integrity of their operations so they can better protect the privacy of their citizens.

In this guide, we break down the critical role of fleet management technology for public sector fleets, provide an overview of GovRAMP, and explore how Samsara can help improve government operations.

The importance of fleet management technology for public sector fleets

Modern fleet management technology provides proven tools that government agencies can rely on to serve their communities confidently, safely, and efficiently. By leveraging technology such as dash cams, telematics, equipment monitoring, and more, government agencies can improve safety, enhance operational efficiency, and deliver exceptional services to citizens. 

Some ways fleet management technology can help public sector fleets include:

1. Improve driver safety

To meet the needs of the public, government agencies operate a diverse range of vehicles. Some examples of public sector vehicles include police cars, fire trucks, ambulances, snowplows, street sweepers, dump trucks, paratransit vans, maintenance trucks, landscaping trucks, garbage trucks, school buses, and more. 

Despite the importance of public sector fleets, operating these vehicles poses serious risks. In 2024, an estimated 400,000 crashes were caused by distracted driving, resulting in more than 3,300 lives lost. To address these hazards and improve driver safety, public agencies are turning to dash cams to mitigate risk, reduce costs, and strengthen community trust. Dash cams can detect unsafe driving behaviors in real time, improve driver coaching, and provide critical evidence in the event of an accident.

By leveraging dash cams, public sector fleets are able to improve driver behaviors, reduce incidents, and minimize safety-related costs. For example, the City of Allentown, saved an estimated $1M+ by using AI Dash Cams for real-time visibility and exonerating employees.

2. Enhance citizen service and response

Government agencies must be able to respond quickly to situations such as hazardous weather, traffic congestion, and urgent citizen requests. These challenges require visibility into fleet operations to ensure the right equipment and crew are dispatched efficiently. Without accurate tracking, diagnostics data, and communication, response times can be delayed and public safety may be at risk.

By using telematics technology and GPS fleet tracking that collects location data every second, public sector fleets can deliver fast, transparent, and efficient citizen services when response is required. With real-time visibility, agencies can precisely pinpoint locations for vehicles and critical equipment, making it possible to efficiently allocate resources and deploy nearby teams where they’re needed most. 

For example, the City of Syracuse leveraged GPS data and the Esri API integration to provide a public-facing plow map that tracks snowplow activity, letting residents check when their street was last plowed. As a result, this reduced citizen calls by 30% and made critical snow operations more efficient, establishing the City as an innovative technology leader among other municipalities.

3. Protect valuable assets

On top of vehicles, large and small assets are also critical to public sector fleet operations. Heavy-duty equipment such as generators, dumpsters, and mowers are essential for maintaining infrastructure and supporting emergency response, but these valuable assets are often vulnerable to theft or misplacement. 

This makes real-time equipment monitoring technology critical for protecting an equipment fleet. Asset tracking leverages real-time GPS data to help public sector fleets minimize theft, simplify inventory management, and improve efficiency. Furthermore, organizations can protect small equipment by using asset tags. Asset tags are discreet, ultra-rugged devices that leverage Bluetooth technology to provide real-time tracking and give fleets full visibility into asset locations.

For example, the City of St. Petersburg uses the Samsara Asset Tag to improve response times, quickly locating generators and other vital equipment during hurricanes and other emergencies. By using the Asset Tag, the City is able to cut the time it takes to locate critical assets from days to minutes.

4. Optimize school bus operations

Each year, over 25 million students depend on school buses for safe transportation to and from school. With so many students relying on school transportation, it’s critical that school districts optimize school bus operations while navigating complex challenges. School districts need to ensure student and driver safety, provide real-time updates to parents, minimize operational costs, and respond quickly to incidents, all while keeping school bus services reliable and efficient.

Using fleet management technology like dash cams, 360-degree multi-camera systems, and GPS fleet tracking, schools can instantly account for students and ensure their safety. For example, Gwinnett County Public Schools (GCPS) used technology to take a data-driven approach to their vast school bus operations, proactively coaching bus managers to reduce harsh braking by 60% and seat belt violations by 47% in 3 months.

5. Streamline emergency response

When disasters like wildfires, hurricanes, snowstorms, or other emergencies occur, government agencies face intense pressure to respond. In 2020 alone, nearly 59,000 wildfires burned over 10 million acres, mobilizing thousands of field technicians to assist affected communities.

During emergencies when service restoration is required, it’s vital that public sector agencies have the right tools and infrastructure to respond quickly and efficiently. Agencies need visibility to quickly dispatch technicians to at-risk areas, and they need connectivity to ensure communication networks remain open and reliable. 

Modern fleet management solutions provide agencies with real-time visibility, so first responders can work faster and safer. For example, Memphis Light, Gas and Water (MLGW) leveraged powerful integrations to streamline service restoration, using real-time vehicle location data to dispatch available technicians to outages, enhancing operational efficiency and improving service delivery.

Fleet management technology helps public sector agencies run safer and more efficient operations. To adopt these tools securely, agencies are partnering with GovRAMP, an organization that sets standardized security standards for technology providers. This makes it possible for agencies to protect sensitive data while gaining access to modern, innovative technology.

What is GovRAMP?

GovRAMP is a nonprofit organization that establishes standardized cybersecurity protocols for technology providers serving state and local governments. It ensures that cloud-based service providers meet stringent security controls, protecting sensitive information while enabling compliance with government mandates.

For public sector agencies, partnering with GovRAMP-authorized technology providers that meet the federal government’s rigorous security standards enables them to protect sensitive data and ensure compliance, so that they can continue to deliver exceptional services to their communities. GovRAMP provides several key benefits:

• Trusted security: GovRAMP requires technology providers to implement rigorous security standards that protect sensitive data, such as personally identifiable information (PII), student records, and operational data.

• Standardization: GovRAMP offers a consistent security framework, allowing government agencies to verify authorized technologies without having to perform individual security reviews for every vendor.

• Compliance: GovRAMP authorization helps government agencies ensure compliance with federal and state cybersecurity requirements.

• Continuous monitoring: GovRAMP requires regular security assessments and monitoring, so public sector agencies can trust that their technology partners maintain the highest standards of data protection.

Samsara is proud to be a trusted partner to public sector agencies, educational institutions, and those who work with public sector agencies, helping them improve the safety, efficiency, and sustainability of their operations. 

As part of Samsara’s commitment to data security and the Public Sector, we’ve achieved the GovRAMP “in progress” designation. Samsara is actively pursuing full certification to help state and local agencies maintain the integrity of their operations so they can better protect the privacy of their citizens.

Improve government operations and enhance citizen services with Samsara

Samsara Connected Operations Platform empowers government and education agencies with real-time data to enhance services, optimize taxpayer dollars, and ensure safe, efficient communities. Some benefits that Samsara offers to public sector agencies include:

• Make the most of your budget: Lack of visibility wastes resources. Address inefficiencies like fuel waste to work smarter and deliver services.

• Mitigate risks and liability: Improve safety and reduce liability with unmatched visibility into driver risks to exonerate staff and protect constituents.

• Build trust through innovation: Harness technology to optimize resources, justify budgets, ensure transparency, and keep constituents informed in real time.

• Protect your communities: Leverage real-time visibility and data-driven insights that help reduce accidents, exonerate drivers, and increase safety.

For example, the City of Memphis Public Works department leveraged Samsara to gain real-time visibility across their vast operations. With Samsara AI Dash Cams and Proactive Coaching workflows, the City reduced distracted driving by 75%. In addition, the City improved service delivery using the ArcGIS integration, overlaying Samsara data onto an interactive map to quickly reallocate nearby employees to address service issues. As a result, the City was able to bridge the gap between citizens and service delivery, improving the overall quality of life for the Memphis community.

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If you’d like to learn more about how Samsara can help improve your government operations, explore our public sector solutions and speak to our team today.