Owners usually ask about three things they already know: AirTags, the asset tags their telematics vendor sells, and Milwaukee ONE-KEY. Here's what each one answers, what it needs, and who hears about a tool left behind.
| Question | LoadoutGuard | AirTag | Samsara Asset Tag or Motive | Milwaukee ONE-KEY |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The question it answers | Did this truck leave with everything it came with? | Where is my item? | Where is this asset, and did it leave its vehicle? | Where are my tools, and who has them? |
| What you need | A tag on each tool and one unit per truck. No app for the crew. | An iPhone signed in to the Apple account that owns each tag. | Their vehicle gateway in each truck, on a telematics subscription. | The free ONE-KEY app, with TICK tags or ONE-KEY tools. |
| Who hears about a left-behind tool | Yes: The crew lead, by text, while the truck is still close. The office sees it too. | Partly: The owner's iPhone, one item at a time, if Notify When Left Behind is on. | Partly: Managers, through the fleet platform's alerts. | Partly: Whoever checks the app. |
| Checks the whole truck at every departure | Yes: Every stop, every tool on the truck's list. | No: One item, one phone. | Partly: Tag by tag, outside trusted places. | No. |
| Crew replies in plain words, and it confirms when it's back | Yes: "Going back, 5 min" works. It texts again when the tool is aboard. | No. | No. | No. |
| Morning check against the usual loadoutIn pilot | Yes: Texts the crew lead in the yard if something that usually rides isn't aboard. | No. | No. | No. |
| Works with Android crews | Yes: Texts reach any phone. Nothing to install. | No: Setting up and getting alerts needs an iPhone. | Yes. | Yes. |
| Commitment | Month to month. | None. You buy the tags. | A telematics contract. | None. The app is free; you buy the tags. |
The question it answers
What you need
Who hears about a left-behind tool
Checks the whole truck at every departure
Crew replies in plain words, and it confirms when it's back
Morning check against the usual loadoutIn pilot
Works with Android crews
Commitment
Competitor details as of 2026-09, from their public pages. Features change; check with each vendor.
An AirTag is good at finding one item, and Find My can warn the person whose iPhone owns it when they walk away from it.
That's one tool and one phone at a time. LoadoutGuard knows which tools belong on which truck, checks all of them whenever the truck leaves, and texts the crew lead, on any phone.
Their asset tags ride on their vehicle gateway and their telematics contract, and alerts go to whoever watches the fleet platform.
LoadoutGuard is one kit per truck, month to month, with or without telematics. It texts the crew lead, who's close enough to turn around, instead of adding another screen for the office.
ONE-KEY is a free app that keeps an inventory of your tools and shows where a tagged tool was last seen by a phone with the app.
LoadoutGuard works with any brand of tool and doesn't depend on a crew member's phone: the unit in the truck does the listening, and the check happens at every stop without anyone opening an app.
AirTag and Find My are trademarks of Apple Inc. Samsara is a trademark of Samsara Inc. Motive is a trademark of Motive Technologies, Inc. Milwaukee and ONE-KEY are trademarks of Milwaukee Electric Tool Corporation. LoadoutGuard isn't affiliated with any of them.
A free pilot, installed with you. Keep whatever else you use; see what the roll call catches.