What is MCP? A plain-English guide for fleet managers

MCP stands for Model Context Protocol. It is an agreed standard for connecting an AI assistant to a business system, in the same way a USB port is an agreed standard for connecting a device to a computer. An MCP server sits in front of a system like EROAD and offers the AI a small, fixed set of things it is allowed to do.

The USB port analogy

Before USB, every device needed its own connector and its own cable. Once USB existed, any device with a USB plug worked with any computer with a USB port. MCP does the same job for AI assistants. The AI app provides the port. Each business system provides a plug. Nobody has to build a one-off integration for every combination.

EROAD MCP is the plug for EROAD. Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor and Claude Code all provide the port.

What an MCP server actually offers

An MCP server publishes a list of "tools". A tool is one specific action with a clear name, for example "list vehicles" or "get the current hours of service for a driver". The AI can only use the tools on that list. It cannot browse your system freely and it cannot invent new abilities.

Our tools are all read-only. There is no tool that creates, edits or deletes anything in EROAD, so there is nothing the AI could do to change your records even if it tried.

Why this is safe

• Read-only. Every tool only reads. Nothing in EROAD is written or removed.
• You approve the connection. The first time an AI app connects, you see a screen listing what it is asking for, and you press Approve or Deny.
• You can revoke it. Any connected app can be disconnected from your dashboard, at any time, without affecting the others.
• The key stays with us, encrypted. Your EROAD API key is never given to the AI app.
• Nothing is stored. Fleet data is fetched from EROAD when a question is asked, used to answer it, and not kept.

What it is not

MCP is not a new AI model, and it is not a replacement for MyEROAD. Your dashboards, reports and compliance records stay exactly where they are. MCP simply gives the AI a controlled way to look things up for you.

What this means for you

You do not need to understand the protocol to use it. In practice, the whole thing is one URL you paste into your AI app once. After that you ask questions in plain English and get answers about your own fleet.

Read more: the EROAD MCP server · creating an EROAD API key · connecting Claude

Still unsure? Email support@eroadmcp.co.nz and a human will answer.