Vehicles

Vehicles is the register of everything your fleet runs: cars, trucks and buses, but also forklifts, excavators, generators and trailers. Each vehicle has a profile with its details, readings, drivers, inspections, issues, service, costs, renewals, documents and status history.

Distances, hours and amounts on these screens follow the organization's number settings. Distances show in the unit chosen in Fleet settings (kilometres or miles).

#The vehicle list

Open Fleet Management › Vehicles. You need Vehicles › View; with View (own) you see the vehicles you drive or manage and the ones you created.

Filters above the table narrow the list by status, type and group. With business units, the funnel icon opens a Business unit filter. The toolbar shows Import and New vehicle when you have Vehicles › Create.

#Create or edit a vehicle

1. Select New vehicle (or open a vehicle and select Edit, which needs Vehicles › Edit).
2. Complete the fields below. Only Name is required.
3. Select the save button at the bottom.

A toast confirms "Vehicle created successfully" or "Vehicle updated successfully". If saving fails, the field with the problem shows its message, or a toast says "Could not create the vehicle." / "Could not update the vehicle."

With business units, the form also shows Business unit, starting with your default. A sold or disposed vehicle keeps its business unit; trying to change it is refused with "A sold or disposed vehicle keeps its business unit."

The vehicle's status, readings and driver are not on the edit form. They change through the actions described below.

#The vehicle profile

The header shows the name, status, a Critical defect badge when one is held, the fleet number, registration, type, the Current reading and the current Driver. Buttons appear according to your permissions:

The profile has these tabs:

• Overview: every detail from the form, the notes and, for a sold or disposed vehicle, the disposal details. With Costs › View it starts with the Total cost of ownership card: purchase price, disposal proceeds, costs recorded, lease, cost per distance and per hour, and the linked asset's book value. See Total cost of ownership.
• Readings: every meter reading with its date, kind, value, source, status and note.
• Assignments: who has driven the vehicle and when.
• Inspections and Issues: those recorded against the vehicle.
• Service: the service programmes that cover this vehicle, with last done, next due, the estimated date and the state, and Create work order and Set last done on each row. See Service.
• Fuel: the vehicle's fuel fills with Add fill. Shown only with Fills › View in Fuel Management.
• Quotas: the fuel quotas that cover the vehicle, with New quota. Shown only with Quotas › View. See Quotas.
• Costs: the vehicle's latest 200 costs, with Add cost. Shown only with Costs › View. See Costs.
• Renewals: the vehicle's expiring documents, with Add renewal, Edit and Renew. See Renewals.
• Documents: files you attach to the vehicle (registration papers, photos). Upload files (with Vehicles › Edit) adds one or more; the bin icon removes a file after you confirm "Remove this file?".
• History: every status change with the date and time, the old and new status and the reason.

#Statuses

#Change a vehicle's status

1. On the vehicle profile, select Change status.
2. Choose Active or Out of service.
3. Enter a Reason. It is required when taking a vehicle out of service, and also when returning a vehicle that has a critical defect (a note in the form tells you). It is optional when returning a vehicle that has no critical defect.
4. Select Update status. A toast confirms "Status updated successfully", and the change is added to the History tab.

Returning a vehicle to service while a critical defect is held overrides the hold. The warning on the form says so. When no open critical issue remains on the vehicle, the Critical defect flag is cleared as well. See Issues.

A vehicle that is In shop cannot be changed here. Messages you may see: "A reason is required." and "A vehicle in the shop is returned to service by its work order."

#Sell or dispose of a vehicle

1. Select Dispose.
2. Choose the Outcome: Sold, or Disposed (scrapped, written off).
3. Enter the Date (required). Optionally enter the Method (for example Auction), Buyer, Proceeds and a Reason.
4. Select Record disposal. A toast confirms "Disposal recorded".

The vehicle's status changes, the disposal appears on the Overview tab, and the vehicle can no longer be assigned a driver, inspected, given a reading or given a new issue. This cannot be changed back.

#Meter readings

A vehicle's type decides what it is measured by: distance (odometer), engine hours, both, or nothing. The vehicle's current reading is always the latest accepted reading.

#Add a reading

1. On the profile, select Add reading (on the header or the Readings tab).
2. If the vehicle tracks both, choose Odometer or Engine hours.
3. Enter the value and, if it was taken earlier, the Read on date. Leave it blank for now.
4. Select Save reading.

A toast says "Reading recorded." or, if the reading was held, "The reading was saved but flagged for review and does not count yet." with the title "Reading flagged". Readings also arrive from inspections, from the start and end of an assignment, from My Fleet and from the import. Each shows its Source on the Readings tab.

A reading for a type that does not track it is refused: "This vehicle's type does not track Odometer readings." (or "Engine hours"). A sold or disposed vehicle takes no readings: "A sold or disposed vehicle takes no readings."

#Why a reading is flagged

A reading is checked when it is saved. If it looks wrong it is still kept, but marked Flagged, shown in the Note column with the reason, and it does not count towards the current reading until a reviewer accepts it.

#Review a flagged reading

With the permission Review flagged meter readings (and view access to the vehicle), the Readings tab shows buttons on each reading:

• Accept (flagged readings only): the reading now counts and the vehicle's current reading is updated. A toast says "Reading accepted". A reading dated in the future cannot be accepted until its date has passed.
• Void: asks for a Reason ("A reason is required.") and then stops the reading counting; the vehicle's current reading and its service states are worked out again at once. A toast says "Reading voided". A void reading stays in the list with its reason. A reading is never edited; a wrong one is voided and entered again.

Readings that are not flagged can also be voided this way.

#Import vehicles from a CSV file

Use this to bring in many vehicles at once. You need Vehicles › Create.

1. On the Vehicles list, select Import.
2. Select Download template and fill it in, one vehicle per row, up to 2,000 rows.
3. Choose the file under CSV file. With business units, also choose the Business unit for the new vehicles.
4. Select Import.

The template's columns are:

Keep every column in the file, even if some are empty. Each vehicle is numbered automatically. Rows are checked one at a time: a row with a problem is skipped and the rest are imported. The result shows how many were imported, and a table of Line and Problem for each skipped row, for example "The vehicle type is not one of the team's types." Select View vehicles to return to the list.

Messages for the whole file include: "The file is missing the column(s): … Download the template to see the layout.", "The file is empty." and "A file can import at most 2000 vehicles at a time." The file must be a CSV of no more than 5 MB.

#Errors you may see

#Current limitations

• A vehicle cannot be deleted from the screens. A vehicle with readings, assignments, inspections, issues or fuel fills is disposed of instead.
• A vehicle's fleet number cannot be changed once it is saved.
• The status cannot be set to In shop, or taken out of it, from this screen.