With Motor Pool, your organization can share a centralized fleet of vehicles across teams or departments rather than assigning vehicles to individuals. This is common in Government agencies, universities and campuses, or large organizations with shared resources. 

Instead of vehicles sitting idle, employees can reserve them only when needed, improving utilization and reducing costs.

How to Enable Motor Pool

Motor Pool is currently in closed beta as an Early Access Program feature and is limited to Education and Government accounts with the Premium Fleetio plan only. 

Enable Motor Pool in Early Access

1. Navigate to your Account Menu and select Early Access

2. Enable Motor Pool by switching the Motor Pool toggle to the On position.

How Motor Pools Work

Motor Pools work by allowing Administrators to select specific groups (or pools) of vehicles that are available for reservation, and then letting Users submit requests to reserve vehicles from those pools. 

Step by step, the process looks like this: 

1. Administrators create Motor Pools to mark specific vehicle groups and types as available for reservations.
2. A User submits a reservation request to use a vehicle in a Motor Pool for a specific timeframe.
3. An Administrator or User with the proper permissions then approves the reservation and selects the vehicle from your fleet to be used.
   • You can also configure automatic approvals for reservations.
4. Once the User's reservation ends, Administrators can optionally track charges, such as Daily Rates and Mileage Rates, and generate receipts if needed.

Each part of the process is explained in more detail in the sections below.

Granting Users Motor Pool Access

For Users to access Motor Pools and create, edit, or cancel their reservations, they must be assigned to a User Role with the correct permissions.

To create or update a Role with Motor Pool permissions:

1. Go to your Account Menu and select Settings.

2. In the Settings sidebar, click Roles in the User Access section.
3. Then click Add Role in the top right.
   • You can also click an existing Role on this page to edit it.

4. If you're adding a new Role, give it a Name (for example, Approved Drivers).
5. Under Motor Pool permissions, select Full to grant all permissions, or select Some and use the checkboxes to assign individual permissions manually.
   • Read each permission description carefully to understand what access you're granting the Role.

6. When you're finished, click the Save button.

If you created a new Role, assign it to any Users who need access to those Motor Pool permissions.

If you edited an existing Role, Users already assigned to that Role will have access to the Motor Pool permissions you selected.

Creating a Motor Pool

Motor Pools define which vehicles and Vehicle Types are available for reservations.

To create a Motor Pool:

1. Go to your Account Menu and select Settings.

2. In the Settings sidebar, click Motor Pools in the Vehicles (or Assets) section.
3. On the Motor Pools index, click Add Motor Pool in the top right.

4. Complete the Add Motor Pool form:
   • Enter a Name for the Motor Pool.
   • Select the Groups that will be a part of the Motor Pool.
     • Your Group selections determine which Vehicles are available in the Motor Pool.
   • Select the Vehicle Types that the Motor Pool will use.
     • This determines which Vehicle Types within the Groups you selected will be included in the Motor Pool.
   • (Optional) Enable Auto Approvals. See the Auto Approvals section below to learn more.

5. Click the Save button.

Users can now create reservations for the vehicles based on your Group and Vehicle Type selections.

Requesting a Vehicle in Fleetio Go

Users can request a vehicle reservation directly from the Fleetio Go mobile app.

To request a vehicle in Fleetio Go:

1. Tap the Vehicle Request shortcut on the home screen
   • See Custom Shortcuts in Fleetio Go to learn how to manage shortcuts.

2. Complete the Vehicle Request form:
   • Tap Select a Motor Pool to choose a Motor Pool
   • Select a Pickup date and time
   • Select a Drop off date and time
   • Tap Vehicle Types to select your preferred type of vehicle

3. Tap the Submit button at the bottom of the screen to submit your reservation.

What Happens Next

Your request is submitted with a status of Requested, and will need to be approved by an Administrator.

You can see the status of your Motor Pool reservations in the Upcoming Reservations widget on the Fleetio Go Home screen.

• See Navigate the Fleetio Go Home Screen to learn how to manage your Fleetio Go widgets.

Once approved, you'll receive a push notification or email confirming your Reservation, and you'll see the vehicle details in the same Upcoming Reservations widget.

Approving Reservations

Motor Pool reservations can be approved manually in the Fleetio web app or automatically approved by setting up auto-approval rules for each Motor Pool.

Manually Approving Reservations

To manually approve a Motor Pool reservation:

1. Click Motor Pool in the Sidebar Navigation.

2. In the Reservations index, use the Search and Filters at the top of the page to locate the Reservation.

3. Click the More Actions button for the Reservation and select Approve.

4. In the Approve Reservation form:
   • Use the Vehicle drop-down to select an available vehicle
   • You can also modify the Pick Up and Drop Off dates and times as needed.

5. Click Approve Reservation

Once approved, the User will receive a notification (via push or email) confirming the approval, and they'll be able to see the reservation approval details, including the selected vehicle, in their Fleetio Go app.

Set Up Auto-Approval Rules

To reduce manual work, you also have the option to configure a Motor Pool to automatically approve reservations on specific days of the week and/or during specific time windows.

To set up auto-approval rules:

1. Go to your Account Menu and select Settings.

2. In the Settings sidebar, click Motor Pools in the Vehicles (or Assets) section.
3. Click the More Actions button on an existing Motor Pool and select Edit.
   • You can also set up auto-approvals when creating a new Motor Pool.

4. Toggle Auto-Approval to the ON position.
5. Set the auto-approval rules:
   • Select a Time zone
   • Select the Days of the week where reservations should be auto-approved
   • Select the Start Time and End Time to create a time window for auto-approvals or check the Full Day checkbox to auto-approve for the full day(s).

6. You can click + Add Window to add a secondary time window if needed.
7. When you're finished, click the Save button.

Reservations where both the requested pick-up and drop-off times fall within the approval window will be automatically approved.

Using the image above as an example, any reservation that starts and ends between 9 AM and 5 PM on Monday, Wednesday, or Friday will be automatically approved.

Generate Charges & Receipts

After a Motor Pool reservation is completed, you can edit it to calculate charges and track costs.

1. Click Motor Pool in the Sidebar Navigation.

2. Click on a completed Reservation to view its details
3. Click Edit in the top right

4. Scroll to the bottom of the Edit Reservation form to update the vehicle meters and add charges:
   • Enter the Start Meter and End Meter readings for the vehicle
   • Enter a Daily Charge (e.g., $75/day)
   • Enter a Meter Charge (e.g., $0.65/mile)
   • Enter any Miscellaneous fees (fuel, cleaning, etc.)

5. Review the total cost, and click Save Vehicle Reservation when finished.

A full itemized total is calculated for reporting or chargebacks, visible in the Line Items card on the Reservation details page.