Motor Pool

Find out how to use Fleetio's Motor Pool to share your fleet of vehicles with individuals or teams across your organization. This is common in government agencies, universities and campuses, or large companies with shared resources. 

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

How Motor Pool Works

Motor Pool allows you to select specific groups (or pools) of vehicles that are available for reservation and then let 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. Either:
   1. Someone with the proper permissions approves the reservation and selects the vehicle from your fleet.
   2. You configure automatic approvals for reservations so you don't need to do this manually.
4. Once the reservation ends, an administrator can automatically or manually track the charges (the daily or mileage rates and any flat fees). 

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

Set Up a Motor Pool

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

If you haven't already, you must enable the Motor Pools module. Open the dropdown below for instructions. 

How to Enable Motor Pools

To enable Motor Pool in your Premium account:

1. Navigate to your Account Settings.
2. Under the General Settings section, locate the Module Visibility section.
3. Toggle on Motor Pool.

 

 

Once the Motor Pool module is enabled, you can create a Motor Pool:

1. Go to your Account Menu and select Settings.

2. In the Settings sidebar, click Motor Pools in the Motor Pool section.
3. On the Motor Pools index, click Add Motor Pool in the top right.

4. Complete the 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.
   • Add any Vehicle Statuses (such as Active). 
   • (Optional) Check Automatically calculate charges if you plan to use set reservation rates or flat fees. 
   • (Optional) Check the box if you would like to require the Reason for Trip field.
   • (Optional) Enable Auto Approvals. See the Auto Approvals section below to learn more.
     
5. Click the Save button.

Grant Motor Pool Access

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

For detailed instructions on adding permission to a role, open the dropdown below. 

How to Add Motor Pool Permissions

PERMISSIONS: Users must have the Operator classification assigned to their profile to request reservations. Only Account Owners and Administrators can manage User Roles and 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.

 

 

Automatically Calculate Costs 

By setting a price list (e.g. daily rates, mileage rates, cleaning fees, etc.), you only need to enter costs one time. Then, every reservation will price itself, saving you time and effort when approving reservations. 

There are two types of costs you can set:

• Reservation Rates, which are the prices for:
  • Time rates:
    • Hourly
    • Daily 
    • Weekly 
    • Monthly
  • Mileage rate 
• Flat Fees, which are any fixed price you want to include (e.g. cleaning, late, or gas fee)

Approve 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 Approve 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 can also configure a Motor Pool to automatically approve reservations on specific days of the week and/or within 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 Motor Pool 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 10 AM and 7 PM on Monday, Wednesday, or Thursday will be automatically approved.

View and Send the Invoice

After a Motor Pool reservation is completed, you can send it as an invoice.  

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

If you did not enter a price list, you can calculate the costs manually at this time. Open the dropdown below for instructions. 

Calculate Costs Manually  

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 enter: 
   • Start Meter and End Meter readings for the vehicle
   • Usage Charges (e.g., daily, meter, fuel, or other charge), if desired
   • Flat Fee (e.g., cleaning), if desired

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

 

 

Email the Invoice

You can email this invoice to anyone in your contacts or yourself. 

1. Click the More Actions menu (the three dots next to Edit).
2. Click Email Invoice.
   
3. Enter the Bill To information. 
4. Review the Payment Due Date. By default, it uses today's date. 
   
5. Add in your Recipients and check the box if you want a copy sent to yourself.
6. Create your Subject Line, choose the Reply to email address, and draft your Email Content. 
7. Click Send Invoice once you're ready to email this to your recipients. 

Motor Pool Reservation Summary Report

This report provides a summary of all reservations in the system today. It enables you to view charges that you may need to see to bill internal customers. Standard report functionality lets you filter, save, export, and email reports to other users on a schedule. Learn more about scheduling reports in Save & Schedule Custom Reports.

To access the report:

1. Select Reports from the sidebar navigation and choose Standard Reports.
2. Under Report Types, select Motor Pools.

3. Click the Motor Pool Reservation Summary Report.

Use Custom Fields for Motor Pool

If you would like to add custom fields to the reservation flow, follow the steps below:

1. Click on your Account Settings and select Settings.
2. Under Data Management, select Standard Records.
3. Locate and click Vehicle Reservation.

4. Click Add Field and complete the form to add additional fields. Be sure to save the new field when complete.

5. This new custom field will now be available to use on the reservation form.

Request 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 then 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.