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PERMISSIONS: Account Owners and Administrators can fully manage Vehicle Assignments on your account, but Regular Users must be given the Manage Vehicle Assignments permissions in the Vehicle module of their Role, AND, must have "View & Update" Record Set access to both the Vehicle and the Contact.
Learn more in the Manage Permissions Reference, User Roles & Permissions, and Record Sets articles.
Fleetio allows you to assign a vehicle to an Operator so that you know who is currently responsible for a vehicle. When assigned, the Operator automatically becomes a watcher of the vehicle.
Vehicles not assigned to an Operator are labeled as "unassigned" and could be considered "available."
Classify Contacts as Operators
In order to be available as an assignee for vehicle assignments, a Contact must be classified as an Operator.
Classification can be designated in the Basic Information section of the Contact Profile.
NOTE: In most circumstances, a Contact can only be assigned to a Vehicle if the Contact has Operator contact classification. An exception to this requirement exists in the case of an assignment which is done via inspection workflow. Since this is an automated process on Fleetio Go, we OVERRIDE the requirement; a contact may be assigned to a vehicle via inspection workflow even if they are not an operator.
Bulk Manage Contact Classification
If you need to change the Operator classification from multiple Contacts, bulk manage via the Contact List.
Go to Contacts in the left sidebar menu. Check the boxes to select the Contacts in question, then click the More Actions drop-down button to choose Update.
One Operator Limitation
A vehicle can only be assigned to one Operator at a time. There is validation to ensure that assignments don't overlap.
TIP: Assignments include both a Start Date/Time and End Date/Time, so you can designate multiple assignments on the same day.
How to Assign a Vehicle
There are a few different ways to create an assignment:
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Vehicle List
Go to Vehicles > Vehicle List in the Sidebar Navigation. Find the vehicle you want to assign and locate the Operator column. Hover over the field to bring up the Edit icon and select it.
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Vehicle Overview
From the Vehicle Overview, click the + Add button and select Vehicle Assignment.
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Vehicle Assignments Scheduler
The Vehicle Assignments Scheduler allows you to schedule assignments based on vehicle or Operator in a calendar view. You can easily Add, Edit, and Delete assignments, and display a summary of all assignments by day, week, and year.
Select Vehicles Assignments from the Vehicles section of the left sidebar menu to access the scheduler.
IMPORTANT: Vehicle Assignment Scheduling is not available on the Essential Plan.
TIP: Learn more in the Vehicle Assignments Scheduler article.
Assignment Details
Once you've chosen to create an assignment, fill out the form.
- Vehicle - Depending on how you created the assignment, this field may already have a vehicle listed.
- Operator - Choose an Operator from the drop-down list.
- Start Date/Time/Meter- These fields are optional to accomodate any past, current, or future events.
- End Date/Time/Meter - These fields are optional to accomodate any past, current, or future events.
- Comment - Add a comment for any additional information, or use @mentioning to alert specific users to a comment.
If you have any Custom Fields set up, they will show up on the assignment form. Custom Fields can be set as required on any individual Custom Field in Account Settings.
When you're ready, select Save Assignment.
NOTE:
- When saved, the Operator will automatically be added as a Watcher of the vehicle.
- Only one assignment can have a blank Start Date/Time or a blank End Date/Time per Vehicle. Fleetio considers this "since the beginning of time" or "until forever" for validation purposes.
TIP: Enter both a Starting Odometer and Ending Odometer value to see the total distance traveled for the assignment.
Watching a Vehicle Assignment
If you would like the follow activity regarding Vehicle Assignments, you can Watch the Vehicle Assignment by clicking on the Vehicle Assignment and then clicking Watch.
A user will also be added as a watcher automatically when:
- A user creates a vehicle assignment.
- A user who is watching the vehicle AND has the Automatically Watch New Records in User Notification Settings enabled will be added as a watcher.
- A user leaves a comment or replies to an @mention on a Vehicle Assignment.
A user will not automatically become a watcher when:
- A user creates a vehicle assignment through an import.
- A user creates a vehicle assignment through the API.
- A user is @mentioned in a comment and is not already watching the record.
Watchers are automatically removed from watching the vehicle assignment when:
- The vehicle assignment is deleted
- An operator’s vehicle assignment is deleted, removed, or expired, the user will unwatch the vehicle assignment as well as the vehicle.
Inspection Workflow
Integrating your assignment processes into your inspection workflows can take some of the burden of keeping up with your fleet off the admins in the office. When this option is set up, users submitting inspections will automatically be assigned to the vehicle being inspected. Read more about how to set up this workflow here.
