What are Driver Maintenance Alerts?
Driver Maintenance Alerts are notifications and reminders that pertain to Drivers, rather than vehicles. Instead of receiving messages about oil changes or tire rotations, these alerts will be in reference to items such as drivers license renewals or annual performance reviews.
Note: Driver Maintenance Alerts require the use of the Driver tool, available in the Manage tab.
Why Are Driver Maintenance Alerts Valuable?
Ensuring that Driver needs are met is just as important as those regarding vehicle maintenance. Drivers licenses, DOT physicals, continuing education hours, professional licensing, ect are all critical for successful business operations. Setting automated reminders helps ensure that none of these requirements remain unfulfilled.
How Are Driver Maintenance Alerts Created?
The first step is to create Tasks, which are then assigned to the Drivers. Tasks are created through the clipboard icon in the upper left corner.
The task list will appear on the right hand side of the page. There is no limit to the number Tasks that can be created. To create a Task click on the blue New Task button at the bottom of the page.
Give the Task a unique name. This goes in the Task Label field. Below this, fill in the estimated cost. If not tracking estimated costs, just enter a 0.
Driver tasks are repeated either by the hour, by the day or by the month. Select one of these options in the Repeat field. And if needed, both Notes and Attachments for the Task can be entered. Click Add to save the task.
To edit a Task, simply click on it. To delete, click the trashcan icon.
After creating the Tasks, the next step is to attach them to the relevant Drivers. A Task can be assigned to multiple drivers. To attach a Task to a Driver, hover over the Driver name and click on the gray pencil icon that appears.
On the right side of the page, the scheduled Tasks for this Driver will now appear. To add a Task click the blue Add New button at the bottom of the page.
First, select the desired Task on the drop down menu. This example uses Drivers License Renewal. Next, customize the Estimated Cost for the Task. If not planning to track Estimated Costs, fill in a 0. The Frequency and Time Unit fields will establish how often the Task should be performed. For this example, every 12 months.
After providing a Frequency and a Time Unit, the Due Date field fills in automatically. This will automatically default to the exact time frame. For example if the Frequency is every year, the date seen will be exactly one year from today. However this date can be adjusted as needed.
Next, input the parameters for the Alert. The Reminder field is to determine when the reminder about the task should go out. The Past Due field is to determine when the Task will be considered Past Due if not marked complete.
When triggered the Alerts will go to the Subscribers selected in the next field. Listed here are any Contacts previously created in the Account tab. Each Contact can potentially receive three Alerts: a Reminder that the Task is coming up, a notice that the Task is now due and if necessary, a reminder that the Task is now Past Due.
Upload any attachments and make any notes needed. Press Schedule to Save.
To mark a Task as complete, click on the Driver name. This will show the list of Tasks currently assigned and their status: Scheduled, Due Soon, Due and Past Due. Go to the task in question and hover the mouse over it. This will cause a button with three dots to appear. From here the Task can be edited, deleted or completed.
On the right hand side of the page fill the Actual Cost of the Task. If not tracking costs, please fill in 0. Next, provide the date the Task was completed then upload any attachments and make any notes.
The Reschedule Task box will be selected by default. This will automatically calculate the next date the Task will be due. This date can be adjusted as needed. Press Complete and Reschedule.
When looking at a Driver, clicking on the checkmark will show the Completed Tasks for this Driver. All data is downloadable as either a PDF or CSV file.