Create & Edit Vehicles

Creating and maintaining accurate vehicle profiles in the Motive Dashboard is essential for compliance, precise tracking, and efficient operations. This article explains how to add, edit, and manage vehicle profiles and their settings to support smooth and effective fleet management.

Overview

Accurate vehicle management supports ELD compliance, streamlines dispatching, and improves operational performance. The Motive platform makes it easy for authorized users to manage all vehicle data in one place.

• Support ELD compliance: Ensure vehicle profiles are complete and accurate to meet ELD requirements.
• Enable precise tracking: Correct vehicle information allows for real-time tracking and reliable reporting.
• Optimize operations: Centralized control of vehicle settings and device assignments improves efficiency across your fleet.
• Generate accurate reports: Well-maintained vehicle data ensures accuracy in IFTA reporting, utilization tracking, and other key insights.

Basics

Managing accurate vehicle profiles in the Motive Dashboard ensures ELD compliance and efficient fleet operations. A complete profile ensures driving time is attributed correctly and HOS logs are accurate. Centralized vehicle management also supports dispatching, in-platform communication, and safety performance tracking. These tasks are typically performed by users with admin access or fleet users with the necessary permissions.

Creating a new vehicle profile

Adding a new vehicle to your fleet is a straightforward process. Authorized users can add vehicles individually or import multiple vehicles at once.

To add a single vehicle: 

1. Log in to the Motive Dashboard and click the Admin icon in the bottom-left menu.

   

2. From the Organization menu on the left, select Vehicles.

3. Click Add Vehicle in the top-right corner.

   

4. In the General section, enter the vehicle’s VIN. The VIN decoder will attempt to auto-fill fields like Year, Make, Model, and Fuel type.

5. Once the vehicle's VIN is autodetected Vehicle includes a sleeper berth is automatically selected. 

   Note: Fleet managers can manually disable the availability of the sleeper berth duty status for drivers in the Driver App. Refer to this article to learn more.

   

6. After filling in the details, select Availability, Regulation, Groups, Driver Assignment, and Odometer and Lifetime Engine Hours.

   

7. To assign a Vehicle Gateway, click Assign to choose the serial number of the installed device.

8. If applicable, assign an AI Omnicam or other devices in the Devices section.

   

9. Select the Vehicle Gateway.

10. Click Assign.

    

11. Click Save to create the vehicle profile.

    

12. Once saved, you can modify settings for the specific vehicle.

To bulk import multiple drivers:

1. Navigate to the Vehicles page (Admin > Organization > Vehicles).

2. Click Import Vehicles.

   

3. Select Add Vehicles.

4. Download the XLSX template file provided. Fill out the template with the information for all the drivers you wish to add. Mandatory fields include Vehicle ID and Fuel type.

   

5. Extract a CSV file for your data and upload the completed CSV file.

6. Click Import. The system will process the file and create profiles for all valid entries.

   

Edit an existing vehicle profile

You can update vehicle details at any time in the Motive Dashboard.

To edit a single vehicle profile:

1. Log in to the Fleet Dashboard, and click the Admin icon.

   

2. Navigate to Organization > Vehicles.

3. Find the vehicle you want to edit. Click the three dots in its row and select View vehicle details.

   

4. On the Vehicle page, click Edit.

   

5. Update the relevant fields under General, Devices, or Settings.

6. Click Save to apply your changes.

   

To bulk edit multiple vehicle profiles:

1. On the Vehicles page, check the boxes next to the drivers you want to update.

2. Click the Edit button that appears at the bottom.

   

3. In the menu that follows, choose a setting to update and provide new values/configurations.

4. Click Save to apply the changes to all selected profiles.

   

To bulk edit multiple vehicle profiles using a spreadsheet:

1. Navigate to the Vehicles page (Admin > Organization > Vehicles).

2. Click Import Vehicles.

   

3. Select Edit existing vehicles and choose the specific vehicles you need to edit.

4. Download the XLSX template file provided. This will carry all editable data for your selected vehicles.

   

5. Make any necessary changes to the spreadsheet.
6. Extract a CSV file for your data and upload it.

7. Click Import. The system will process the file and make the changes as per your provided data.

   

To move a Vehicle Gateway to a different vehicle:

1. In the Motive Dashboard, go to Admin.
2. Click Organization > Vehicles.

3. Find the vehicle currently assigned to the Vehicle Gateway and click three dots > View vehicle details.

   

4. In the Devices section, click Edit.

   

5. Click three dots > Remove.

6. Click Save.

   

7. Click Assign in the Devices section to select the new Vehicle Gateway.

   

Updating the vehicle's VIN number 

1. Log in to the Motive Fleet Dashboard and click the Admin icon. 
2. Click Vehicles.

3. Click the three-dot menu next to the vehicle you want to edit, and select View vehicle details.

   

4. From the Details section, click Edit.

   

5. Type the new VIN number under Manual VIN and click Save. 

   

Bulk remove vehicles from groups

1. Log in to the Motive Fleet Dashboard and click the Admin icon. 
2. Click Vehicles.

3. Select one or more vehicles and click Edit.

   

4. Click Groups: Remove from groups.

   

5. Click Select.

   

6. Mark the groups you want to remove from the selected vehicles.

7. Click Save.

   

8. Once all selected groups appear under the Remove from groups section, click Save.

   

9. Click Confirm. 

   

Bulk Enable Automatic Odometer Readings

1. Log in to the Fleet Dashboard and click the Admin icon in the left-hand side menu. 

2. Click the Organization dropdown and select Vehicles from the list.

3. Select the checkboxes on the left side of the Vehicles you wish to modify.

4. Click Edit.

5. Scroll down and click Vehicle Gateway Preferences: Automatically add odometer readings to the Driver’s logs.

6. Locate the dropdown menu and choose Yes or No.

7. Click Save.

Enabling or disabling Sleeper Berth status for a vehicle 

1. Log in to the Motive Fleet Dashboard and click the Admin icon. 
2. Click Vehicles.

3. Click the three-dot menu next to the vehicle you want to edit, and select View vehicle details.

   

4. From the Details section, click Edit.

   

5. Mark the tick for Vehicle includes a sleeper berth and click Save. 

   

Editing the odometer readings and lifetime engine hours for OBD-II vehicles

Fleet Admins can view and edit the odometer readings for the OBD-II vehicles using Fleet Dashboard.

• The edited Odometer readings and Lifetime Engine hours can be seen in the Fleet View, Vehicles Detail Report, Maintenance, and Reports sections of the Fleet Dashboard.
• The changes also reflect in the Inspections and Documents in the Driver App.

Note: You can now manually change odometer readings and engine hours for vehicles showing inaccurate readings on the IFTA Section & Maintenance Hub, but you cannot manually change driver logs.

You can only update the Odometer and Lifetime Engine Hours reading for vehicles whose Vehicle Gateway is unable to fetch the readings from the Vehicle ECM.

For OBD II vehicles, you can edit the Odometer readings and Lifetime Engine Hours by following the steps given here, but for any other vehicle, you need to contact support to enable this option.

1. Log in to the Motive Fleet Dashboard and click the Admin icon. 
2. Click Vehicles.

3. Click the three-dot menu next to the vehicle you want to edit, and select View vehicle details.

   

4. From the Odometer and Lifetime Engine Hours section, click Edit.

   

5. If the Vehicle Gateway's recorded readings are incorrect, manually input the correct Odometer reading and Lifetime Engine Hours along with the Date and Time when the reading was recorded. 

6. Click Save.

   

Note:  Once updated, the future odometer readings and engine hours will be adjusted based on the correct value you have entered.

Bulk-adjusting the WiFi hotspot threshold 

1. Log in to the Motive Fleet Dashboard and click the Admin icon. 
2. Click Vehicles.

3. Select one or more vehicles and click Edit.

   

4. Click Vehicle Gateway: Threshold to throttle WiFi hotspot.

   

5. Open the dropdown for Threshold to throttle WiFi hotspot and select an option. 

6. Click Save. 

   

Bulk-edit the vehicle speed limit

1. Log in to the Motive Fleet Dashboard and click the Admin icon. 
2. Click Vehicles.

3. Select one or more vehicles and click Edit.

   

4. Click Speed: Speed Limit.

   

5. Open the dropdown for Posted speed limits and select an option. 

6. Click Save. 

   

Enabling or disabling Personal Conveyance for a vehicle 

1. Log in to the Motive Fleet Dashboard and click the Admin icon. 
2. Click Vehicles.

3. Click the three-dot menu next to the vehicle you want to edit, and select View vehicle details.

   

4. From the Compliance section, click Edit.

   

5. Click the tickbox for Allow driver to use vehicle for personal use (personal conveyance). 

6. Click Save.

   

Bulk-edit Personal Conveyance for vehicles 

1. Log in to the Motive Fleet Dashboard and click the Admin icon. 
2. Click Vehicles.

3. Select one or more vehicles and click Edit.

   

4. Click Compliance: Allow vehicle to be used for personal use (personal conveyance).

   

5. Open the dropdown for Allow vehicle to be used for personal use (personal conveyance).
6. Select Allow or Don't allow. 

7. Click Save. 

   

Changing odometer units for vehicles

1. Log in to the Motive Fleet Dashboard and click the Admin icon. 
2. Click Drivers. 
3. Select one or multiple Driver profiles.

4. Click Edit.

   

5. Click Odometer & Lifetime Engine Hours: Odometer unit.

   

6. From the dropdown menu, choose your preferred unit by selecting either Miles or Kilometers.

7. Click Save.

   

8. Click Confirm.

   

Changing odometer units for drivers 

1. Log in to the Motive Fleet Dashboard and click the Admin icon. 

   

2. Click Drivers. 
3. Select one or multiple Driver profiles.

4. Click Edit.

   

5. Click Log Settings: Odometer unit.

   

6. From the dropdown menu, choose your preferred unit by selecting either Miles or Kilometers.

7. Click Save.

   

8. Click Confirm.

   

9. A message pops up confirming the changed settings. 

   

Allowing drivers to switch vehicle mode

1. Log in to Fleet Dashboard and click the Admin icon. 

   

2. Click Organization > Vehicles.

3. Find the desired vehicle and click the three dots > Edit Vehicle. 

   

4. Under Vehicle Regulation settings, allow drivers to switch between the modes in the Driver App by selecting Yes.

Note: If you cannot see this option, contact the Motive support team to enable this feature for your fleet.

5. Click Save.

   

Advanced settings

Speed settings

Set vehicle-specific speed rules, such as enabling trucking speed limits, to improve the accuracy of speeding alerts.

Engine Immobilizer

If a vehicle is equipped with an Engine Immobilizer, you can assign and manage it in the Devices section of the vehicle profile.

Vehicle overrides for safety

Customize safety settings for individual vehicles when needed. For example, you can override fleet-wide thresholds for unsafe behavior detection based on unique operating conditions.

Compliance and Fuel

Select specific preferences for special duty statuses, long idling, IFTA reporting and other attributes. 

Inspection forms

Select applicable inspection forms for this vehicle.

Troubleshooting common vehicle issues

Maintaining accurate vehicle profiles helps prevent compliance issues and supports efficient operations. Below are some common issues and troubleshooting tips.

VIN decoding errors

• If the VIN decoder doesn’t auto-fill the vehicle’s details:
  • Double-check that the VIN is entered correctly.
  • Manually enter the year, make, model, and fuel type if the VIN is correct.

Vehicle Gateway assignment issues

• If the Vehicle Gateway isn’t transmitting data:
  • Confirm that the Vehicle Gateway is correctly installed and powered on.
  • Verify that the correct Vehicle Gateway serial number is assigned to the vehicle in the Motive Dashboard.
  • If issues persist, consult the Vehicle Gateway troubleshooting guide.

Data synchronization problems

• If odometer readings or other data seem incorrect:
  • Ensure that the Vehicle Gateway has a stable connection.
  • Verify that the Motive Driver App is up to date and syncing properly.

Best practices

• To ensure smooth and effective fleet management, follow these best practices:

Regularly audit vehicle profiles

• Review profiles frequently to ensure fields like license plate numbers and assigned devices are current.

Use groups for organization

• Group vehicles by location, use case, or operational unit to simplify reporting and bulk edits.

Maintain accurate odometer readings

• Update odometer readings regularly to ensure proper maintenance schedules and accurate IFTA reporting.

FAQs

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