Vehicle condition and issue reporting
Fuel, odometer, inspection checklists and photos at every handover point — plus issue reporting and the vehicle-not-returned flow.
Disputes about a scratch, a missing quarter-tank or an odometer that jumped are the ordinary friction of running a demo fleet. DriveDesk removes the argument by recording the vehicle's state at every handover point, and by treating that record as evidence that nobody can quietly edit later.
When condition is captured
- At the gate on the way out — by the gatekeeper, as part of the scan.
- At the gate on the way back — again as part of the scan.
- By the staff member in the field at any point while the trip is live.
- On field tasks that have no trip at all, such as a delivery.
What gets recorded
- Fuel level, chosen on a quarter-tank gauge.
- The odometer reading.
- An inspection checklist — every item starts as OK and is toggled when there is a problem.
- Optional photos of the odometer, the fuel gauge and a walkaround.
The before-and-after panel
Every trip page compares the checkout snapshot with the check-in snapshot: fuel out versus fuel back, and the reported distance against the distance measured from the GPS trail. When the two distances disagree materially, the trip is flagged so a manager can look at it rather than discovering it in a monthly reconciliation.
Reporting an issue
| Severity | Meaning | Who gets told |
|---|---|---|
| Info | A routine note or observation | Recorded only |
| Minor | Needs attention but is not serious | Recorded, shown amber |
| Major | Damage, a safety concern or a dispute | Owners and managers notified immediately |
Issues are also categorised — damage, delay, customer behaviour, a return note, or other. They queue on the Issues page with the most serious first, and resolved ones drop out. Managers acknowledge and resolve them, and every one of those decisions is recorded with who made it.
When a vehicle does not come back
A trip that has run far past its planned return is flagged as an issue rather than quietly cancelled — a car that should be back and is not is an exception, not housekeeping. From there a manager has two outcomes:
- Recovered — the trip completes and the vehicle returns to the bookable fleet.
- Missing — the trip is cancelled and the vehicle is marked missing, which keeps it out of the fleet until you say otherwise.
Common questions
- Can a gatekeeper skip the condition step?
- The scan is refused. Recording condition is not a nice-to-have step that can be skipped when the gate is busy — it is the evidence the whole process rests on.
- Can a manager edit what staff recorded?
- No. Photos, GPS and signatures captured in the field cannot be edited. Managers layer decisions on top — an override, a resolution, a correction — and each of those is recorded separately with an author.
- What if the reported distance does not match the GPS?
- The trip is flagged so someone reviews it. It may be perfectly innocent — poor signal on the trail — but you find out at the time, not at month end.
Related guides
- Gate passes and gate controlSigned QR passes, round-trip and one-way modes, the checkout and check-in flow, and how DriveDesk handles violations.
- Live tracking and monitoringThe live operations map, the customer's tracking link, geofence alerts, and what happens to the GPS trail after the trip.
- Analytics and ROIThe dashboard overview, fleet utilisation, lead-to-sale ROI, the weekly digest and how exceptions surface.
Still stuck?
Check the FAQ for a quick answer, or ask us — we reply within one business day.