Admin Setup Guide
Set up your fleet management system from scratch. This guide covers company configuration, user management, fleet records, service workflows, operations modules, and alert settings.
These guides reflect Motrix Cloud v2.15.1, released September 9, 2026, including Fleet Readiness, defect verification before return to service, driver qualifications, and assignment safety checks.
System Overview
Motrix Cloud uses a multi-tenant architecture — each company's data is completely isolated from other organizations on the platform. As a Fleet Manager, you have access to all configuration features and are responsible for setting up the system for your fleet. (A separate Global Admin role exists for platform-wide administration, but it is reserved for Motrix staff.)
Key areas you will configure as a Fleet Manager:
- Users & Roles — who has access and what they can do
- Fleet Vehicles — your vehicle inventory with full lifecycle tracking
- Drivers — operator profiles with license and compliance tracking
- Service Templates — recurring maintenance schedules that power the Service Planner
- Inspection Templates — DVIR checklist templates for pre-trip and post-trip inspections
- Operations Modules — fuel tracking, budgets, parts inventory, and departments
- Alert Thresholds — configurable windows for maintenance, licensing, warranty, and parts notifications
- Driver Qualifications & Readiness — the qualification types your agency requires for dispatch, and the Readiness page that shows which vehicles and assignments are restricted for tomorrow
Trial & Onboarding
New organizations can start a self-service 60-day free trial at app.motrix.io/trial — no credit card required. Trial signup walks you through a 5-step setup wizard that creates your company and your Fleet Manager account, after which you can work through the configuration steps in this guide.
Managing Users
New users join via the self-service trial signup or through email invitations sent from the Team Members page. Each user is assigned a role that determines their permissions and navigation visibility. Roles are permission presets — individual permissions can also be customized per user. Motrix currently includes 6 built-in roles:
| Role | Access Level | Navigation |
|---|---|---|
| Global Admin | Platform-wide access across all companies, bypasses all permission gates. Reserved for Motrix staff. | Full nav + Admin panel |
| Fleet Manager | Full company-scoped access: all 22 permissions including fleet, service, operations, reports, dispatch, shop, and administration | Full nav (Fleet, Service, Operations, Reports, Dispatch, Shop) |
| Department Manager | Full access scoped to assigned departments | Full nav (filtered to department data) |
| Shop Manager | Shop board, service bays, work orders, parts inventory, time tracking | Fleet (view), Service (view), Shop, Work Orders |
| Dispatcher | Trip dispatch, driver/vehicle assignment, trip board | Fleet (view), Dispatch, Inspections (view) |
| Driver | File DVIR inspections, view assigned trips, update trip status | Dashboard + Inspections + My Trips + My Runs |
Roles are permission presets. Each role maps to a set of 22 granular permissions across 11 groups (Fleet, Service, Work Orders, Dispatch, Shop, Inventory, Fuel, Budgets, Reports, Inspections, Administration). Fleet Managers can customize individual permissions per user from the Team Members page.
Team Members & Invitations
Navigate to User Menu > Team Members to manage who has access to your company. From this page you can:
- Invite by email — send an invitation to any email address with a chosen role. Each invitation generates a secure token link valid for 7 days.
- Accept flow — existing Motrix users click the link to join your company immediately; new users create an account (name + password) and are logged in and attached to your company automatically.
- Pending invitations — view and revoke invitations that have not been accepted yet.
- Per-user permissions — expand any member to see checkboxes for all 22 permissions across 11 groups. Selecting a role preset auto-populates the matching permissions, and you can then toggle individual permissions for custom access.
Two guards protect your account from lockout: you cannot remove yourself from the company, and you cannot remove the last Fleet Manager.
Company Profile
Navigate to User Menu > Company Profile to manage your organization's information — company name, phone, contact email, and address. You can also upload a company logo (JPG or PNG, up to 2MB).
Navigation by Role
Motrix changes the navigation based on the signed-in user's role. Fleet Managers and Global Admins see the full application, while Drivers see a simplified workflow focused on inspections.
Which Dashboard You See
The operational dashboard (Fleet Health Score, 30-day costs, cost-per-mile, and the reports hub) is shown only to users who hold the complete fleet and financial permission set. Users with a narrower permission set — including Department Managers, whose view is scoped to their departments rather than company-wide totals — receive a permission-based task dashboard with direct links to the work they are allowed to do. No company-wide financial totals are built or sent for those sessions. Drivers get their own task landing page.
Fleet Manager / Global Admin Navigation
- Dashboard — Fleet Health Score, operational status cards, reports hub, critical alerts, and recent activity
- Fleet — Vehicles, Drivers, Assignments
- Service — Service Planner, Maintenance Records, Service Templates, Work Orders, Inspections
- Operations — Fuel Tracking, EV Charging, Budgets, Parts Inventory, Departments
- Reports — all 13 report entries, including Recall Compliance and Client Attendance
- Dispatch — Trip Board, All Trips, Runs, Clients, My Trips, My Runs, New Trip
- Shop — Shop Board, Service Bays, Time Tracking, Parts Requests, Shop Metrics
- User Menu — Profile, Manage Companies, Company Profile, Team Members, Alert Settings, Logout
Driver Navigation
- Dashboard — a simplified dashboard with My Trips, My Runs, New Inspection, and My Inspections cards
- Inspections — inspection history plus the + New Inspection workflow
- My Trips — assigned trips with dispatch and close buttons
- My Runs — today's and tomorrow's run manifests with the tap-to-stamp workflow
- User Menu — personal account actions only
Drivers do not see the Fleet, Service, Operations, Reports, or Shop menus, or the Quick Log button. On mobile, the driver menu is intentionally reduced to a simple task flow so operators can file inspections and work trips quickly without sorting through admin features.
Adding Your Fleet
Navigate to Fleet > Vehicles > Add Vehicle to begin building your fleet inventory. Motrix tracks vehicles through their full lifecycle from acquisition to disposal.
Decode VIN
Enter the VIN on the add-vehicle form and click Decode VIN. Motrix queries the free NHTSA vPIC database and fills in year, make, model, body type, and engine — but only into fields that are still empty, so nothing you typed is overwritten. It also shows the GVWR class and warns when a VIN fails its check digit, which catches typos before they become bad records. Only the VIN itself is sent to NHTSA; results are cached for 30 days.
Required Fields
- Year — model year of the vehicle
- Make — manufacturer (e.g., Ford, Chevrolet, ElDorado)
- Model — vehicle model name
- VIN — 17-character Vehicle Identification Number
- Status — current operational status
- Current Mileage — used to calculate service due dates
Optional but Recommended
- License Plate — state plate number
- Fleet Number — your internal unit number
- Fuel Type — gasoline, diesel, CNG, propane, electric
- Purchase Date & Price — for cost-per-mile calculations
Extended Specifications
- Body Type — cutaway, minivan, transit bus, etc.
- Seating Capacity — total passenger seats
- Wheelchair Capacity — number of wheelchair positions. Seating and wheelchair capacity feed the dispatch assignment checks; if capacity is left blank, Motrix does not invent a limit
- Engine Type & Transmission
- GVWR — gross vehicle weight rating
Insurance & Registration
- Policy number, provider name, and expiration date
- Registration expiration date
Compliance
- DOT Inspection Expiration — tracked and shown on dashboard
- ADA Compliance Status — for paratransit reporting
OEM Warranty
- Warranty provider, type (bumper-to-bumper, powertrain, etc.), start and end dates, and mileage limit
Vehicle Photo
Upload a photo in JPEG, PNG, or WebP format up to 5MB. Photos help drivers confirm they are inspecting the correct unit.
Vehicle Statuses
| Status | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Active | In service, available for dispatch |
| Inactive | Temporarily out of service |
| Out of Service | Failed DVIR inspection, needs repair before returning to service |
| Sold | Removed from active fleet; preserved in history |
| Deleted | Soft retirement — hidden from active lists, history preserved. Pending scheduled services are removed and future trips are returned to the dispatch pool |
An out-of-service vehicle stays restricted until a manager explicitly returns it to service — see Fleet Readiness. Direct edits to a vehicle's status go through the same checks.
Setting Up Drivers
Navigate to Fleet > Drivers > Add Driver to create driver records. Driver profiles track operator credentials separately from user accounts.
Key Fields
- Name — driver's full name
- Phone & Email — contact information
- License Number — CDL or state license number
- License Class — Class A, B, C, or D
- Issuing State
- License Expiration Date — automatically monitored for alerts
License expiration alerts appear on the Dashboard automatically once the expiration date falls within your configured alert window.
Driver Qualifications
Open a driver's detail page and go to Qualifications to record credentials beyond the license — for example a passenger-assistance course, a defensive-driving certificate, or a medical card. Fleet Managers configure the qualification types for the company, and each type has a required for dispatch toggle. Required types apply to every driver in the company. Each driver qualification records an expiry date and can carry private evidence as a PDF, JPEG, or PNG (5 MB limit).
Drivers missing a required qualification, or whose qualification or license has expired, are flagged on the Readiness page and blocked from new trip and run assignments (see Assignment Checks).
Qualification types are operator-configured requirements. Motrix does not supply or interpret legal rules — your agency decides which credentials are required and keeps them current.
Driver records and user accounts are separate. A driver can be selected on an inspection form without having a Motrix user account. Only drivers who need to log in and file inspections themselves require a user account with the Driver role. Fleet Managers can also file inspections on behalf of a driver.
Vehicle Assignments
Navigate to Fleet > Assignments to assign drivers to specific vehicles. Assignments include a start date and optional end date, providing a historical record of which operator was driving each unit and when.
Current and historical assignments are listed per vehicle, making it straightforward to determine who was operating a vehicle on any given date — useful for incident reviews and compliance audits.
Configuring Service Templates
Navigate to Service > Service Templates to define recurring maintenance schedules. Templates are the foundation of the Service Planner — they tell the system when each vehicle is due for each type of service.
What Each Template Defines
- Service Type — name of the maintenance task
- Mile Interval — trigger service every N miles
- Day Interval — trigger service every N days
- Estimated Cost — used in budget projections
- Default Vendor — pre-fills work orders
Both mile and day intervals can be set simultaneously. The Service Planner triggers on whichever threshold is reached first.
Pre-Loaded DOT Templates
| Template | Mile Interval | Day Interval |
|---|---|---|
| Oil & Filter Change | 5,000 mi | 90 days |
| Tire Rotation & Inspection | 7,500 mi | 120 days |
| Brake Inspection | 15,000 mi | 180 days |
| Wheelchair Lift PM | — | 90 days |
| Annual DOT Inspection | — | 365 days |
| Transmission Service | 30,000 mi | 365 days |
| HVAC System PM | — | 180 days |
Templates drive the Service Planner. Set accurate intervals and the system will automatically track when each vehicle needs service. Add templates before entering your vehicles so the Service Planner populates immediately.
Configuring Inspection Templates
Navigate to Service > Inspections > Manage Templates to configure DVIR checklist templates. Templates define the items drivers check during pre-trip and post-trip inspections.
Pre-Loaded Templates
Three standard templates are pre-loaded for immediate use:
- DOT Pre-Trip Inspection — 22 items across 5 categories
- DOT Post-Trip Inspection — 12 items across 4 categories
- Paratransit PM Inspection — 47 items across three cascading PM levels (A/B/C)
Item Categories
The template builder offers 16 category options for organizing checklist items:
- Engine / Cab
- Exterior
- Interior
- Safety Equipment
- Fluids
- Fluids & Filters
- Under Hood
- ADA Equipment
- Brakes
- Drivetrain
- Suspension & Steering
- Electrical
- HVAC
- Chassis & Frame
- Emissions & Exhaust
- General
You can create custom templates for specialized vehicles or agency-specific requirements. Each item includes a name and an optional description to guide the driver during the inspection. Items are organized by category within the checklist form.
When a template's type is Preventive Maintenance (PM), each item gains PM-specific fields: a PM level (A, B, or C), a value type (pass/fail, numeric, text, or dropdown), unit labels and min/max thresholds for numeric items, and a comma-separated options list for dropdown items (e.g., "Good, Fair, Poor, Replace").
Work Orders
Navigate to Service > Work Orders to manage repair and follow-up activity. Work orders can be created manually by a manager or generated automatically when a DVIR defect is submitted.
What a Work Order Tracks
- Priority — Low, Normal, High, or Urgent
- Status — Open, In Progress, Completed, or Cancelled
- Vendor / Technician — who is handling the repair
- Labor and Parts Costs — captured for reporting and budget analysis
- Documents — invoices, photos, and supporting PDFs attached to the record
Minor DVIR defects keep the vehicle active and generate a normal-priority work order. Major defects immediately place the vehicle out of service and create a high-priority work order until repairs are closed out.
If your company uses the Shop module, work order creation also supports Smart Bay Assignment suggestions so the system can recommend the best available bay for the job type before the repair starts.
Return to Service
Completing a work order does not automatically put an out-of-service vehicle back on the road. The vehicle stays restricted until a manager verifies every major defect in Vehicle Readiness, all open repairs are complete, and the manager explicitly clicks Return to Service on the work order page. The same checks apply if someone edits the vehicle's status directly. Reopening a completed repair invalidates its prior defect verification and restricts the vehicle again when a major defect is involved. While the vehicle remains out of service, a red warning banner on the work order shows the vehicle status, and a Related DVIR Inspection card links back to the originating inspection report with the driver name, defect count, and inspection date. See Fleet Readiness for the full defect workflow.
Fleet Readiness
Navigate to Readiness (linked prominently from the manager dashboard, route /readiness) to see what is and is not ready to roll for a chosen operating date. The page defaults to tomorrow. Fleet Managers and Department Managers can open it; company and department scoping still apply.
What the Page Shows
- Vehicle restrictions, each linked to its source: non-active status, expired insurance, registration, or DOT inspection dates, and major inspection defects still awaiting verification
- Review items for missing dates and missing pre-trip inspections — shown explicitly as items to review, never as a green readiness claim
- Maintenance due by date or mileage, with a link to the source record
- For users with dispatch management permission: generated active trips, missing driver or vehicle assignments, and expired licenses or missing required qualifications. Standing schedules that have not yet generated trips are not counted
Missing inputs are not proof of compliance or availability. If a DOT inspection date was never entered, Readiness shows that as something to review — it does not assume the vehicle is compliant.
Owners, Acknowledgment, and Follow-Up
On each vehicle's readiness page you can set an owner, an acknowledgment, and a follow-up date for every active issue. Overdue follow-ups are visibly escalated on the vehicle and fleet pages. Acknowledging an issue records who is handling it; it does not remove the restriction. Escalation is visual only — it does not send additional emails.
Defect Workflow and Return to Service
Every inspection defect moves through four states: unacknowledged → acknowledged → repaired → verified. Marking a defect repaired or verified requires the linked work order to be completed and manager permission. Notes, the acting user, timestamps, and each transition are recorded in a separate append-only readiness history — the original filed inspection is never modified. Companies with readiness history cannot be hard-deleted from the platform admin.
An out-of-service vehicle remains restricted after its repair is completed. The explicit Return to Service action checks every major defect and every open repair before clearing the vehicle, and the same guard applies to direct vehicle status edits. Reopening a completed repair resets its verification back to acknowledged, records an event, and restricts the vehicle again when a major defect is involved.
Seven-Day Service Planning & Maintenance Windows
The Service Planner links to Readiness, and each vehicle on the planner shows its next seven days of generated trip commitments alongside any service bookings, so you can see when a unit can actually come into the shop.
Reserve a named maintenance window of up to seven days for a vehicle. Motrix rejects the reservation if it conflicts with an existing trip or run, and once booked, the window prevents new overlapping dispatch assignments. Removing a booking releases the window — it does not create or complete a maintenance record or work order.
QR Labels & Vehicle Audit Packets
QR Vehicle Labels
From a vehicle's page, print a label with a locally generated QR code and post it in the cab. Scanning the code opens the inspection form with that vehicle pre-selected. The link never bypasses login, tenant isolation, or inspection permissions — a driver still has to be signed in to the right company with permission to file.
Vehicle Audit Packets
For an FTA review or an internal audit, generate a vehicle audit packet: a ZIP containing an evidence-index PDF plus the authorized private attachments that are available. The index covers inspection items, signatures, measurements, defect resolution, maintenance records, work orders, and an attachment manifest.
- Select a period of up to one year; a packet holds at most 500 selected inspection, maintenance, and work-order records and 50 MB of attachments
- Missing or inaccessible attachments are listed explicitly rather than silently dropped
- Vehicle-level attachments and repairs linked to selected inspections may fall outside the chosen period
- Generating a packet requires both fleet management and report permissions, and every packet download is access-logged
A packet is supporting evidence, not a compliance certification. It shows what your agency recorded; it does not assert that the vehicle met a regulatory standard.
PM Inspections (Preventive Maintenance)
Technician-driven preventive maintenance inspections filed from within a Work Order. PM inspections use cascading A/B/C levels with measurement fields, threshold auto-flagging, and automatic defect-to-work-order generation.
PM vs. DVIR
| Aspect | DVIR | PM Inspection |
|---|---|---|
| Filed by | Driver | Shop Technician |
| Entry point | Inspections → New Inspection | Work Order → File PM Inspection |
| Types | Pre-Trip / Post-Trip | PM-A / PM-B / PM-C |
| Item fields | Pass/Fail only | Pass/Fail + Numeric + Text + Dropdown |
| Measurements | No | Yes (brake thickness, tire tread, voltage, etc.) |
| Threshold auto-flag | No | Yes (out-of-range auto-marks as defect) |
| Linked to WO | Creates WO on defect | Filed under parent WO; defects create child WOs |
PM Levels (Cascading)
| Level | Scope | Typical Interval | Items |
|---|---|---|---|
| PM-A | Basic service | Every 6,000 miles / 45–60 days | ~21 items (fluids, filters, walk-around, basic ADA) |
| PM-B | Intermediate | Every 12,000 miles / 90–120 days | PM-A + ~16 items (brakes, drivetrain, suspension, electrical, HVAC) |
| PM-C | Major service | Every 24,000–36,000 miles / annually | PM-A + PM-B + ~10 items (fluid flushes, chassis, frame, emissions) |
Selecting PM-B automatically includes all PM-A items. Selecting PM-C includes all items.
Filing a PM Inspection
- Open a Work Order and click File PM Inspection.
- Select a PM template and PM level (A, B, or C).
- Complete the checklist — items may be pass/fail, numeric (with unit labels and min/max thresholds), or dropdown (e.g., Good/Fair/Poor/Replace).
- Out-of-range numeric values are automatically flagged as defects with an "Out of spec" warning. The technician can override back to pass.
- Mark defect severity (Minor or Major), add notes and photos (up to 5 per defect).
- Sign with the canvas signature pad and submit.
PM Defect Handling
- Minor defects: Vehicle stays active, a child Work Order is created with normal priority.
- Major defects: Vehicle is set to Out of Service, a child Work Order is created with high priority.
- Child Work Orders include measurement values in the description and link back to the PM inspection.
- Defect photos are copied to the child Work Order as documents.
PM Compliance Report
The PM Compliance Report (accessible from Reports menu) tracks preventive maintenance inspection compliance for FTA audits and shop management. It includes:
- Summary cards: Total PM inspections, pass rate, defects found, PM-A/B/C counts
- Overdue vehicles warning for active vehicles with zero PM inspections
- PM Inspection History table with level badges, results, and work order links
- Out-of-Spec Measurements section highlighting items outside acceptable thresholds
- Technician Workload breakdown with pass rates per technician
- PDF export in landscape format
Operations Modules
Navigate to the Operations menu to manage day-to-day cost, energy, and inventory controls. These modules connect operational data back to the dashboard, reporting, and alerting system.
Fuel Tracking
Fuel records capture date, station/location, odometer, gallons, total cost, and price per gallon. MPG is calculated automatically, and CSV import is available when you need to load historical transactions in bulk.
EV Charging
Use Operations > EV Charging to log charging sessions for electric vehicles. Charging records capture kWh added, cost, odometer reading, start/end battery percentage, charge duration, charger location, and charger type. Motrix calculates cost per kWh and battery gain automatically, and higher odometer readings keep preventive-maintenance planning current for EV units. Charging spend is included in dashboard cost totals, cost reports, fleet-health cost figures, and fuel budgets; gallons and MPG remain liquid-fuel metrics.
Budgets
Navigate to Operations > Budgets to create monthly spending targets. Budgets give you a real-time view of fleet spending against plan.
Configurable Thresholds
- Total — overall fleet spend target
- Fuel — fuel purchases
- Maintenance — scheduled service costs
- Repairs — unplanned repair costs
Once budgets are set, the Dashboard automatically shows a Budget vs. Actual comparison. Variance is color-coded for quick interpretation:
| Color | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Green | Under budget |
| Blue | On track |
| Orange | Over budget |
| Red | Significantly over budget |
Parts Inventory
Use Operations > Parts Inventory to track stocked items and replacement components. Part data supports low-stock alerting, cost visibility, warranty reference, and the Parts & Warranty report. Stock status (In Stock, Low Stock, Out of Stock) is derived from quantity and reorder level on every save.
- VMRS system code — each part can carry an optional 3-digit ATA/TMC system-level code (for example 013 Brakes, 042 Cooling). A suggestion list covers common codes, any 3-digit code is accepted, and the code is filterable on the inventory index and included in the parts CSV export. The full 9-digit VMRS codebook is ATA-licensed and is not bundled.
- Stock Movement Ledger — every quantity change is recorded as an append-only movement with the signed delta, before/after quantity, reason, source (work order, requisition, or manual), and who made it. Movements cannot be edited or deleted.
- Manual stock adjustment is the only way to change quantity on hand — the part edit form's quantity field is read-only by design, so every change is row-locked and ledgered. Work orders consume stock exactly once on completion and restore it if the order is reopened, cancelled, or deleted.
Departments
Use Operations > Departments to group vehicles and spending by organizational unit. Departments make it easier to review utilization, costs, and maintenance patterns across programs or divisions.
Quick Log
The Quick Log (+) button provides fast fuel and maintenance entry without leaving the current page. It is permission-gated rather than tied to a role: any user with the fuel.manage or service.manage permission sees it — by default, Fleet Managers and Department Managers. It is intentionally hidden for Drivers.
Alert Settings
Navigate to User Menu > Alert Settings to configure maintenance alert thresholds. These settings control when the system flags upcoming and overdue service across the dashboard, Service Planner, and daily email summaries.
Configurable Thresholds
- Days Before Service (1–90 days, default: 10) — alert when maintenance is due within this many days
- Miles Before Service (50–5,000 miles, default: 500) — alert when a vehicle is within this many miles of a service interval
Critical Alert Types
- Maintenance — overdue maintenance and services due within the configured threshold
- Fuel Efficiency — vehicles falling below 80% of the fleet average MPG
- Driver Licenses — expired licenses and licenses expiring within 30 days
- Out-of-Service Vehicles — vehicles pulled from service after a failed DVIR inspection
- Vendor SLA — vendors exceeding a 72-hour average repair time
- Inventory — low or out-of-stock parts
Alert Email
Optionally specify a dedicated email address for maintenance alerts. If left blank, alerts are sent to all Fleet Manager users in your company.
Where Alerts Appear
- Dashboard — overdue and upcoming maintenance listed by vehicle
- Service Planner — color-coded status for each vehicle/service combination
- Daily Email — consolidated digest sent at 7:00 AM listing overdue and upcoming items
- Weekly Fleet Summary — automated Monday morning email with 7-day operational snapshot: fleet stats, weekly costs, work order activity, action-required alerts, top expensive vehicles, and inspection pass rates
Dispatch Module
Navigate to Dispatch > Trip Board to manage paratransit trip scheduling. The Dispatch module handles trip creation, driver/vehicle assignment, and real-time status tracking. Users with the Dispatcher role can also create and manage trips.
Trip Lifecycle
| Step | Status | Action |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Create | Scheduled | Fleet Manager creates trip with passenger info, pickup/dropoff, times |
| 2. Assign | Assigned | Auto-transitions when driver + vehicle are selected |
| 3. Dispatch | Dispatched | Click "Dispatch" — vehicle is rolling |
| 4. Close | Completed | Click "Close Trip" — capture actual mileage |
| — | Cancelled | Cancel with a reason (Fleet Manager) |
| — | No Show | Passenger no-show (Fleet Manager or Driver) |
Key Features
- Auto-generated trip numbers — sequential per company per day (TRP-YYYYMMDD-NNN)
- Passenger tracking — name, phone, count, wheelchair required, mobility aids, trip purpose
- Trip Board — dispatcher calendar view grouped by 30-minute time slots with color-coded cards
- My Trips (driver view) — today's trips with touch-friendly Dispatch/Close buttons
- Quick-assign — inline vehicle + driver dropdowns on the trip detail page
Assignment Checks
Whenever a trip or run assignment is created or changed — and again when a trip is dispatched or a run is started — Motrix checks:
- Vehicle restrictions (out of service, expired insurance/registration/DOT dates, unverified major defects)
- Driver license expiration and any required qualifications that are missing or expired
- Seating and wheelchair capacity as configured on the vehicle. Unknown capacity does not invent a limit. Wheelchair counts currently count wheelchair-required trips, not multiple wheelchair passengers inside one trip
- Overlapping trips and runs for the same driver or vehicle, and any reserved maintenance window
Scheduling is deliberately conservative: a trip without an end time reserves 30 minutes; an AM run reserves midnight to noon and a PM run reserves noon to midnight; separate runs cannot reserve the same driver or vehicle in the same half-day. A shared passenger belongs to one run, and capacity is checked against all active passengers in that run. Motrix does not perform route optimization or travel-time prediction. Run manifests have an assignment form that updates the run and all of its active trips together, and a run requires both a driver and a vehicle before it can start.
Passenger Transport (Clients & Runs)
For agencies with recurring riders, the Passenger Transport module builds on Dispatch with saved client profiles, standing schedules, and automatic daily trip generation.
Client Profiles
Navigate to Dispatch > Clients to manage rider profiles. Each client record stores phone, emergency contact, home address, default destination, funding source, and a wheelchair-required flag. Clients with any trip history are deactivated instead of deleted, so ridership and billing history is preserved.
Standing Schedules
Each client can have one standing schedule, edited inline on the client detail page: days of the week, AM and/or PM legs with per-leg pickup times, a run label that groups clients onto the same run, and an effective date window. The AM leg runs home → destination; the PM leg returns destination → home.
Schedule Exceptions
On the client detail page, open Schedule exceptions to handle a one-off change without editing the standing schedule: cancel one or both legs for a single date or an absence window of up to 60 days, or replace the pickup time for specific occurrences. The recurring schedule itself stays unchanged.
- Changes apply to eligible trips that were already generated and to future generation
- If any affected occurrence has already started or completed, the whole change is rejected
- A cancelled generated trip stays cancelled; a replacement must be created explicitly
- Exceptions can be removed before the trip is generated
- One-off address changes use the normal edit form on the generated trip (with the same anonymization safeguards); exception records store only dates and times
If a staffed run becomes unsafe (for example the driver's license expires), trip generation keeps the trip demand, does not copy the invalid assignment, and raises a readiness warning.
Run Manifests
A run groups trips for one date, direction (AM or PM), and run label, with an assigned driver and vehicle, odometer start/end, and facility arrival/departure timestamps. Navigate to Dispatch > Runs to see all runs for a date; drivers see their own manifests under My Runs.
Automatic Trip Generation
Every day at 4:00 PM, Motrix generates tomorrow's trips and runs from all active standing schedules. Generation is idempotent — any client who already has a trip for that date and direction is skipped, so re-runs and manual edits are never duplicated.
Driver Tap-to-Stamp Workflow
On the run manifest, drivers work the run with single taps: Start Run (starting odometer), Picked Up per client, Arrived at Facility (AM runs — one tap auto-completes every on-board trip), Departing Facility (PM runs — one tap boards everyone), Dropped Off per client, No Show with an optional reason, and Complete Run (ending odometer). See the Driver Guide for the step-by-step workflow.
Client Attendance Report
Completed runs feed the Client Attendance report — per-client monthly ridership with CSV export for billing and funding-source submissions.
Auto Shop Management
Navigate to Shop > Shop Board to manage in-house maintenance operations. The Shop module extends work orders with service bay tracking, technician time tracking, and parts requisition workflows.
Shop Board
The Shop Board is the primary workspace for shop foremen. Each bay card shows the current work order, vehicle, technician name, and a running clock. Unassigned in-house work orders appear in a sidebar for bay assignment.
Service Bays
Navigate to Shop > Service Bays to create and manage bays. Bay types include Lift, Flat, Pit, Wash, and Other. Bays are automatically released when a work order is completed or cancelled.
Smart Bay Assignment
When creating a work order, the system suggests the best available bay based on keyword matching against 60+ maintenance terms (e.g., "brake inspection" → Lift bay, "battery" → Flat bay).
Technician Time Tracking
Navigate to Shop > Time Tracking for per-technician, per-work-order time entries. Clocks start automatically with the "Assign & Start Clock" option on work order creation. Running clocks are visible on the Shop Board.
Parts Requisitions
Navigate to Shop > Parts Requests to manage the parts requisition workflow. Technicians request parts from inventory against work orders. Fleet Managers approve or deny with stock levels visible. Approved requisitions automatically decrement inventory.
Shop Metrics
Navigate to Shop > Shop Metrics for throughput analysis: jobs completed, jobs per day, average hours per job, bay utilization, and technician hours breakdown.
Data Import & Export
Motrix supports bulk CSV import for vehicles, drivers, and fuel transactions, plus one-click CSV export from every major entity index page. Entity imports and CSV exports require fleet.manage permission, included in the Fleet Manager and Department Manager presets. Report exports require reports.view; Client Attendance also requires dispatch management. Company and department scopes still apply.
Upload → Preview → Confirm
Every import runs in two steps. After you upload a file, Motrix shows a preview of the first 20 eligible rows plus validation and rejection totals — no records or odometer values change during preview. Confirming revalidates the file and imports the eligible rows. Confirmation is bound to your user, company, and session, expires after 30 minutes, and a confirmation token cannot be reused. Custom column mappings can be saved per company and import type so the next file maps itself. Rejection reasons (with source row numbers, first 100) are downloadable as a formula-safe CSV; this is a rejection summary, not a copy of every rejected row. Abandoned preview files are removed automatically after one day.
Vehicle CSV Import
Click Import CSV on the Vehicles index page (route: /vehicles-import) to bulk-create vehicles. Only Year, Make, and Model are required — optional columns include VIN, License Plate, Mileage, Status, Color, Engine, Body Type, Seating Capacity, GVW, Wheelchair Lift, and Fleet Number. Column headers are matched case-insensitively with common aliases, and vehicles with a duplicate VIN are skipped with a clear error message.
Driver CSV Import
Click Import CSV on the Drivers index page (route: /drivers-import) to bulk-create driver records. Name handling is flexible — either separate "First Name" and "Last Name" columns or a single "Name" / "Full Name" column ("Last, First" format supported). Drivers with a duplicate license number are skipped.
Fuel CSV Import
Click Import CSV on the Fuel Records index page (route: /fuel-import) to bulk-import fuel transactions. Vehicles are matched by VIN first, then the dedicated unit/fleet number, then an unambiguous vehicle name; ambiguous identifiers must be corrected rather than guessed. Duplicate records (same vehicle, date, and gallons) are skipped, and price per gallon is calculated automatically.
Each import page includes a downloadable CSV template with sample rows, and every import ends with a summary showing total rows, imported count, skipped count, and a detailed error list.
CSV Data Export
Every major entity index page includes a green Export CSV button for one-click data export. Exports are available for vehicles (32 columns), drivers (13 columns), work orders (17 columns), fuel records (11 columns), maintenance (14 columns), and parts inventory (14 columns, honoring the index page's filters). A date-ranged QuickBooks transaction export is available from the Budgets page. All exports are company-scoped and formula-injection-safe.
Recall Compliance (NHTSA)
Navigate to Reports > Recall Compliance to see open safety recalls across your fleet. Every night Motrix matches each active vehicle's year, make, and model against NHTSA recall campaigns; a Sync Now button runs the check on demand.
- Model-name matching — NHTSA's names differ from fleet-entered ones (a Ford E-450 is "ECONOLINE" to NHTSA). Motrix resolves against NHTSA's canonical model list with an alias map for common paratransit chassis. If a model cannot be resolved, set the NHTSA Model Override field on the vehicle edit form.
- Per-vehicle campaign records with component, summary, consequence, remedy, and reported date. Status (Open / Remediated / Not Applicable) is tracked by your agency with one-click transitions. The public NHTSA API is campaign-level and cannot confirm per-VIN completion, so remediation is a human decision and syncs never overwrite it.
- Open recalls appear as dashboard Critical Alerts, and the report exports to CSV
- Only year, make, model, and VINs are ever sent to NHTSA — no client data
Available Reports
Motrix includes 13 report entries accessible from the Reports menu. All reports are automatically scoped to your company's data — the 11 core reports support CSV, PDF, and print, while Recall Compliance and Client Attendance export to CSV. Every CSV export preserves the on-screen filters, so the file always matches the filtered view. Reports require the reports.view permission; Client Attendance additionally requires dispatch management.
- Cost Analysis (Reports > Cost Analysis) — fleet-wide cost breakdown, per-vehicle cost comparison, monthly trends, and cost-per-mile calculations.
- Vendor Performance (Reports > Vendor Performance) — job counts, average downtime, total cost, and average cost per job broken down by vendor.
- DVIR Audit (Reports > DVIR Audit) — inspection pass/fail rates, defect severity breakdown (minor/major), compliance gap detection for vehicles with zero inspections, and resolution time tracking. CSV export for auditors.
- Parts & Warranty (Reports > Parts & Warranty) — component tracking by vehicle, OEM and component warranty status, spend-by-vehicle visualization, and most-replaced components.
- Fleet Utilization (Reports > Fleet Utilization) — per-vehicle utilization and availability rates, assignment days, idle days, downtime analysis.
- Fuel Efficiency (Reports > Fuel Efficiency) — total fuel cost, gallons used, fleet average MPG, monthly trend, and per-vehicle fuel cost analysis.
- Service Planner (Reports > Service Planner) — printable view of all upcoming and overdue maintenance with urgency badges, grouped by service type and by vehicle.
- Work Orders by Vehicle (Reports > Work Orders by Vehicle) — work order volume, labor/parts costs, and status breakdown grouped by vehicle.
- Service History (Reports > Service History) — unified maintenance and work order timeline per vehicle with cost, vendor, and date details.
- Technician Labor (Reports > Technician Labor) — workload per technician, completion rates, labor cost allocation, and average turnaround time.
- PM Compliance (Reports > PM Compliance) — preventive maintenance inspection compliance for FTA audits, including pass rates, defect counts, PM-A/B/C breakdowns, out-of-spec measurements, and technician workload.
- Recall Compliance (Reports > Recall Compliance) — open NHTSA recall campaigns matched to your active vehicles, with agency-tracked remediation status and CSV export. See Recall Compliance.
- Client Attendance (Reports > Client Attendance) — per-client monthly ridership for billing and funding-source reporting: days attended, AM/PM trips, no-shows, and cancelled trips, with a month picker and CSV export. Requires reports and dispatch management permissions.
Reading the Cost and Utilization Reports
The Cost Analysis and Fleet Utilization pages explain the metric they compute and show your fleet's current field-presence coverage — how many vehicles have the inputs the metric depends on. Assignment-day utilization is explicitly distinguished from engine hours or actual passenger service. Coverage indicates that a field is present, not that it is accurate, fresh, or a complete transaction history. Cost figures count actual spend only: maintenance is counted when completed, a work order that completes a maintenance record is counted once, and EV charging spend is included alongside fuel.
All 11 core reports support one-click PDF export with automatic dark-to-light theme conversion, producing clean output suitable for FTA audits, board meetings, and shop posting. Recall Compliance and Client Attendance export to CSV. For a per-vehicle evidence bundle, see Vehicle Audit Packets.
Admin Tips
- Set up service templates before entering vehicles — templates feed the Service Planner automatically. Add them first and the planner populates as soon as vehicles are entered.
- Configure alert thresholds early — the default 10 days / 500 miles works well for most fleets, but adjust based on your service intervals and staffing capacity.
- Add vehicle photos and VINs — photos help drivers confirm they are inspecting the correct unit. VINs are required for warranty tracking and recall matching, and Decode VIN fills most of the spec fields for you.
- Keep parts inventory current — low-stock alerts and the Parts & Warranty report are only useful if receipts and usage are logged consistently.
- Review the Service Planner weekly — a 15-minute review keeps you ahead of maintenance and prevents vehicles from going overdue without warning.
- Check the Dashboard daily — the Fleet Health Score gives you an instant snapshot of overall fleet condition. Declining scores indicate maintenance backlog building up.
- Create both pre-trip and post-trip inspection templates — DOT regulations require both. The pre-loaded templates cover standard requirements; customize them for any specialized equipment in your fleet.
- Use departments consistently — assigning vehicles and spend to departments makes reporting far more useful during audits and budget reviews.
- Add drivers before assigning vehicles — driver records must exist before you can create vehicle assignments or have drivers selected in inspection reports.
- Check Readiness each afternoon — the Readiness page defaults to tomorrow, so a quick look after trips generate at 4:00 PM shows restricted vehicles and unstaffed runs while there is still time to fix them.
- Enter compliance dates and capacities — Readiness treats a missing DOT inspection date as something to review, not as compliant, and dispatch capacity checks only work when seating and wheelchair positions are set on the vehicle.