Set Up Vehicles and Drivers

Use Fleet Management to prepare physical vehicles and drivers before dispatch staff try to allocate them. ERPNext Vehicle and Driver records remain the records used on trips.

Configure in dependency order

1. Set up Vehicle Manufacturer and Vehicle Model. The model supplies the make, model and supported fuel information used on the vehicle.
2. Create Vehicle Category with payload and volume capacities and their UOMs, any minimum-load requirements, handling capabilities and the appropriate License Plate Format. A category can provide a default model.
3. Define Vehicle Document Type requirements. Scope them by company, category and owner where appropriate; distinguish mandatory dispatch documents from warning-only expiry checks.
4. If using costs, create and submit the applicable Transport Cost Structure before selecting it for a vehicle or onboarding. Its owner must match the vehicle owner. See cost setup.
5. Optionally create a Vehicle Onboarding Template for the cost structure so the document checklist can be populated rather than rebuilt for every vehicle.
6. Onboard or complete the Vehicle, then prepare Driver and employee/user links.

Approve a vehicle for use

In Vehicle Onboarding, select company, owner, category/model, license plate and cost structure. Supplier-owned vehicles require a Supplier; company-owned vehicles must not carry a Supplier. Provide the required insurance and document information before approval.

The plate is normalised and checked against both Vehicle and other onboarding records. Select the category that gives the correct registration format; do not create a duplicate vehicle to work around a plate error.

Submitting onboarding creates the linked Vehicle and its document records. Confirm that the Vehicle is enabled for transport, not disabled, has the correct category, owner, company and cost structure, and has valid required documents. For company-owned assets, link the appropriate usable ERPNext Asset where your process requires it. An Asset cannot be treated as belonging to several vehicles.

Vehicle Classification identifies operational uses of a vehicle. It is separate from Vehicle Category, user permission roles and actual availability; assigning a classification does not make an unavailable vehicle dispatchable.

Prepare drivers

Maintain an active Driver with current licence details. Link the Employee and enabled User correctly for mobile work and company checks. A driver who exists in the master but is inactive, has an expired licence or conflicts with an allocation/trip may not be offered for dispatch.

Drivers are assigned through Vehicle Allocation and Delivery Trip; a default or old vehicle association is not proof of the current assignment. Follow Manage Driver Access and Devices before using the mobile app.

Change ownership with a record

Use Vehicle Ownership Transfer rather than silently changing history. The Effective Date cannot be backdated, and submitting updates the Vehicle owner immediately. A future date should not be treated as a scheduled ownership job. Resolve a linked company Asset before transferring to supplier ownership.

[Screenshot: Vehicle Onboarding with category, owner, cost structure and document checklist, followed by the created Vehicle]

Before dispatching, check availability and compliance, not just whether onboarding was approved.