How to track & log trips

With Driversnote you can track and log trips in several different ways. The following guide will outline the 3 different ways to track your trips in real-time. Forgot to track a trip or not a fan of real-time tracking? You can always log it manually with the app or the website dashboard.  

In this article

• Tracking a trip with your phone's GPS while driving
• Auto-tracking with motion detection
• Auto-tracking with an iBeacon
• Log a trip manually in the mobile app or the website
• Common questions

Tracking a trip with your phone's GPS

1. Tap the plus sign and select Start tracking a trip. The app will automatically detect your starting location.

2. When your trip has ended, tap Stop at the bottom of the screen to complete the log.

3. Review your trip details and classify your trip (e.g. Business, Personal/Private, etc). Write a note pertaining to your trip (in most countries you need to note who you visited).
4. Tap Done 

Make sure your permissions are set correctly. Check out our in-depth guide on How to track a trip with your phone's GPS

Auto-tracking with Motion Detection

Auto-tracking with motion detection enables you to automatically track trips with only your phone device. It starts tracking when you are moving above a certain speed and apart from drives, it might also log bike rides, runs, and trips with public transportation. Before auto-tracking, make sure you have enabled all the necessary permissions. Make sure that you have given access to Location, Motion & Fitness.

1. Enable “Auto-track” in the top left corner of the app.
2. That's it!
3. We suggest checking your app frequently to review the tracked trips and delete the unnecessary ones

Need help setting it up or having trouble? Check out our in-depth guide on Auto-tracking with motion detection

Auto-tracking with an iBeacon

The iBeacon is a small device that you place in your vehicle (in the side door or glove compartment). It connects the app to a specific vehicle, only tracking the necessary trips by telling Driversnote when you enter and exit the vehicle.

Before auto-tracking, make sure you give access to Location, Motion & Fitness, and Bluetooth. As long as you have enabled all the necessary permissions, the app does not need to be open to start tracking. The iBeacon should be placed in the side door of the vehicle. 

1. Enable the Auto-tracking the top left corner of the app
2. Go to Settings > Auto-tracking
3. Enable iBeacon Detection (make sure to disable smartphone ‘motion’ detection)
4. That's it
5. When a trip is tracked, it will show up in your Inbox. Here you can rename the start and end locations, add a note, and classify it as business or personal.
6. We suggest checking your app frequently to review the tracked trips and delete the unnecessary ones.

Need help setting it up or having trouble? Check out our in-depth guide on Auto-tracking with an iBeacon

Log a trip manually in the mobile app or the website

• Log a trip manually in the mobile app
• Log a trip manually on the website

Log a trip manually in the mobile app

1. Tap the plus sign.
2. Select Create a manual trip
3. Enter your starting location (e.g. your home address) and your stop location (e.g. your work address). When entering a location, you can either search for a name/street, choose among the selected locations or choose one of your saved "Custom locations".

4. The app will calculate your route. Select from the options, if multiple routes are available.

5. Review your "Trip details". Tap on the date and time under the starting and ending addresses to edit when the trip took place. Write a note pertaining to your trip. In most countries, you need to note who you visited. Also, remember to classify your trip (e.g. Business, Personal/Private, etc). If you need to edit a trip, you can do that either from the app or on the Driversnote website. Learn How to edit a trip.

To delete a trip, select the trip you wish to delete and tap on the garbage bin icon in the top right corner of your screen.

Log a trip manually on the website

1. Sign in to your Driversnote account.
2. Click Add trip at the top right corner of your screen and select the date you need to add a trip.

3. Type in your starting location (e.g. your home address) and your destination (e.g. your work address). Choose the purpose of your trip (e.g. Business, Personal/Private, etc). Write a note pertaining to your trip (in most countries your need to note who you visited).
4. Click on the start or stop time to fill the date and time of your trip.
5. Click Save.

Check our in-depth guide on How to log a manual trip in the app or the website 

Common questions

Q: How do I edit a trip?

There are different ways to edit a trip depending on if it is a manually logged trip or an auto-tracked trip. If you need to edit a trip, you can do that either from the app or on the Driversnote website. Learn How to edit a trip.

Q: How do I track and log return trips?

Under your Trips list, click on the + sign and the next trip will automatically select the last address as the new starting address. 

Q: How do I track and log multi-stop trips?

While it is not possible to create multi-stop trips, you can log each trip separately from a starting point to a single destination. This ensures that the logbook meets international standards. However, we are looking into making it easier to log round trips, return trips, and trips with multiple stops.

Q: Can I use both Auto-tracking with the iBeacon and Auto-tracking with motion detection to track my trips?

It's not possible to track both with the iBeacon and motion detection concurrently. You will need to switch over from Auto-tracking with motion detection to Auto-tracking with the iBeacon (or the opposite). To do that, simply open the Driversnote app, go to Settings > Auto-tracking > enable the auto-tracking method you would like to use to track your mileage.

Q: What is the difference between auto-tracking with the iBeacon and auto-tracking with motion detection?

Auto-tracking with motion detection is enabled on all Driversnote accounts when you first download the app. The iBeacon comes for free with the Basic annual subscription or it can be purchased alongside the monthly plan. The iBeacon offers precise tracking on specific vehicles. If you have more than one vehicle, then you can have multiple iBeacons making sure all tracking is automatically classified under the correct vehicle. 

Q: How can I keep track & manage fuel consumption, tolls, or other expenses?

We suggest that you add your expenses as a note pertaining to an individual trip. The note will then be visible both in the PDF and the Excel version of the downloaded report. Alternatively, you can download the report as an Excel file and add it there.