HOS setup (MyGeotab)

Written By Onboarding and Implementation Team

Configure your MyGeotab database to enable Hours of Service (HOS) features and maintain compliance with applicable regulations.

Before your drivers can log Hours of Service in Geotab Drive, you must do some initial setup in MyGeotab.

This includes:

  • Specifying company information, which is displayed during roadside checks

  • Setting up vehicles and trailers in your fleet for drivers to select in the app

  • Setting up driver user accounts, including required permissions and HOS rulesets

  • Managing the defect lists that drivers use during asset inspections, also known as circle checks

Company setup

Configure your company information in MyGeotab to comply with Hours of Service requirements.

  1. In MyGeotab, navigate to System > Settings.

  2. Fill in the Company name and Company address fields on the General tab.

  3. Optionally set a Maximum personal conveyance distance and a name & abbreviation for a generic HOS exempt exemption on the HOS tab (for example, agricultural exemption). More information about these options:

  • The Personal Conveyance (PC) distance is the maximum distance a driver can travel under the Personal Conveyance exemption in a single day. Exceeding this distance warns the driver to disable the exemption and creates a visible record for administrators. For more information about the PC exemption, see here.

  • You can specify a different PC distance for each driver on the HOS settings tab of the driver's user Options page. The setting on the driver's page takes precedence over the system setting above (that is, you can set individual driver exceptions to the general rule).

  • For the HOS exemption, you must also enable the HOS exempt allowed toggle on the People > Users & Drivers > (driver username) > HOS Settings tab. This allows the driver to select the exemption while operating the vehicle in a non-HOS capacity.

  1. Click Save.

Setting up vehicles and trailers

Configure vehicles and trailers in MyGeotab for Hours of Service compliance.

For HOS compliance, each vehicle must be added to MyGeotab and configured with the correct HOS and sleeper berth settings. For complete instructions on adding a vehicle, see Adding a single asset.

When configuring a vehicle for HOS, ensure the following settings are applied on the Asset Edit page:

  1. For State/province, enter the license plate jurisdiction for the vehicle.
    Note:
    This value can be an abbreviation of the state or province, and is used for asset inspections.

  2. For Hours of service (HOS), set the option to On.
    Note:
    Setting this to Automatic auto-activates HOS when the system determines the vehicle is using HOS features. Setting it to Off means no HOS logs are created and the vehicle is not ELD compliant.

  3. Select the Sleeper berth equipped checkbox if the vehicle has a sleeper berth to enable related settings in Geotab Drive. In addition to this, drivers must also be on a ruleset that allows for split sleeper for the SB option to be available in the app.

Setting up a driver account for HOS

Verify the HOS-specific settings required on a driver user account in MyGeotab before the driver can log Hours of Service in Geotab Drive.

For general instructions on creating a driver user account, see Adding users and drivers. After the account is created, verify the following HOS-specific settings are configured correctly.

  1. Under the User tab, verify the driver has a security clearance assigned.
    Note:
    The Drive App user clearance is the default clearance for Drive App users.

  2. Verify the user's Data access is set to the appropriate groups.
    Users cannot see vehicles or HOS logs outside their data access.

  3. Under the Driver tab, configure the following:

    • Set Prevent driver access to shared data to Yes.

    • Enter the driver's license number.

    • Enter the driver's license state or province of issue.

  4. Note:
    A valid driver license number and license state or province of issue is required to configure a driver under any ruleset.

  5. Under the UI Settings tab, verify the following are set correctly for the driver:

    • Distance measurement system

    • Fuel economy measurement

    • Time zone

  6. Note:
    The time on the mobile device must be set to change automatically.

Under the HOS Settings tab, configure the following:

  • Ruleset: The ruleset followed by the driver. You can return to this setting at any time to change the driver's ruleset. To know more on rulesets see: Hours of service rulesets

  • 24-Hour Restart: For drivers who restart their cycle in 24 hours. This applies if vehicle operation involves transportation of oil field or construction equipment.

  • Oil Well Wait Time and 24-Hour Restart: If the vehicle's operation involves servicing oil wells. Waiting time at natural gas or oil well sites can be recorded as Off-Duty. The 24-hour restart is also applied when this setting is enabled.

  • Home terminal: The location where the driver ordinarily reports for work. This can include a temporary work site designated by the motor carrier.

  • Home terminal address: The motor carrier's address where the driver reports for work.

  • USDOT number: For US fleets, the motor carrier's USDOT number. Required for HOS compliance in the US. Canadian fleets that do not travel to the US can leave this field blank. Fleets that travel to both US and Canada enter their USDOT number only.

  • Yard Move (YM) and Personal Conveyance (PC): Exemptions for ON and OFF-duty driving events. YM is an ON-duty event and PC is an OFF-duty event. Neither is considered driving time. The Yard Move exemption is only available for US customers.

  • Maximum personal conveyance distance per day: The maximum distance traveled under the PC exemption before warning the driver to disable the exemption. For Canadian drivers, the maximum is 75 km per day, after which the driver is automatically removed from PC.

  • HOS Exempt Allowed: Exemption for vehicles operating under an emergency declaration or other HOS-exempt conditions. The name of this exemption can be customized via System > Settings.

  • Authority name: The motor carrier the driver works for.

  • Authority address: The motor carrier's main office address.

Note: The HOS settings above are critical to ELD compliance. Ensure all fields are filled out correctly.

Managing defect lists

Configure defect lists in MyGeotab to define the items drivers inspect during asset inspections.

Defect lists define the items drivers can inspect when performing an asset inspection in Geotab Drive. All assets are pre-configured with a default defect list. For more information, or to create custom defect lists for your fleet, see Defect lists and Adding custom defect lists.