Vehicle Reminders are designed to help you stay on top of your fleet’s various maintenance and non-maintenance needs.
Vehicle Reminders will enable you to:
Create One-Time Reminders for unscheduled maintenance or regular non-maintenance activities.
Use Recurring Reminders to generate preventative maintenance schedules for routine services (Pro Users).
Note: View a shorter version of this article here.
Key Features
Feature availability is dependent on your GroundCloud subscription:
Feature |
GroundCloud® Standard |
GroundCloud® Pro |
Email & SMS notifications |
✅ |
✅ |
Auto work orders |
✅ |
✅ |
One-time reminders |
✅ |
✅ |
Recurring reminders |
❌ |
✅ |
Due soon thresholds |
❌ |
✅ |
Maintenance history |
❌ |
✅ |
Vehicle Reminders are found under the Fleet Management section of your GroundCloud Portal:
Recurring Reminders
Note: This is a Pro feature.
Recurring reminders renew automatically when resolved, removing the need to manually reset a reminder that repeats on a regular basis, and are helpful for:
Generating preventative maintenance schedules.
Keeping track of non-maintenance activities, such as vehicle inspections, insurance renewals and registration renewals.
Recurring reminders leverage the concepts of Recurrence and standard Service Type.
Recurrence refers to the duration (interval) between services and is configurable based on an odometer setting or time setting or both, whichever comes first.
Odometer Recurrence: Is the number of miles/kilometers between service or renewal.
Time Recurrence: Is the number of days between service or renewal.
Note: Odometer is not restricted to a specific unit of distance. Calculations are based on the value entered and do not consider miles v. kilometers.
Service Type is a list of common maintenance services and non-maintenance activities that tie reminders to Work Orders and Maintenance Records.
One-Time Reminders
One-time reminders are also available but do not renew automatically.
Like recurring reminders, one-time reminders leverage Service Type. However, instead of a recurrence, one-time reminders rely on specific odometer and/or time milestones to determine when the reminder should be triggered.
Odometer Next Due: Is the next odometer reading on which the reminder should come due.
Time Next Due: Is the date on which the reminder should come due.
Due Soon Thresholds
Note: This is a Pro feature.
Due soon thresholds provide early visibility when a reminder is coming due by triggering notifications prior to the reminder becoming past due.
Due soon thresholds can be configured based on an odometer setting and/or time setting.
Odometer Due Soon: Is the number of miles/kilometers before the odometer recurrence or next due milestone in which the reminder will be flagged as "due soon."
Time Due Soon: Is the number of days before the time recurrence or next due milestone in which the reminder will be flagged as "due soon."
Automatic Work Orders
Work orders can be created automatically from either type of reminder, saving time and manual data entry.
Work orders that are created automatically can be found on the Work Orders page. They are pre-populated with the selected vehicle and service type and a note indicating that the work order was created automatically from a reminder.
Maintenance History
Maintenance history matching the selected vehicle and service type is displayed on the Create and Edit Vehicle Reminder pages to help:
Identify when previous maintenance for the same service type may have been completed.
Adjust prior maintenance records to address discrepancies.
Submit an adjusted current odometer value.
Resolve and reset the reminder by creating a new maintenance record of the same service type.
Notifications
Notifications can be enabled for service reminders by turning on Notification Preferences for the existing maintenance reminders option under the user’s Fleet Manager profile.
A daily notification summarizing the count of reminders that require action is sent mid-morning to all fleet managers that have notifications enabled.
Individual notifications are also sent when work orders are automatically created from a reminder.
Note: A notification is not sent immediately if a reminder is already Past Due when created. It is considered as Past Due and is included in the notifications sent the following day.
Add a Recurring Reminder - (Pro Users Only)
Note: This is a Pro feature.
To add a Vehicle Reminder:
Click Add Vehicle Reminder.
Select a Vehicle. When a vehicle is selected, its Current Odometer is displayed to the right of the Vehicle field. If no odometer is found, the value is "NA" for Not Available.
Select a Service Type.
Leave the Recurring Reminder box checked.
Indicate when the service type is due by specifying the Odometer Recurrence and/or Time Recurrence. At least one recurrence type is required to set up a recurring reminder. If both are defined, the reminder is triggered based on whichever comes first.
Optionally, define the Odometer Due Soon and/or Time Due Soon thresholds to indicate when the reminder should be considered "Due Soon." Due Soon thresholds initiate notifications and tag the reminder with a "Due Soon" status. If both are defined, the reminder is considered "Due Soon" based on whichever comes first.
Check Automatically create Work Order to automatically create a work order when the reminder is triggered.
Click Submit to save the reminder and return to the list page or Submit & Add Another to add another reminder without having to return to the list page.
Add a One-Time Reminder
From the Vehicle Reminders page:
To add a One-Time Reminder, click Add Vehicle Reminder.
Select the Vehicle and Service Type from the dropdown lists. If using Pro, uncheck the Recurring Reminder box.
Indicate when the service type is due by specifying at least one Next Due value (Odometer or Time). If using Pro, optionally indicate when the Vehicle Reminder should be considered "Due Soon."
Check Automatically create Work Order if you want to create a work order when the reminder is triggered automatically.
Click Submit or Submit & Add Another to save the reminder.
Next Due Date and Odometer
Once submitted, both types of reminders are scheduled based on details within the latest Maintenance Record with the same Service Type for the selected vehicle. The schedule is then displayed as the Next Due Odometer and/or Next Due Date on the Vehicle Reminders page.
Status Descriptions:
Past Due: On or past recurrence interval or next due milestone.
Odometer Not Found: No odometer found for selected vehicle.
Odometer Discrepancy: Current odometer is less than the odometer on latest maintenance record with the same service type.
Date Discrepancy: Latest maintenance record with same service type is in the future.
Pro Subscription Required: Reminder was created under a Pro subscription, but Pro subscription is no longer available.
Due Soon: Within due soon threshold, if defined, and prior to recurrence interval or next due milestone.
Scheduled: Prior to due soon threshold, if defined, or prior to recurrence interval.
Edit or Delete Reminders
To edit or delete a reminder, click the respective edit or trash can icon in the Actions column of the Vehicle Reminders page.
Resolve Reminders
Recurring Reminders are considered resolved and automatically renewed when a Maintenance Record is created and includes the Service Type listed on the reminder.
For the recurrence to be appropriately set, the Service Type field must be populated and match the Service Type on the reminder.
One-time reminders can be resolved in one of two ways:
Reset the reminder by adjusting the next due date and/or odometer.
Delete the reminder if no longer needed.
Troubleshoot Reminders
Odometer Not Found
If a reminder has a status of Odometer Not Found, the system does not have a record of an odometer reading for the selected vehicle. This issue can be addressed by creating an entry in the Maintenance Records table of either Record Type (Maintenance or Odometer) from either the Edit Vehicle Reminder page or the Maintenance Records page.
Odometer Discrepancy
An Odometer Discrepancy occurs when the last recorded odometer is less than the odometer on the latest maintenance record with the same service type. This can be addressed by reviewing the Maintenance Records on the bottom of the Edit Vehicle Reminder page to:
Confirm the most recent odometer reading is accurate
Validate the previous maintenance record with the same service type
Make odometer adjustments accordingly
Date Discrepancy
A Date Discrepancy occurs when the latest maintenance record with the same service type is in the future. This issue can be addressed by reviewing the Maintenance Records at the bottom of the Edit Vehicle Reminder page to identify the previous maintenance record and make adjustments accordingly.
No Maintenance History
If maintenance history matching Service Type does not exist, the reminder is flagged as Past Due for both date and/or odometer. We recommend creating a maintenance record with an estimated date and odometer of the previous activity for used vehicles with no maintenance history. This solution effectively establishes a baseline for recurring reminders going forward. In addition, because this serves as establishing a baseline and not actual maintenance that was performed, we recommend leaving Add to MMR unchecked on the Maintenance Record form.
Pro Subscription Required
Pro Subscription Required is encountered when a reminder was initially created under a Pro subscription but has since been downgraded to GroundCloud Standard. When this issue occurs, the previously defined recurrence intervals and due soon thresholds are no longer functional, and you must define the next due milestones on the reminder instead.
New Reminder Past Due
A new reminder may have the status of Past Due if a maintenance record with the same service type for the specified vehicle does not already exist. If no record of previous maintenance exists, then the next due value (odometer and/or date) cannot be determined. To establish the next due value, create a retroactive maintenance record matching the vehicle and service type of the reminder. This updates the next due value accordingly.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
What if the service type I need is not available?
Send a request to feedback@groundcloud.com.
Standard service types will expand over time based on user feedback.
Can I add custom service types?
No, this feature is not available at this time.
Will my old maintenance reminders be available in the new system?
No, previous reminders will not transfer to the new system.
Users can let old reminders expire or manually re-create them on the Vehicle Reminders page.
Will I lose reminders if I downgrade from Pro to Standard?
No, reminders will not be lost, but recurrence and due soon values will no longer apply.
Users must manually define the following due milestones.
How long will maintenance reminders remain active?
The maintenance system will continue to function for a limited time before old reminders are phased out.
Users should recreate existing reminders in the new system to ensure continuity.
What if the service type I need is not available?