Driving journals

This guide explains how to use the Driving Journals module in Trail.

Please know to fully use the driving journal feature, user will need either Trail's iOS or Android version of the mobile app.

Driving Journals is a paid add-on feature. If you are interested in enabling it, please contact our sales team at sales@trail.fi.

This guide covers:

  1. Driving journal feature
  2. How to make vehicle to include driving journal?
  3. Starting a driving journal (mobile)
  4. Finishing a driving journal (mobile)
  5. Managing driving journals (mobile)
  6. Managing driving journals in the browser

Driving journal feature

The Driving Journals -module lets you create a driving log that records the use of a vehicle, including:

  • The vehicle used for the journey
  • The start and end date and time of the journey
  • Odometer readings at the start and end of the journey
  • The purpose of the journey
  • The driver of the vehicle
  • GPS coordinates of the vehicle's position at the start and end of the journey

How to make vehicle to include the driving journal?

Before a vehicle can be used with driving journals, it must be enabled at the model level:

  1. Open Trail in browser
  2. Open Items - Models
  3. Open model to edit view
  4. Set "Can have driving journals" to Yes.
  5. Save the change

Starting a driving journal

For this, user will need Trail's mobile application.

Note: The system only allows you to manage one active driving journal per vehicle at a time.

  1. Open Trail mobile app
  2. Open the item card of the vehicle
    1. Option A — Scan the item's QR code
    2. Option B — Search manually from the item list (tap bar)
  3. If vehicle's model has been selected to include driving journals, the section is shown in item card
  4. Click Start

Granting location access

For Trail to record start and end coordinates, the app needs permission to access your device's location. If you tap "Don't allow", the location fields will simply be left blank.

Available location permission levels:

  • Precise: helps you pinpoint your location as accurately as possible (recommended setting)
  • Approximate: defines your location more broadly
  • While using the app: gives the Trail app permission for the location of your device, and the app will not ask for it again in the future - unless you explicitly change the permission information
  • Only this time: authorise the location of the device to the Trail application on a one-off basis, in which case the authorisation must be given each time the location needs to be used
  • Don't allow: does not authorise the location of the device

You can change this at any time: press and hold the Trail app icon → App details → Permissions.

  1. Fill in the start details
    1. Odometer at start - The current odometer reading (mandatory)
    2. Purpose - What is the purpose for the trip
  2. Click Start

Finishing a driving journal

  1. Open the item card of the vehicle
    1. Option A — Scan the item's QR code
    2. Option B — Search manually from the item list (tap bar)
  2. On the driving journal > Tap End

  1. Enter the Odometer at end reading (mandatory).
  2. Optionally, add or update the purpose of the journey.
  3. Tap End

Managing driving journals (mobile)

  1. Open menu - Driving journals
  2. Access depends on user rights:
    1. Reader rights - can view only their own entries. Can mark trips, but not edit them.
    2. Editor rights - can view entries for all vehicles within their departments. Can edit and soft-delete entries.

Entries can appear in one of three states:

  • Ongoing — the vehicle is currently on a trip
  • Ended — the trip has been completed
  • Deleted — soft-deleted by a write-access user (hidden from read-access users' view)

Managing driving journals in the browser

Driving journals can also be managed from the "Items" module in the browser.

Access depends on user rights:

  • Reader: can view and export their own entries to Excel (individually or in bulk).
  • Editor: can view all entries, export them to Excel, and delete them.

Available tools in the driving journals view:

  1. Export all driving logs — export all logs to Excel, or select individual entries to export.
  2. Toggle density — compress the view to show more entries at once.
  3. Show/hide columns — choose which columns to display (Status, Device, etc.).
  4. Full screen — enlarge the view.
  5. Delete — soft-delete an entry (write access only).

Tip: Use the advanced search to filter for specific drives (e.g., all trips for a particular vehicle), and save frequently used searches as favorites.

Driving journal information on the item card

  • Driving journal history is visible in its own section on the vehicle's item card.
    • Note: users with read-only access can only see their own trips here.
  • Odometer field — can optionally be added to the item card. It updates automatically after each completed trip and can also be edited manually from the item's edit view.

If you're interested in adding the odometer field, admin users can add it from the item list > open item card pop-up view > Add new field or contact Trail support at support@trail.fi.