Taking a vehicle home

What this guide covers

How a driver is approved to keep a vehicle after they clock out (take it home), and how the system detects a vehicle kept after hours without approval.

The rule

Keys should be returned at the end of each shift. A driver may keep a vehicle while clocked out only when an active take-home approval covers that day (and that vehicle). If no approval is in place and the keys are not returned, the system raises an after-hours alarm to fleet dispatch and administrators.

Taking a vehicle home is separate from being allowed to drive at all. To take keys you must be a registered driver with a valid licence and a signed usage policy — see Taking and returning vehicle keys.

Approving a take-home period (dispatch / admin)

Approvals are managed by dispatch (FLEET_DISPATCH) or administrators (FLEET_ADMIN).

Open Fleet → Drivers.
On the driver's row, press Take-home → Manage.
In the dialog set: Vehicle (leave as Any vehicle for a general approval, or pick one), From (first allowed day, required), To (last day; blank = open-ended until revoked), and Notes.
Press Approve.

Audit history

Every approval is a permanent record — who approved it, when, the period, and the vehicle (or "any"). Revoking does not delete it: it is marked Revoked (with who and when) and stays in the history, so you always have a record of who was given take-home access and when.

The after-hours alarm

The system checks open key holdings periodically and raises a one-time alarm when all of these are true for a vehicle whose keys are still out:

the holder is clocked out (or has no shift today),
they have been off the clock longer than the grace period (default 60 minutes), and
there is no active take-home approval covering them and that vehicle.

The alarm is posted to the vehicle's chat channel and reaches dispatch and administrators. It fires once per holding and clears when the keys are returned, the driver clocks back in, or an approval is added. Private vehicles are excluded from this dispatch alarm.

What to do when you get an alarm

Contact the key holder (chat icon on the vehicle) and have the keys returned, or
If keeping the vehicle is legitimate, approve a take-home period for that driver — the alarm clears on the next check.