Fleet

Open Fleet to manage your vehicles, drivers and bases together. Each vehicle card shows its availability, usual driver, base, capacity and any MOT or service date that needs attention.

Select a vehicle card to open its full record.

Select MOT due, Service due or No usual driver at the top of the page to show only the vehicles that need that action. Select the same figure again to clear the filter.

Each tab has a search and filters above the list:

• Search finds a vehicle by name, registration or usual driver, a driver by name or vehicle, or a base by name, address or postcode.
• Status shows vehicles or bases In use, Archived or All.
• Base or Yard shows the vehicles or drivers for one place.
• Needs attention matches the figures at the top of the page.

In the table view, press a column heading to sort by it. Each row’s … menu holds its actions, such as Edit and Archive. Archiving asks first.

On a vehicle’s own page, use … beside Edit details to archive it, or to restore it once archived.

Add a vehicle

Select Add vehicle and enter the details your team uses to identify it:

• name and registration;
• vehicle type, make, model and year;
• current mileage;
• starting and finishing base;
• weight and load-space limits;
• any notes your team needs.

Use the vehicle’s actual plated payload and usable load space. Bottle uses these figures when it checks whether a planned round will fit, and drivers see a warning on the load screen if the load goes over the payload. If a vehicle on a plan has no payload, Check these says so.

Vehicle setup has two short steps: Vehicle details and Round setup. When editing a vehicle, select either step to move straight to it. Add MOT certificates, services and other maintenance after saving, from the vehicle’s own record.

Assign its usual driver from the Drivers tab.

Drivers

Open Drivers to set the operational details Bottle needs when planning deliveries. Each driver card lets you choose:

• their usual vehicle;
• their default start location, loading yard and end location;
• the delivery areas they cover;
• the name your team normally calls them; and
• their Delivery window: how long a window their customers are told when they set off.

A driver’s delivery window overrides the one in Business settings → Working hours. Leave it on Same as the business to use the business’s length.

The driver’s account name remains unchanged. The preferred name is used around Bottle where the driver is shown.

Use Cards for a visual view of each driver and their usual vehicle. Use Table when you want to compare or update more drivers at once. Both views change the same driver record.

In Driver details, set the driver’s default Start location, Loading yard and End location separately. For example, a driver can collect their van at Shop, load at Yard and return to Shop. The loading yard supplies the stock; the start and end locations describe the journey.

New rounds, including Auto Plan Rounds, use the driver’s defaults before the vehicle’s settings. If a driver default is blank, Bottle falls back to the vehicle settings, then the business yard where needed. You can override the locations on an individual round. Changing driver defaults does not change existing rounds, and changing the vehicle on a round with a driver keeps that round’s locations.

Bottle shows when a vehicle belongs to another yard and confirms that the driver’s loading yard takes priority for new rounds. Deliveries without an assigned driver or round still need assigning before their loading yard can be confirmed.

Select Driver details to optionally record a driving licence number, expiry date and home address. Bottle only shows licence information on the card after you record it. It warns you when the licence is due within 30 days or has expired.

Select Export for insurance to download a CSV containing each driver’s recorded contact, home-address and licence details alongside their usual vehicle and yard. Blank optional fields stay blank. Keep the official licence and employment records in your usual HR system; these fields are for fleet operations and insurance requests.

Vehicle status

The vehicle list separates vehicles that are available, on a round or unavailable. A warning appears when an MOT or service is due soon or overdue.

Warnings do not stop somebody planning a round. Check that the vehicle is legal, safe and available before it goes out.

The vehicle record

The Overview shows the vehicle’s base, usual driver, current or planned round, live location when available, capacity and delivery totals.

Activity shows its recent rounds. Maintenance keeps its service history. Documents stores its private files.

Distance completed in Bottle comes from recorded rounds. Vehicle mileage is the odometer reading and is stored separately with the date it was recorded.

Add a service document

Open Maintenance and drop a service invoice or report into the upload area. You can also select the area and choose a PDF, PNG or JPEG. To photograph it instead, select Take a photo, scan the QR code and use your phone camera.

Bottle reads the document and fills in:

• the service date and mileage;
• the garage or provider;
• the total cost;
• work completed, parts and their amounts; and
• the next service date or mileage, when the document states one.

Check every field and line item before selecting Save service and document. You can add, change or remove work and parts. Saving adds the reviewed work to Service history and keeps the original file under Documents.

If Bottle cannot read part of the document, enter the missing detail yourself. The file can still be saved.

Updating mileage from a document

When a service document contains a date and mileage, Automatically update the mileage using this document’s date is selected. Clear it if the service record should not replace the vehicle’s current mileage.

Bottle warns you before an older date or lower mileage replaces a newer reading. Review both readings before accepting the change.

Other vehicle documents

Use Documents for MOT certificates, insurance, registration, lease or finance paperwork, inspections and other files.

Drop a file into the page or select Add document. To use a phone instead, select Take a photo beside the upload area. Bottle reads dates and mileage from supported documents, but you review the details before saving.

Vehicle documents are private to your business. Removing a document removes its stored file as well.

Use a phone camera

Select Take a photo from either Maintenance or Documents. You can also select Use your phone camera while adding a document. Scan the QR code with a phone, take up to five pages and submit them. The link expires after ten minutes and does not require the phone to sign in.

Return to the computer to review and save the document. If the link expires, create a new one.

Bases

A base is a yard or a driver’s home where a vehicle can start or finish. A vehicle kept at a driver’s home still belongs to a yard for loading and stock.

With more than one yard, select the yard that supplies each vehicle. Bottle uses it when planning rounds and moving stock.

Use Cards to see each base on a map with the vehicles based there. If a yard has products below its stock threshold, select the warning on its card to open Stock. Use Table for a compact list of addresses and postcodes.

See Rounds for planning, capacity checks and assigning a driver and vehicle.