6 ways to automate vehicle pre-use checks

#1 - Simple walkaround

Who it's for: Self-employed couriers, sole-trader contractors, single-vehicle home-care providers, and owner-driver cabbies. One vehicle, one driver, no supervisor and no depot.

What it is: A vehicle pre-use check is the daily walkaround a driver does on their vehicle before the shift starts, covering the visual condition, the two numeric readings every regulator looks for (tyre pressure and starting mileage), and a sign-off. The simple version is a checklist, two numbers, and a typed sign-off, done in about 90 seconds on the driver's phone. There is no paper logbook to lose and no end-of-week catch-up.

In practice: A self-employed parcel courier with one van walks round the vehicle in the depot car park before starting the round. They tick each check as they reach it, read the tyre pressure off a gauge and type the number, read the odometer and type that too, then sign off. By the time they pull out of the car park, the record exists, timestamped, and one tap away from being shown to an insurer or a roadside inspector.

Why it works: The list is the same every day, so nothing gets skipped because the driver is running late. The two numeric readings prove the walkaround actually happened, because they could not have been guessed at speed without breaking out the gauge.

Steps included:

• 1 checklist (10 visual checks)
• 1 number reading (tyre pressure)
• 1 number reading (start-of-shift mileage)
• 1 sign-off (initials and time)

#2 - With guidance

Who it's for: Small fleets where multiple drivers share or rotate vehicles, or where new starters are in their first week. Care providers with three to ten home-visit cars, parcel sub-depots with seasonal drivers, small contractor fleets, municipal teams.

What it is: The simple walkaround with two guidance panels added. One at the top explains why the walkaround matters: insurance, prosecution risk, road safety. One before sign-off explains what to do if a check failed: do not sign off, message the depot first. The guidance lives on the screen, so a new starter runs the walkaround right without anyone standing over them.

What it adds to the simple walkaround:

1. A new starter can do the walkaround alone after one shadowed shift
2. The reason behind each check lives on the canvas, not in a training manual nobody opens
3. The "do not sign off if something failed" rule is on screen at the moment it matters

Why it works: The guidance sits right next to the work, so it is read at the moment it is needed, not in a training session that has been forgotten weeks before. It turns the manager's standard into something the screen carries.

Steps included:

• 1 checklist (10 visual checks)
• 1 number reading (tyre pressure)
• 1 number reading (start-of-shift mileage)
• 1 sign-off (initials and time)
• 2 guidance panels (why the walkaround matters; what to do if a check failed)

#3 - With a signature

Who it's for: Highly regulated fleets where the daily sign-off carries real weight. National courier chains, audited municipal teams, healthcare patient transport, large care provider groups, insurance-driven fleet management programmes.

What it is: The simple walkaround with a finger-drawn signature in place of the typed initials at the end. The driver signs the canvas themselves on the same screen they used to run the checklist. A signature captured in the moment ties the walkaround to one named person more strongly than a line of typed initials.

In practice: A 200-vehicle healthcare patient transport operator runs this version. After an audit found that handwritten initials in a paper book were not enough to prove the walkaround happened on the day claimed, the operator moved every driver onto a canvas where the signature is captured on the spot. A regional manager auditing a depot can now confirm the driver signed for the result without driving to the depot.

What it adds to the simple walkaround:

1. A finger-drawn signature in place of typed initials
2. A stronger attestation that the named driver did the walkaround themselves
3. A record that holds up to an insurer or a regulator without further explanation

Why it works: A signature is an attestation, not just a record. It also nudges the driver to treat the sign-off as a real decision, not a habit.

Steps included:

• 1 checklist (10 visual checks)
• 1 number reading (tyre pressure)
• 1 number reading (start-of-shift mileage)
• 1 signature (driver sign-off)

#4 - With photo evidence

Who it's for: Regulated fleets where the gauge reading actually has to be honest. HGV and CDL operators, bus and coach depots, large parcel fleets, audited care fleets. Operators covered by a DVSA-style walkaround obligation (DVSA in the UK, US DOT 49 CFR 396.13 pre-trip in the US and Canada, NHVR Daily Walkaround in Australia, equivalents across the EU).

What it is: The simple walkaround plus two photos: one of the tyre pressure gauge with the reading visible, one of the odometer showing the mileage. The numeric reading is a claim; the photo binds it to a real-world capture. A number on its own can be guessed. A number with a photo of the gauge that produced it cannot.

In practice: A regional parcel operator running 60 vans switched to this version after a fortnight of identical 32 PSI readings on one driver's daily log. A real tyre does not hold a perfect 32 PSI across a fortnight. The depot manager realised the driver had been writing down what looked plausible without breaking out the gauge. The fix was the version on this screen: the gauge has to be photographed alongside the reading, so the number cannot exist without proof the gauge was actually used.

What it adds to the simple walkaround:

1. A photo of the tyre pressure gauge with the reading visible
2. A photo of the odometer with the mileage visible
3. The two numeric readings can no longer be made up from memory

Why it works: A photo taken at the moment of the reading is far harder to fake than a number typed into a form. Once the team know the photo is required, the temptation to estimate disappears because the canvas will not let them.

Steps included:

• 1 checklist (10 visual checks)
• 1 number reading (tyre pressure)
• 1 photo (the pressure gauge showing the reading)
• 1 number reading (start-of-shift mileage)
• 1 photo (the odometer showing the mileage)
• 1 sign-off (initials and time)

#5 - With Poppi checking the photo

Who it's for: Larger fleets and depot managers where the tyre pressure gauge photo gets taken every day but nobody actually reviews it to check the pressure is safe.

What it is: A photo-checked walkaround is the photo version plus Poppi (AI) reviewing the tyre pressure gauge photo the moment it's saved. Poppi answers one question about that photo, set by you: does the reading show the tyre pressure is at or above the minimum safe level? If the answer is no, Poppi posts what it found to the team chat, so the problem gets fixed before the vehicle goes out.

In practice: A depot running 40 vans checks tyre pressure every morning. A driver photographs the gauge: 34 PSI, safe. Nothing happens. On a cold Monday the photo shows 22 PSI, well under the minimum. Poppi answers no and posts to the team chat ("Tyre pressure gauge reading is below the minimum safe level on van 14"). The depot manager gets it topped up before the van leaves the yard.

What it adds to the simple walkaround:

1. A photo of the gauge that gets checked the instant it's saved, not just stored
2. A team chat message with Poppi's verdict the moment a pressure reading is unsafe
3. The depot manager stops being the only person who ever looks at the photos

Why it works: The check happens in the seconds between the photo being taken and the driver pulling away. That's the only moment the problem is still cheap to fix. A manager reviewing photos the next day can only record that the pressure was wrong; Poppi catching it on the spot gets the tyre sorted before the vehicle leaves.

Steps included:

• 1 checklist (10 visual checks)
• 1 number reading (tyre pressure)
• 1 photo (the pressure gauge showing the reading)
• 1 number reading (start-of-shift mileage)
• 1 photo (the odometer showing the mileage)
• 1 sign-off (initials and time)
• 1 Poppi decision (judges the gauge photo against your question)
• 1 Poppi action (posts to the team chat if the photo fails the check)

#6 - With an alert if it is overdue

Who it's for: Fleet managers running several vehicles where a walkaround sometimes gets skipped on a busy morning. Multi-site operators, courier sub-depots, and any fleet where a vehicle going out unchecked is a compliance risk.

What it is: An overdue-walkaround alert is the simple walkaround plus a Poppi (AI) action set to the vehicle's shift start time. If the walkaround is not finished by the time the vehicle is due out, Poppi posts a message in the Pilla team chat, so someone catches it before the vehicle leaves rather than after. It watches the deadline, so it catches the walkaround that quietly got skipped, not just the one nobody thought to check.

In practice: A courier sub-depot runs 15 vans out every weekday morning. On a hectic Monday, two drivers get straight in and drive off without opening the canvas. With this version, the team chat gets a message for each van that has not signed off by its usual departure time, so the depot manager catches the two missed walkarounds that morning rather than finding out after an incident.

What it adds to the simple walkaround:

1. A message in the team chat if the walkaround is not finished by its due time
2. A catch for the walkaround that got skipped in a rush, not just the one nobody remembered
3. A record of when the walkaround should have been done, next to when it was
4. The depot manager finds out the same morning, not after the vehicle is already on the road

Why it works: The alert is tied to the vehicle's departure time, so a missed walkaround raises its own hand. Nobody has to check every van; the deadline does.

Steps included:

• 1 checklist (10 visual checks)
• 1 number reading (tyre pressure)
• 1 number reading (start-of-shift mileage)
• 1 sign-off (initials and time)
• 1 Poppi action (posts to the team chat if the walkaround is not finished by its due time)

How to pick the right version

You don't need to know our product to choose. Answer a few questions about how your walkaround actually runs.

Is it just you driving the vehicle, or do other people drive it too?

If you drive the same vehicle yourself every day, the standard lives in your head, and that works. The moment someone else uses the vehicle (a different driver, a new starter, a relief carer), that standard has to live on the screen instead, or every walkaround gets done a bit differently. If only you drive it, #1 is enough. If anyone else does, #2 puts the guidance on screen for you.

Do you need a signed record, or are typed initials enough?

Typed initials are a record. A signature is an attestation. If your records are internal and the fleet is small, stick with #1 or #2. If the record might go in front of an auditor or an insurer, #3 adds a drawn signature.

Do you need photo proof of the readings, or is a number enough?

A number says what the gauge showed. A photo shows it. If a number alone is enough for your records, #1 or #2 is fine. If a regulator, an insurer, or a depot manager might want to see the gauge and the odometer that produced the numbers, #4 adds both photos.

Does anyone actually review the gauge photo once it's taken?

If a manager genuinely checks every tyre pressure photo, #4's record is enough. If photos get taken and filed unseen, #5 has Poppi (AI) check the gauge reading the moment it's saved, and post to the team chat when the pressure looks unsafe.

Does the walkaround have to be finished by a set time?

If a busy morning sometimes means the walkaround slips, #6 posts a message to the team chat when the vehicle should have been checked and hasn't been.

Need more than one addition? Open the version with the addition that matters most in the playground and add the others as steps. That's how the product works anyway: every option here is one step added to the same walkaround.

Related workflows

• Equipment pre-use check - the same pattern applied to non-vehicle work equipment
• End-of-shift report - the closing record that pairs with the morning walkaround
• Shift handover - passing a vehicle from one driver to the next
• Contractor sign-in - the pattern for capturing arrivals safely

Conclusion

A vehicle pre-use check is the daily walkaround a driver does on their vehicle before it goes out: the visual checks, the tyre pressure and mileage readings, and a sign-off. Every version above is the same simple walkaround plus one addition: guidance, a signature, photo evidence, an AI check on the gauge photo, or an alert if the walkaround runs late. Pick the ones your fleet needs and combine them in the playground.