Choose vehicle types that reflect how your fleet travels

Group vehicles by the way they need to be routed

A mixed fleet may need Cargo bike, Passenger car, and Box truck categories. The category name can match your operation, while Transport Mode must be one of the supported choices.

A vehicle with no type falls back to Car routing. Naming a category “Truck” does not activate truck routing unless its Transport Mode is also Truck.

Vehicle type is separate from capability options. A truck type does not say that every truck has a liftgate; record that equipment as an option on the vehicles that have it.

Create a vehicle type

Use an administrator account in the site that owns the vehicle catalog.

1. Open Settings → Vehicle Types and select Add Vehicle Type.
2. Enter a clear Name, such as “Cargo bike.”
3. Add an optional Description to help staff distinguish it from similar categories.
4. Choose Bicycle under Transport Mode.
5. Keep Active enabled and select Create.

New sites already have a starting set of vehicle types. Review those first so you do not create several categories with the same meaning.

Apply the type to an actual vehicle

1. Open Vehicles, then edit an existing vehicle or select Add Vehicle.
2. On General, select the appropriate Vehicle Type. Complete the vehicle's identifying details, including its required make and model.
3. Open Specifications. Record seating or cargo capacity if your team uses those details, and assign any equipment Options.
4. For Truck routing, enter the vehicle's Gross Weight, height, width, length, and axle count as appropriate. Use the units displayed beside the fields.
5. Save and reopen the vehicle to confirm the type and specifications.

Cargo Capacity describes what the vehicle can carry. Gross Weight is a separate routing input. Setting cargo capacity does not populate gross weight, and creating a type does not supply dimensions for every vehicle in that category.

RouteIQ passes physical truck specifications into supported routing requests when the mode is Truck. Routing results still depend on the selected mapping provider and its supported features; a vehicle type alone is not a promise that every route restriction has been checked.

Verify with a representative trip

1. Confirm that the driver is using the intended vehicle, including its saved type.
2. Use a controlled test job or route with addresses typical of that vehicle's work.
3. Review the calculated route, distance, and ETA. For a bicycle or truck, check a trip where the selected mode matters.
4. If the result seems wrong, inspect the type's Transport Mode and the individual vehicle's specifications before changing the job.

For the next operational step, see dispatching jobs and how jobs, stops, and routes work together.

Keep categories consistent as the fleet changes

Edit a type's description when staff need a clearer explanation. Review the vehicles using a type before changing its Transport Mode, because the shared category determines their routing mode.

Deactivating a type removes it from the active list. It does not reclassify the vehicles already using it. Reassign those vehicles deliberately when replacing one category with another.

Troubleshooting

The type is missing from the vehicle picker

Check the site and the type's active status. The picker uses active vehicle types; close and reopen the form after creating one.

A truck appears to use car routing

Check the vehicle's selected type and that type's Transport Mode. A blank vehicle type falls back to Car, regardless of the vehicle's make, model, or name.

Entering dimensions did not have the expected effect

Confirm that the type uses Truck, that the driver is using that vehicle, and that the values use the displayed units. Check the mapping provider's capabilities for the routing operation you are using.

The category did not make a driver eligible for special work

Use capability requirements to match equipment or handling needs. A vehicle category and a job option are separate settings.