How do I record my work trips with the Travel Tracker?
Contents
The Travel Tracker records your work trips for you. The app logs the route, the start and end time, the start and end address and the kilometres driven, and groups the trips into a day by day list. Every trip is saved against a specific car, so add your car before your first trip.
When to use this: The Travel Tracker is currently available to a limited beta group: if you do not see the Travel Tracker in the app menu, the feature is not yet available to you, and it will open up more broadly later. Recording a trip only works in the Truster mobile app, because tracking needs the device location also in the background. In a browser you can view trips that are already saved, but starting a new trip is not available. Claiming a mileage allowance is a separate step, see Mileage allowances.
1Add a car before your first trip
Tracking links every trip to a car's registration number, so the car is added once in advance. Without a car, starting the tracking stops at the "No vehicles" view.
- Open "My vehicles" from the menu and press "Add new".
- Enter the car's registration number in "Car's registration number".
- Under "Use of the vehicle", select how much you use the car for business trips.
- Attach "Proof of vehicle value": the car's sales contract or other proof of its value.
- Press "Save".
All three fields are required, so saving stays disabled until the attachment is added as well. Vehicles are part of your company information, so adding a car requires the sole trader service. Fuller instructions, including what the attachment has to show: How do I add my car's details in the app?
2Start the trip
Start the trip before you set off, so the whole route is recorded. The first time, the app asks for location access, and it has to be granted as "Always": otherwise tracking stops as soon as you leave the app.
- Open "Travel Tracker" from the menu.
- Press "Start New Journey".
- Select the car and press "Start Tracking".
- If you have added only one car, the app selects it for you and goes straight to the tracking view.
- Grant location access as "Always" if the app asks for it.
- If you want, describe the trip under "Purpose of trip". You can also fill this in later.
- Press "Start".
Tracking continues while the app is in the background or the screen is locked. On Android the device shows a "Location Tracking Active" notification while tracking runs.
3Take a break and continue the trip
Use the pause when you stop for a longer while but the trip continues later as the same trip. Distance driven while paused is not recorded, and the kilometres are the sum of the sections separated by the pauses.
- Press "Pause" when you want to interrupt the tracking.
- Press "Continue" when you set off again.
- If the app reports "No GPS signal", wait a moment outdoors and press "Continue" again.
A paused trip stays at the top of the list on a card that reads "Paused". Only one trip can be running at a time: if an earlier trip is still open, the app reports "Active Journey Found" and does not start a new one.
4Stop and save the trip
Stop the trip when you arrive. The app then looks up the end address, calculates the kilometres and saves the trip. There is no separate save button during the trip, because the trip is saved as you go.
- Press "Stop & Save".
- Wait for the app to open the trip details.
- Check the details, fill in "Purpose of trip" if needed and press "Save".
Next to the kilometres the app also shows an amount in euros. It is an estimate based on a fixed per kilometre rate (0.57 €/km). The estimate does not carry over to an invoice or to bookkeeping automatically: a mileage allowance is added separately as an invoice expense, see Mileage allowances and Travel logbook.
Summary
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Where | App menu, "Travel Tracker" |
| Recording a trip | Mobile app only, browser for viewing |
| Location access | "Always" |
| Prerequisite | At least one car under "My vehicles" |
| The app saves | Route, times, addresses, kilometres, car, purpose of trip |
| Trips at a time | One |
| Mileage allowance | Claimed separately as an invoice expense |
Updated