Manage Driver Accounts

• Create a New Driver Account

• Driver Profile Settings

• Add or Edit Drivers in Bulk

• Export Driver Information

Create a New Driver Account

As new drivers join your fleet, you must create a driver profile. The driver profile contains identification and other information required for compliance such as driver name, phone number, license number, and state. In the driver profile, you also define the username and password the driver will use to log in to the Samsara Driver App. As an alternative to adding drivers one-by-one, you can Add or Edit Drivers in Bulk.

Note

To continue to manage driver accounts, fleet managers can create, edit, or deactivate a driver.

After adding your drivers, all driver information can be updated from the Driver page in Settings.

To add a driver:

1. Select the Settings icon () at the bottom of your Fleet menu to view dashboard settings.

2. In Drivers > Driver App, select + Add a driver to access the driver creation form.

   

3. Enter the Driver Name and any additional information you want to collect about the driver. At a minimum define the following information for each driver:

   • Driver Name

   • Driver License Number and Driver License State

   • Unique Driver App Username and Password (drivers will need to enter this every time they log into the app)

4. Fill out any additional optional information about the driver. For a full list of fields, see Driver Profile Settings. Examples include:

   • Turn on Personal Conveyance or Yard Move.

   • Set a driver timezone if they often drive in a different time zone than the home office.

5. When you are done, Save the driver profile.

6. Send the credentials along with the Fleet ID to the driver to use to log into the Samsara Driver App.

Driver Profile Settings

You can configure driver profile settings on a per-driver basis when you add a new driver from Settings > Organization > Drivers.

The following table describes the driver profile settings you can configure:

Settings	Description
Driver Basics
Driver Name	(Required) Driver name or description for your driver.
Driver Phone Number	Phone number of the driver.
Driver License Number	(Required) Driver license number.
Driver License State or Province	(Required) State or province in which the driver license was issued.
Tags	Assign tags, if desired, to group your drivers. This field serves as a method for filtering access to driver information for other administrators on the Samsara dashboard. Tags specified here do not influence a driver's experience in the Samsara Driver App. Refer to Tags for more information on setting up your tags. To restrict a driver's ability to choose only specific vehicles or assets, you can apply Vehicle or Asset selection tags.
Notes	Provide any relevant notes for this driver.
Driver App Login
Username	Unique username the driver should use to log in to the Samsara Driver App.
Change Password	Initial password for the driver. After logging in for the first time, the driver is prompted to change the password. To change the password, you can return to the Drivers settings page and edit the settings for the specific driver. If you provide the mobile phone for the driver in the driver profile, the driver can also initiate a password reset without requiring the manual reset by an administrator.
Hours of Service & Exemptions
ELD Exempt	You can configure a driver as exempt from use of ELD functionality while using the Samsara Driver App. Drivers who are not required to use an ELD may still use the Samsara Driver App and avoid Hours of Service violation notifications through use of the ELD Exempt configuration setting. For more information, see ELD Exempt Drivers.
ELD Personal Conveyance (PC)	Personal Conveyance is defined as Off-Duty drive time spent doing non-work related activities in an unladen vehicle. Enable Personal Conveyance to enable drivers to perform off-duty driving activity.
ELD Yard Moves (YM)	Yard Move is defined as On-Duty (not driving) time. Enable Yard Moves to enable driversdrivers to perform on-duty driving activity without it counting toward On-Duty drive time.
ELD Day Start Hour	Select the time that indicates the beginning of a new day for the driver: 12am (Midnight) 12pm (Noon)
USA Exemptions	16-Hour Short-Haul 395.1(o) Adverse Driving (USA) 395.1(b)(1)
Canada Exemptions	Hours of Service violations are automatically calculated according to the ruleset for the country in which the driver is currently located and take into account any exemptions that you enable. Deferral of Daily Off-Duty Time (Canada South) SOR/2005-313 (16) Adverse Driving (Canada) SOR/2005-313 (76) Note This feature must be enabled by Samsara's support team.
Rulesets for drivers in Canada	Within minutes of crossing the United States border into Canada, or whenever your driver's vehicle is operating in Canada, the Samsara Driver App will automatically apply your pre-selected Canadian Hours of Service ruleset for your driver. To maintain consistency for cross-border drivers, the Samsara Driver App uses a three-clock configuration, including the break dial used in the United States four clock configuration. Canadian rulesets do not make use of the break dial, however, violations of the required daily off-duty time are calculated. By default, your Canadian Hours of Service ruleset will be designated as Canada South Cycle 1. If needed, you can change the ruleset for a specific driver to Cycle 2 ruleset.
Carrier Information
Home Terminal Timezone	The time stamps reflected on the Samsara dashboard are based on the timezone of the computer or device from which you view the dashboard with the exception of Driver's Hours of Service logs. Hours of Service logs are based on the Home Terminal Timezone as configured under Settings > Drivers for that particular driver on the Dashboard. For fleets that are subject to the ELD mandate, it is recommended that Drivers configure their mobile device to automatically set date and time to maintain log accuracy.
Home Terminal Name	To identify a home terminal base, enter the terminal name.
Home Terminal Address	Enter the address of the home terminal.
Carrier / Principal Place of Business Name Override	DOT Inspections require display of carrier information on any device used to present Hours of Service logs. You can enter DOT Information, Carrier Name, and Carrier Address on the HOS/DVIR page in Settings within the Samsara dashboard. If different drivers in your fleet have different carrier information (name, address, DOT #), then you can set an individual driver override. If a driver is given an override, that override will take preference over the fleet-wide setting, and over vehicle overrides. Updating an override will also not retroactively update any already certified HoS logs.
Main Office / Principal Place of Business Address Override
Carrier US DOT Number Override
Advanced
Locale Override	If the driver operates in an area that differs from the default locale, specify that locale here.
Driver Peer Group	Group of drivers show for safety gamification in the driver app.
Static Vehicle Assignment	Associate this vehicle with a driver in reports on the dashboard. Do not use this if your drivers use the Samsara Driver App: static assignments are not ELD compliant and have no effect on vehicle selection in the app.
Vehicle Selection Tag	Use this tag to restrict the vehicles a driver can select with the mobile app. The Vehicle and Trailer selection tags do not have to match each other and do not have to match any Tags assigned in the Driver Profile Settings field.
Trailer Selection Tag	Use this tag to restrict the trailers a driver can select with the mobile app. The Vehicle and Trailer selection tags do not have to match each other and do not have to match any Tags assigned in the Driver Profile Settings field.
Driver ID Token	(Optional) Enter the unique Driver ID Token. To enable this setting or to manage Driver ID Tokens, see Driver ID Tokens. Driver ID tokens do not log Hours of Service (HOS). If your driver is subject to the ELD mandate or you require your driver to log HOS, the driver must use the Samsara Driver App.
Start of Day Workflow	Start of day workflows provide a way to step drivers through the tasks that they have to complete at the beginning of their day. If you have configured specific workflows, you can select them here, if applicable to this driver.

Add or Edit Drivers in Bulk

To quickly add and edit drivers in bulk, you start with a template in a comma-separated values (CSV) format. When you export the template from the Samsara dashboard, Samsara includes all existing drivers and their unique Samsara ID. In the CSV file, you can add new drivers or modify information about your existing drivers:

1. Select the Settings icon ( ) at the bottom of your Fleet menu to view dashboard settings.

2. From within Fleet settings, select Organization > Drivers.

3. Select More Actions > Upload CSV.

   

   Warning

   Do not select Download CSV for the purpose of bulk updates. The Download CSV file is not properly formatted for bulk upload and is intended for viewing only.

4. Select Download Drivers List to download a template that contains your existing driver data or Download Blank Template to start a new template and define driver data from scratch.

   

   You can later return here when you complete your edits in the CSV file.

5. Open the CSV file in a spreadsheet application of your choice.

   If you open the file in Microsoft Excel, the application identifies the ID as a scientific number. As a result, you must first set the format for the ID field as a Number and remove any additional decimal places before saving the file. If you skip this step, you will overwrite the unique ID and will need to start over with a new file.

6. Make any desired changes to your drivers and download the spreadsheet as a CSV file.

   See CSV Format for Drivers for required fields and detailed formatting requirements. Review the following additional considerations when you modify the CSV file:

   • Any changes to existing drivers will overwrite the definitions in the Samsara dashboard upon import. Be careful in these cases to avoid accidentally overwriting existing stored data.

   • If you include a column and leave a value blank, Samsara assigns the default value for the field (typically null or blank).

   • Ensure that you have fewer than 50,000 entries.

   • You must include the first row (the header row) in the CSV file.

7. After you download the CSV file, return to the Drivers setting in the Samsara dashboard.

8. Select More Actions (...) > Upload CSV.

9. Choose the CSV file or drag and drop the CSV file.

10. Preview Changes of your driver updates.

    The Samsara dashboard displays CSV Uploads, where you can view the upload progress.

11. Review your changes before you commit to updates.

    If the upload has errors, click Review Errors. Edit your CSV file to correct the errors and retry the file upload.

12. Select Finalize Changes to add drivers in bulk.

CSV Format for Drivers

The following table describes the CSV fields you can use to define your drivers:

Field	Description	Example
ID	Internal ID Number of the driver. This field is not editable on import since it represents an internal storage identifier. For new drivers, leave this field empty.	1
Username	(Required) The username of the driver. The username must be unique, at least four characters long, and not contain any special characters.	User123
Password	(Required) The case-sensitive password of the driver.	Password123
Name	(Required) The name of the driver.	First Last
Phone	The 10 digit phone number of the driver.	10020030000
Notes	Any notes for the driver.	Contacts, orders, and delivery information.
License Number	(Required for ELD compliance) The unique driver license number.	12412D3
License State	(Required for ELD compliance) The driver license state.	AK
ELD Exempt	For ELD Exempt Drivers, mark this field as TRUE. If the driver is not ELD Exempt, you can leave this field blank.	TRUE
ELD Exempt Reason	The reason the driver is ELD exempt. If the driver is not ELD exempt, leave this field blank.	The vehicle is unregulated and does not transport hazardous material.
16-hour Short-Haul Exemption	If a driver has 16-hour Short-Haul Exemption enabled, mark this field as TRUE. Otherwise, leave this field blank. For more information regarding whether a driver is eligible for this exemption, see 16-Hour Short-Haul Exemption (Big Day).	TRUE
Adverse Driving Exemption	If a driver has Fleet Adverse Driving Exemptions enabled, mark this field as TRUE. Otherwise, leave this field blank.	TRUE
Defer Off-Duty Exemption	(Canada only) If a driver has Deferral of Off Duty Exemption enabled, mark this field as TRUE. Otherwise leave this field blank.	TRUE
Adverse Driving (Canada) Exemption	If a driver has Fleet Adverse Driving Exemptions enabled, mark this field as TRUE. Otherwise, leave this field blank.	TRUE
ELD Personal Conveyance (PC)	If a driver can perform off-duty driving and has PC enabled, mark this field as TRUE. If not, leave this field blank.	TRUE
ELD Yard Moves (YM)	If a driver can perform on-duty driving activity without it counting toward on-duty drive time, mark this field as TRUE. Otherwise, leave this field blank.	TRUE
ELD Utility Exemption	If a driver has ELD Utility Exemption enabled, mark this field as TRUE. Otherwise, leave this field blank.	TRUE
Waiting Time (WT)	If a driver has Waiting Time Exemption enabled, mark this field as TRUE. Otherwise, leave this field blank.	TRUE
ELD Day Start Hour	The day start hour for the driver HOS logs.	0 or 12
Home Terminal Timezone	Timezone for the home terminal of the driver.	New York - EST/EDT
Carrier Name Override	Carrier name override for the driver if different from the group default.	Carrier Name
Main Office Address Override	Main office address override for the driver if different from the group default.	123 Real St, Springfield
Carrier US DOT Number Override	DOT number override for the driver if different from the group default.	USDOT1234567
Home Terminal Name	Home terminal name of the driver.	My Terminal
Home Terminal Address	Home terminal address of the driver.	350 Rhode Island St.
Peer Group Tag	The peer group(s) of the driver. Must match an existing tag.	tag1
Vehicle Selection Tag	The tag that limits which vehicles the driver can select in the Driver App. Must match an existing tag.	EX.TAG
Trailer Selection Tag	The tag that limits which trailers the driver can select in the Driver App. Must match an existing tag.	EX.TAG
ID Card Code	The code on the ID card of the driver.	198936554
Tachograph Card	The 16 digit tachograph card number of the driver.	5639902673566548
Driver Status	Status of the driver account, either Active or Deactivated.	Active Deactivated
Tags	The tag(s) for the driver. Must match existing Tags.	EX.TAG
Driver Attribute: (Attribute Name)	A unique column for each asset attribute name that describes driver details using one or more attribute values. The attribute name and value must match existing attributes. To separate attributes, use a semicolon. To remove all attribute values, type NULL. For more information about attributes, see Attributes.	Driver Attribute: Employee Group Non-Employee; Hourly
US Short Haul Exemption	If a driver has Short-haul Air-mile radius exemption enabled, mark this field as TRUE. If not, leave this field blank.	TRUE
Driver ID	The Bluetooth Key ID of the driver.	DriverID
Driver Ruleset Cycle	Name of the driver ruleset cycle.	USA Property (8/70) USA Property (7/60) USA Passenger (8/70) USA Passenger (7/60) Alaska Property (8/80) Alaska Property (7/70) Alaska Passenger (8/80) Alaska Passenger (7/70) Nebraska (8/80) North Carolina (8/80) North Carolina (7/70) Oklahoma (8/70) Oklahoma (7/60) Oregon (8/80) Oregon (7/70) South Carolina (8/80) South Carolina (7/70) Texas (7/70) Wisconsin (8/80) Wisconsin (7/70) California School/FLV (8/80) California Farm (8/112) California Property (8/80) California Flammable Liquid (8/80) California Passenger (8/80) California Motion Picture (8/80) Florida (8/80) Florida (7/70)
Driver Ruleset US State to Override	Two character state code. Must match one of the above rulesets. If the override is a Federal ruleset, then the State field should be left blank.	TX
Driver Ruleset Restart	The time it takes to restart a cycle and reset the driver weekly hours to zero.	34-hour Restart 24-hour Restart
Driver Ruleset Restbreak	The time it takes for Samsara to reset the clock after a break time is over. See the different Customizable Driver Rulesets.	Property (on-duty/off-duty/sleeper) California Meal Break (off-duty/sleeper)

Export Driver Information

1. Select the Settings icon () at the bottom of your Fleet menu to view dashboard settings.

2. In Organization > Drivers, select More Actions > Download CSV.