How to check vehicles out and in

Check the renter's license, record mileage, fuel and damage on your phone, and let Otto work out extra miles, fuel and a late return.

Updated 2026-10-18

Handing a vehicle over and taking it back are done on the rental itself, and both work on a phone at the counter or in the car park. Open Fleet, then the Rentals tab, and press the rental.

Set your return charges first

In the Rentals tab, the Rental settings panel holds what a return can add:

• Miles a day: the miles included for each day of the rental. Leave it empty for unlimited miles.
• Each extra mile: the price of each mile over that.
• Refuel, per ⅛ tank: the price of each eighth of a tank short of what it left with.
• Grace for returns: how many minutes late a return can be before it counts as late.

Press Save settings. Only someone who manages the business can change these, and the prices only show to positions that see money.

Check the renter's license

A confirmed rental shows a Driver's license box.

1. Look at the renter's license.
2. Under Expires, pick the date it expires, and under State, type the state that issued it.
3. Press I checked the license.

Otto keeps only who checked it, the day they checked, the expiry date and the state. The license number is not kept, and no picture of the license is kept. The box then reads "Checked by (your name) on (date)". The check belongs to the renter, so their next rental already has it while the license is still valid.

Check-out is refused until the license is checked, and when the license has expired or expires before the return day.

Check out

1. In the Check out box, type the Odometer (miles).
2. Under Fuel, press the level: E, 1 to 7 eighths, or F.
3. Under Damage and notes, write anything already wrong with the vehicle.
4. Under Damage photos, press Take a photo or Add photos or files for each mark.
5. Press Check out.

Check out stays grayed out, with the reason written under it, until the license is checked, the mileage is typed and the fuel is picked. The rental becomes Out, the vehicle becomes Rented, and the vehicle's mileage is updated.

Check in

When the vehicle comes back, open the rental again. The box now reads Check in, with the mileage and fuel it left with.

1. Type the Odometer (miles).
2. Press the Fuel level.
3. Write any new damage under Damage and notes, and add photos.
4. Press Check in.

Otto says "Checked in — a cleaning job was made". The rental becomes Returned, the vehicle is Available again, and a job called Clean and inspect — (vehicle) is made with the return's mileage, fuel and notes on it. Press Cleaning job to open it.

What the return adds

The rental shows what it left with and came back with, then the charges:

• Miles driven: the miles over what was included (miles a day × the rental's days), at your price for each extra mile.
• Fuel short: each eighth of a tank short of what it left with, at your refuelling price.
• Late: a return later than the return time plus your grace minutes is charged one day at the rental's daily rate for each started day late.

The Total is the rental's price plus these charges. The deposit is shown on its own and is not added to the total.

Bill the rental

Press Bill this rental to make a draft invoice for the renter. It has a line for the vehicle and its days, one for each extra, and one each for extra miles, refuelling and a late return when there are any. The draft is not sent: send it from the invoice the way you send any invoice, and it goes through Reviews. A rental can have one invoice; press Invoice to open it.

Bill this rental is grayed out until Invoices is switched on in Settings → What you use.

If it doesn't work

• "Check the renter's driver's license first." — check it in the Driver's license box.
• "The renter's license expired on …. Check a current one." or "The renter's license expires on …, before the return. Check a current one." — look at a current license and record its expiry.
• "The vehicle last read … miles. Check the odometer." — the mileage is lower than the vehicle's last reading.
• "It left with … miles. Check the odometer." — the return mileage is lower than when it went out.
• "Switch on Invoices under Settings to bill a rental."
• "This rental already has an invoice." — press Invoice to open the one it has.