Driver shift software: clock in, clock out, know who's working
Drivers clock in and out from their phone; you get a weekly history per driver, leave requests with approvals, and one view of who is actually working today.
How do drivers clock in and out?
From the same Smart Strix app they already use for jobs — open it at the start of the shift, clock in; clock out when the day ends. There is no separate timekeeping app to install, no wall-mounted terminal at a depot most drivers never visit, and no paper timesheet handed in crumpled on Friday. Because clocking happens where the work happens, it actually gets done.
That single tap creates the duty record. For a courier or removals firm paying hourly or reconciling subcontractor invoices, the difference between claimed hours and recorded hours is money — and recorded hours win arguments.
What does the weekly shift history show?
Each driver's clock-ins and clock-outs assembled week by week. Use it for payroll preparation, for checking a subcontractor's invoice against reality, or for spotting patterns — the driver whose weeks keep creeping longer, the one who consistently starts late on Mondays. History accumulates without anyone maintaining it; it is a by-product of drivers doing their job.
How are holidays and sick days handled?
Through PTO and sick leave requests with an approval step. A driver requests time off in the app; a manager approves or declines; the outcome is recorded. That kills the classic small-fleet failure where holiday was agreed verbally in the yard, forgotten, and discovered when two drivers are missing on the same Friday. Approved leave is visible when you plan the week, so assignment decisions are made against who will really be available.
What is the working-today view?
A live answer to the dispatcher's first question of the morning: who do I have? It shows which drivers are on shift right now, so you allocate work against actual attendance rather than the rota you hoped for. Combined with the live map on the Advanced plan's GPS tracking, you know both who is working and where they are.
What are the drivers' hours rules for UK van fleets?
Most vans under 3.5 tonnes on domestic work fall under GB domestic drivers' hours rules rather than the EU regime. The headline limits, per gov.uk guidance:
| GB domestic rule | Limit |
|---|---|
| Daily driving | 10 hours |
| Weekly duty | 56 hours |
| Break | 30 minutes after 5.5 hours of driving |
These figures are a summary, not advice — rules differ by vehicle, journey type and contract, so check current gov.uk guidance. Our van drivers' hours guide walks through them in plain English. Strix's clock-in records give you duty-time evidence, which supports — but does not replace — your obligation to manage hours lawfully.
Why keep shifts in your fleet platform instead of a separate HR tool?
Because shifts and dispatch are the same problem viewed from two sides. A standalone clock-in app knows who worked; it does not know what they carried, which van they took, or which jobs ran long. In Strix the shift record sits beside the day's jobs, the vehicle check-out, and the fuel receipts — one account of the working day, in one place, under role-based access (admin, manager, driver, viewer). Plan details are on the pricing page; Starter covers up to 3 drivers and Advanced is unlimited.