You can use the ShiftCare mobile app to track your travel mileage and ensure accurate billing for your shifts. Depending on your organisation's settings, you can automatically track your route in real time via GPS, or manually submit your distance along with odometer photos.
This feature allows you to record two types of travel:
To-Shift Travel: Your trip to the client's location before the shift starts.
In-Shift Travel: Trip/s done during the shift (e.g., driving a client to an appointment).
To learn how to set up and configure these features, please read our comprehensive admin guide on mileage tracking.
Important Phone Settings for GPS Tracking
For ShiftCare to accurately track your travel and automatically calculate billable mileage, your phone must allow the app's GPS to run in the background.
If your phone's battery optimisation settings put ShiftCare to "sleep" while your screen is off, it can cause missing distance data, gaps in your route map, and incorrect billing.
To prevent this, you must adjust your phone settings:
Location Permissions: Ensure ShiftCare is set to 'Always Allow' and 'Precise Location' is enabled.
Battery Settings (Android Users): Android devices restrict background apps to save battery. You must set ShiftCare's battery usage to 'Unrestricted'.
How to Set Unrestricted Battery Usage (Android):
Go to your phone's Settings > Apps.
Tap ShiftCare, then tap Battery.
Select 'Unrestricted'.
(Note: Samsung, Google Pixel, and other Android brands may have additional settings like 'Never Sleeping Apps' or 'Background Usage Limits' that also need to be adjusted. Please check your specific device's battery settings to ensure ShiftCare is fully exempt from optimisation).
Mobile App Workflow
Depending on how your organisation has configured the shift, you can log your mileage using GPS Auto-Tracking, Manual Entry, or Both.
Open the shift card in the mobile app.
Tap the 'Mileage' button.
Select the type of travel you want to log:
Travel to Shift (km): If you are on your way to the shift.
In-Shift Travel (km): If you are transporting a client during the shift.
Option 1: GPS Auto-Tracking
If GPS tracking is enabled for your shift, choose Auto-Track (GPS) as your tracking method.
Choose your Vehicle Type. If you choose 'Personal vehicle', enter your vehicle's registration details. If you choose 'Company vehicle', select the correct vehicle from the dropdown menu.
Enter a note about the trip (optional), then tap 'Start Tracking'.
Once tracking begins, a banner will appear at the top of your screen indicating that tracking is in progress. When you arrive at your destination, tap 'Finish'.
Tap 'Stop and Review' to confirm the distance and save the log.
Review the details. You can add or edit your note here before tapping 'Submit'.
Option 2: Manual Entry
If manual entry is enabled for your shift, tap Manual Entry.
Type in the total distance travelled (km).
Choose your Vehicle Type. If you choose 'Personal vehicle', enter your vehicle's registration details. If you choose 'Company vehicle', select the correct vehicle from the dropdown menu.
Enter a note about the trip (optional).
Tap the photo tiles to take a picture (or upload one from your gallery) of your car's odometer at the start and end of your trip. Click 'Submit Trip'.
Depending on your company's settings, these photos may be required. If they are mandatory, you will not be able to submit your mileage unless you upload two photos.
Automated Prompt (To-Shift Travel)
If you clock out of a shift and have another shift scheduled to start within 60 minutes, the app will automatically prompt you to start logging travel to the next location.
Key Rules and Limitations
To-Shift Travel:
You can only log one To-Shift travel entry per shift.
You cannot log To-Shift travel if you have already clocked in.
In-Shift Travel:
You can log multiple In-Shift trips within a single shift (e.g., driving to an appointment, then later driving to a park).
For further assistance with Advanced GPS Mileage Tracking in the Mobile App (Advanced Mileage), please contact our Support team using online chat when you're logged into ShiftCare or email our Support team at support@shiftcare.com.