Overview of Groups in Geotab

Groups and sub-groups help define organizational structures, allowing a company to departmentalize various kinds of data, such as Asset and Zone data. 


You can view Groups by:

  1. Navigating to ‘Rules and Groups’ on the left pane in the MyGeotab Database (your menu may look different depending on how your Geotab Database is organized.)
  2. Clicking ‘Groups’ in the menu. 

On this screen you will see the ‘Groups Tree,’ showing the level of visibility each group has into company data. The ‘Groups Tree’ flows left to right, the left side of the tree having the most access.

In the example below, the ‘Company group’ has the most access, and can view anything to the right of it. As you drill into the levels of the tree each subgroup continues to only view anything to the right. For example, someone in the ‘Asset Information’ group can view ‘Asset Type’ and ‘Powertrain and Fuel Type’ groups only.


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Groups act as levels of permissions and often when Assets (Tractor or Trailer) are in different groups then the Driver, we see issues start to occur. The following outlines some common problems and how to resolve them. 

Hidden Asset and Zone Issue

Trailer is the most common unit where we hear of hidden issues caused by groups, but this can also happen with other Assets as well as with Zones. 

Multiple Trailers

You can identify what trailers a driver has assigned / attached to them through their logs. Using the Geotab database, we can pull the driver’s ELD logs and review their assigned trailer with each of their status changes. You can do this by navigating to ‘Activity’ > ‘HOS Logs’ >’Logs’, and search for the associated driver.  
If the driver has multiple trailers assigned to them, both trailer numbers will be listed in the ‘Trailers’ column separated by a comma in the section that lists each duty status change at the bottom of the page. We also can review all trailers within the system to identify if there have been any duplicate trailers created and assigned.     

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Hidden Trailer Caused by Groups

In the case that a Driver has an incorrect/extra trailer attached to them and is unable to see it in their Assets to be able to remove it, it is most likely because the Driver and Trailer are not in the same group. The Driver cannot remove the Trailer because the Driver does not have access to the group the trailer is in.
 

Resolution

To resolve this either the Driver needs to be added to the group that the Trailer is in, or the Trailer needs to be added to the group that the Driver is in. It is up to the customer whether this is resolved by changing the trailer or by changing the driver group, whichever solution best meets their needs. Clients can make this change themselves with Administrator access, and this can be done temporarily to detach trailers or permanently to keep the group assignment.  

Making this change will allow the Driver to view the Trailer by going to ‘Assets’ in the Geotab Drive app, and then detach it from their vehicle if necessary. For more information on this step, refer to the first video/document in our Geotab Driver Training Videos & Documents Knowledge Base Article called “How to Edit Assets and Shipment Info in Geotab.”   After the trailer is removed, you can change the groups for the driver and trailer back to what they originally were, if needed. 


  1. 1.  Find in MyGeotab what Group(s) the Driver and the Asset belong to. 
    1. a)  Click on ‘Administration’ on the left side of the screen, then click on ‘Users’.   
    2. b)  Type the Driver’s name or ID in the upper left corner. Their record will immediately populate as you are typing. The name of the Driver ‘s Group is underneath their name in the search results. In our example, the group is ‘Company’ group. 
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2.  Find the Group that the Asset or Trailer is in. 
        a)  Click on ‘Vehicles & Assets’ in the Menu on the left side of the screen. 
        b) Search for the Name, VIN, Serial Number, and even License plate number search bar. 
        c)  The name of the Group will be printed below the trailer number, or it may have a number, indicating that it is in more than one group. You can click the number to get a tooltip with the names of the groups. In the example     below unit 4000 is in the ‘Trailer’ group. 

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  1. 3. To Add a User to a Group:  
    1. a)  Click ‘Administration’ > ‘Users.’ 
    2. b)  Search and select the user you wish to edit. 
    3. c)  Under the ‘Groups’ section, select the desired Group(s) by either typing the group name(s) in the ‘Select groups...’ field or clicking the downward facing arrow.  Select the desired group from the drop down to have it populate within the list. 

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       d) Click Save in the top left.

        e)  To remove a user from a group in the ‘Groups’ Section: click X on the group(s) you would like to             remove. Click Save in the top left. 
 

  1. 4.  To Add an Asset to a Group 
    1. a)  Go to ‘Vehicles & Assets’ > Click on the desired vehicle. 
    2. b)  On the ‘Asset’ tab, look for the ‘Groups’ field. 
    3. c)  Click on the ‘Groups’ tab. 
    4. d)  Under the ‘Groups’ section, select the desired Group(s) by either typing the group name(s) in the ‘Select groups...’ field or clicking the downward facing arrow.  Select the desired group to have it populate within the list. 
    5. e)  Click Save in the upper left. 

Hidden Zones Caused by Groups 

Similarly, to the hidden trailer issue, sometimes Zones are hidden from MyGeotab Users if the User does not belong to the same group as the Zone.  Because of this, Users may not be able to view edit all the Zones in MyGeotab.   


Resolution

To resolve this either the User needs to be added to the Group that the Zone is in or, the Zone needs to be added to the Group that the Driver is in. It is up to the customer whether this is resolved by changing the Zone or by changing the User group. Clients can make this change themselves with Administrator access, and this can be done temporarily to edit Zones or permanently to keep the group assignment.   

To add a User to a Group, you can follow Step 3 in the previous section exactly.  To add a Zone to a Group, the resolution is like the steps above, except that you would navigate to Map > Zones > Zones. Here you can search for the Zone name and select it, then add it to a Group by selecting the appropriate Group from the drop down and save.  Making this change will allow the User to view the Zone to be able to edit it.   

Additional Resources: Geotab Community: How to Add, Edit, or Remove a Group