Engine hours

Tracking the engine hours of your vehicles can help you schedule appropriate maintenance and monitor your fleet health.

Engine hours are defined as the total running time of a vehicle's engine. Run time accumulates regardless of whether the vehicle is moving or idling.

The current engine hours displayed in MyGeotab are calculated in the following ways:

  • In most cases, the engine hours are calculated using the engine's operational time reported directly from the Engine Control Unit (ECU). The vehicle logs and provides this data to the GO device, which relays the data to MyGeotab.

  • If the engine operational time is not available from the vehicle's ECU, MyGeotab can calculate engine hours based on GPS movement. However, engine hours calculated this way may increase even when the ignition is turned off if the vehicle is moving, such as when a vehicle is towed.

If a vehicle doesn’t report engine hours, you can add an initial value for the vehicle. MyGeotab will update this value based on ignition duration.

Note: The ability to access engine hours data is not supported on the Base plan.

Viewing an asset's engine hours

Learn how to view an asset’s engine hours using the Asset Details page.

  1. Navigate to Assets in the main menu.
  2. Select the asset you want to view from the list.
  3. On the Assets tab, locate the Engine hours/run time field under Usage.
The engine hours value listed here is an estimate based on your telematics data. You can adjust the value manually if it is incorrect.

Manually entering engine hours

Learn how to manually update engine hours for a vehicle when automatic updates are unavailable.

In cases where a vehicle doesn’t report engine hours, you can manually enter an initial value. The system will then update this value based on ignition duration.
  1. Navigate to Assets in the main menu.
  2. Select the asset you want to update engine hours for.
  3. Under the Assets tab, locate the Engine hours/run time field under Usage and enter the new engine hours and minutes.
    Note: You can type to enter the new value, or use the arrows in each field to adjust the current value.
  4. Click Save.
From this point on, MyGeotab will update the asset's engine hours based on the value you provided.

Viewing engine hours in the Assets report

Learn how to view engine hours for vehicles in your fleet using the Assets report.

If you want to view engine hours for multiple vehicles at once, you can view them in the Assets report.
  1. Navigate to Assets page in the main menu.
  2. Filter the page using the Filters to select the assets you want to view engine hours for.
  3. Click the Reports icon at the top of the page and select Advanced to download the Assets report.
  4. Open the Excel file.
  5. On the Report tab, check the engine hours for each vehicle in Column M.
The engine hours values listed here are estimates based on your telematics data. You can adjust the values manually if it is incorrect.

Calculating engine hours based on ignition

Learn how to calculate engine hours in the absence of ECM data based on an asset's ignition.

In cases where ECM data is unavailable, you can manually calculate engine hours based on ignition.
  1. Navigate to Maintenance > Measurements in the main menu.
  2. Under Filters:
    1. Select whether you want to include archived data.
    2. Select a date range for your data.
    3. Select the assets you want to include in the report.
    4. Under the Diagnostics dropdown, select Ignition.
    5. Click Apply.
  3. Identify consecutive IGN = 0 (OFF) and the preceding IGN = 1 (ON) events.
  4. Calculate the time difference between each set of events.
  5. Calculate the sum of the time differences to produce a total engine hours value.
You can add the total engine hours value for each vehicle on the Asset Details.

Tracking manual adjustments to engine hours

Learn how to use exception reporting to track manual adjustments to engine hours in MyGeotab

Before you can run an exception report, you'll need to create a custom rule to track engine hours adjustments.

  1. Navigate to Groups & Rules > Exceptions in the main menu.
  2. Select the groups you want to include in your report using the Groups dropdown.
  3. Select your custom rule for engine hours from the Rules dropdown.
  4. Select a date range for your data.
  5. Set the report to run by Asset.
  6. Select the assets you want to include in your report using the Assets dropdown.
  7. Click the custom rule name in the list to open a detailed list of assets that triggered the rule.
The count column for each asset displays the number of times the asset's engine hours were adjusted manually.

Creating an engine hours adjustments rule

Learn how to create a rule to track manual adjustments to engine hours.

This custom rule triggers when a user manually adjusts the engine hours for vehicles in your fleet.
  1. Navigate to Groups & Rules > Rules in the main menu.
  2. Click + Rule.
  3. Add basic details for your rule:
    1. Create a name for your rule, such as Manual Engine Hours Adjustments.
    2. Select the groups the rule will apply to using the Publish to groups dropdown list. You'll need to add all groups that contain the assets you want to track manual engine hour adjustments for.
    3. Add any necessary comments to your rule.
  4. Under the Conditions tab:
    1. Select Engine data as your condition type.
    2. Select Measurement or Data as the engine data type.
    3. Select Engine hours adjustment as your diagnostic.
    4. Set the Value field to 0, and ensure that the toggle is set to Over.
    5. Click Add.
      The condition should match the following: Status Data Diagnostic "Engine hours adjustment" > 0 s
  5. Click Save.
Your rule will begin generating data for manual engine hour adjustments immediately.