1. What is Auto Sign Out?
Auto Sign Out (sometimes called “auto unassign”) is an optional safety feature that:
Automatically signs drivers/operators out of equipment after a period of inactivity.
Helps prevent situations where a driver forgets to sign out and appears to still be driving a truck they left hours ago.
Works for:
Drivers using hardware telematics devices
Drivers using App as a Device (AaaD) on their phone
You control this setting on the Driver Safety Settings page.
2. Where to Configure Auto Sign Out
Navigation (web):
Manage > Driver Safety > Driver Safety Settings
On that page you’ll see:
Auto Sign Out Drivers/Operators
Checkbox or toggle to turn the feature On/Off.
Auto Sign Out After X Hours of Inactivity
Dropdown or number selector (for example, 2 hours, 4 hours, etc.).
This is the maximum “no activity” time before the system auto‑signs the driver/operator out.
Except These Drivers (Exclusions)
A list where you can add specific drivers who should never be auto‑signed‑out.
Common use case: “take‑home” trucks or yard/low‑use equipment where a permanent assignment is preferred.
Note: If Auto Sign Out is turned off, none of the timing rules below apply.
3. How the System Decides a Driver is “Inactive”
Auto Sign Out is based on equipment activity, not whether the app is open on a phone.
Behind the scenes, FleetWatcher looks for certain packets (data messages) from the device or AaaD. The driver is considered active as long as the system is receiving any of these:
Engine On
Engine Off
Engine Running
Transport Begin
Transport Update
If none of these packets are seen for at least the number of hours you selected in Driver Safety Settings:
The system considers the equipment “inactive” for that driver/operator.
The Auto Sign Out process will:
End the driver’s driver assignment on that equipment.
End the operator assignment (if used).
Respect any drivers in the Except These Drivers list.
4. What Drivers and Managers Will See
4.1 When Auto Sign Out Happens
When the driver is auto‑signed‑out:
The driver will no longer appear as assigned to that equipment.
Equipment and driver assignment history will show that the sign‑out was system‑initiated (auto).
Reports can distinguish between:
Drivers who signed themselves out, and
Drivers who were auto unassigned.
For example, the Driver Assignment History and Truck Assignment History reports include an “Auto Unassigned” column.
4.2 How This Impacts Daily Operations
If a driver forgets to sign out at the end of a shift, the system will automatically:
Sign them out after the configured inactivity period.
Help keep reports and dashboards accurate for the next day.
Drivers who consistently fail to sign out can be identified via the Auto Unassigned reporting and coached.
5. Special Behavior for App as a Device (AaaD)
When you use App as a Device, the driver’s phone becomes the reporting device. Auto Sign Out uses the same logic as with physical devices, but there are a few key points to understand.
5.1 How AaaD Sends Activity
With AaaD, activity packets (Engine On/Off, Running, Transport Begin/Update) are generated from the driver’s phone based on:
App state (foreground/background)
Motion and trip events
Connectivity (online vs offline)
As long as AaaD is sending those packets on a regular basis, the driver is considered active.
5.2 When an AaaD Driver Will Be Auto Signed Out
An AaaD driver will be auto‑signed‑out when both of the following are true:
Auto Sign Out is enabled in Driver Safety Settings and the driver is not in the “Except These Drivers” list.
The system has not seen any of the key packets from that driver’s AaaD session (Engine On/Off/Running, Transport Begin/Update) for longer than the configured hours.
Common AaaD scenarios:
Driver ends their day but forgets to stop driving or decouple themselves:
AaaD eventually stops sending movement/transport packets.
After the configured inactivity window (for example, 2 hours), Auto Sign Out will:
Unassign the driver from the equipment.
If also configured, decouple them from AaaD so they drop off AaaD fleet‑status views.
Driver force‑closes the AaaD app or loses connectivity and never resumes:
Packets stop when the app is fully closed and/or cannot send data.
After the inactivity window, Auto Sign Out will unassign the driver (again, assuming they’re not excluded).
5.3 When an AaaD Driver Will Not Be Auto Signed Out (Even if They Expect It)
Because Auto Sign Out is packet‑driven, there are cases where the driver may stay assigned longer than expected:
The AaaD app continues to send periodic packets (for example, delayed uploads or cached data) that reset the inactivity timer.
The company has Auto Sign Out turned off or has added the driver to “Except These Drivers”.
The auto‑unassign background tasks are temporarily disabled at the system level during an investigation or hotfix.
If your AaaD drivers are not auto‑signing‑out as expected, please capture examples (driver, truck, approximate times) and contact support.
6. Known Behaviors and Limitations
Timing can appear “off” by several minutes in edge cases
Example: customer sets a 10‑minute or 1‑hour inactivity interval but sign‑out happens later than that.
This can happen because:
The timer is based on the last activity packet, and
The background unassign job runs on a schedule, not every second.
AaaD drivers may be auto‑unassigned while still working in low‑cell areas
When network is poor, AaaD can’t send packets in real time. The system may not see activity for the entire interval and auto‑unassign the driver, even though they were still driving.
7. Best Practices for Using Auto Sign Out (Especially with AaaD)
To get predictable behavior:
Confirm your settings
Turn Auto Sign Out Drivers/Operators on.
Choose a realistic inactivity period (for example, 4–8 hours for overnight sign‑out).
Add truly permanent or take‑home drivers to “Except These Drivers”.
Educate drivers
AaaD users should still:
Tap Stop Driving / Sign Out when done.
Avoid force‑closing the app mid‑shift (this can interfere with clean trip data and AaaD alerts).
Monitor the Auto Unassigned reports
Use the Auto Unassigned columns/reports to:
Spot drivers who rely on auto sign out every day.
Validate that the feature is running as intended.
If behavior looks wrong, capture examples
Note:
Driver name
Asset
Date/time they stopped driving
Date/time they were actually auto‑signed‑out
Support can then cross‑check the exact activity and auto‑unassign timing.
8. FAQ – Auto Sign Out / Auto Unassign
This section answers the most common customer questions about Auto Sign Out, using the same wording you might hear from drivers or dispatchers.
Q1. Explain “Auto Sign Out Drivers/Operators”
“Auto Sign Out Drivers/Operators” is a setting that automatically removes (unassigns) drivers and operators from equipment after a period of inactivity.
When it is ON, FleetWatcher:
Watches for activity on the equipment (Engine / Transport packets).
If there is no activity for the amount of time you select, it auto‑signs the driver/operator out of that truck.
When it is OFF, drivers will stay assigned until they manually sign out.
You can add exceptions in “Except These Drivers” so those drivers are never auto‑signed‑out.
You configure this under:
Manage > Driver Safety > Driver Safety Settings. The Auto Sign Out Drivers/Operators is on the right side of the screen.
Q2. When does Auto Sign Out happen?
Auto Sign Out happens when all of the following are true:
The Auto Sign Out Drivers/Operators feature is turned ON.
The driver is currently assigned to that equipment.
The system has not seen any of these activity packets from that equipment for longer than your configured interval:
Engine On
Engine Off
Engine Running
Transport Begin
Transport Update
The driver is not listed in “Except These Drivers”.
When those conditions are met and the background job runs, the driver/operator is automatically signed out (unassigned) from that truck.
Q3. What is the Auto Sign Out interval in reference to? Is it the amount of minutes after a driver clicks Stop Driving?
No. The interval is not “X minutes after the driver clicks Stop Driving.”
The Auto Sign Out interval is:
The amount of time since the last qualifying Engine/Transport activity packet, not since the last button tap in the app.
Concretely:
Every time we get an Engine On, Engine Off, Engine Running, Transport Begin, or Transport Update packet, the inactivity timer resets.
Once we stop seeing those packets, the timer starts.
If the no‑activity period reaches your interval (for example, 2 hours), the next run of the auto‑unassign job will sign the driver out.
So even if a driver never taps Stop Driving, Auto Sign Out can still remove them after there has been no Engine/Transport activity for the full interval.
Q4. Trucks are not showing up in the Select Truck list because they are still assigned to another driver
This usually means:
The truck is already assigned to a different driver.
For many workflows, that truck will not appear in the available Select Truck list for another driver, to prevent having two drivers assigned to the same unit at once.
To fix it:
Ask the current driver to sign out / stop driving that truck, or
Rely on Auto Sign Out (if enabled) to automatically unassign them after there has been no activity for the full interval.
Once the original driver is unassigned, the truck will become available again in the Select Truck list.
Q5. Does the Auto Sign Out Drivers feature correct this issue (trucks stuck assigned to another driver)?
Yes, in most cases.
If a truck is stuck assigned to a driver and not appearing in the Select Truck list for others, turning on Auto Sign Out Drivers/Operators can help automatically free it up, as long as:
Auto Sign Out is enabled, and
The driver is not in the “Except These Drivers” list, and
There has been no Engine/Transport activity from that truck for longer than your configured interval.
When those conditions are met, Auto Sign Out will:
Unassign the driver from that truck, and
Make the truck available again to be selected by another driver.
If the truck is still actively sending Engine/Transport packets (for example, engine running or recent movement), the driver will not be auto‑signed‑out yet, so the truck may remain unavailable until actual inactivity occurs.
Q6. If I set the sign out interval to 10 minutes, what will happen then?
If you set the Auto Sign Out interval to 10 minutes:
The system will look for 10 consecutive minutes with no activity packets (Engine On/Off/Running, Transport Begin/Update).
After a full 10‑minute gap with no such activity, the next time the auto‑unassign job runs, it will:
Automatically unassign the driver/operator from that equipment (unless they’re in the exception list).
In real‑world use:
You should expect drivers to be auto‑signed‑out shortly after the 10‑minute mark—often around 10–20 minutes after the last activity—because:
The timer is based on the last activity packet, and
The unassign job runs at scheduled intervals, not continuously.
If you consistently see sign‑outs much later than that, or not at all, please contact support with specific examples (driver, truck, time they stopped, and time they were actually unassigned) so we can investigate.