Work Orders provide a centralized system for scheduling, tracking, and completing maintenance tasks. They help reduce inefficiencies, prevent breakdowns, and improve asset performance by standardizing maintenance management. A Work Order can document service tasks, defects, and preventive maintenance activities, ensuring all actions are logged and easily traceable.
You can create a Work Order from multiple sources depending on your requirements:
-
In the Samsara dashboard, navigate to Maintenance (
) > Work Orders.
-
Click Create Work Order.
-
Proceed to Complete the Work Order Details.
-
In the Samsara dashboard, navigate to Maintenance (
-
Identify assets with unresolved defects.
-
Click + Work Order and select the defects to add as line items to a new or existing Work Order.
-
Proceed to Complete the Work Order Details.
-
In the Samsara dashboard, navigate to Maintenance (
-
Locate the asset.
-
Click + Work Order to assign items to a new or existing Work Order.
-
Proceed to Complete the Work Order Details.
-
In the Samsara dashboard, navigate to Maintenance (
-
Select an asset with an active fault code.
-
In the Faults tab, identify any unresolved fault codes that have not yet been added to a Work Order.
-
Click + Work Order, then do one of the following:
-
Select an existing Work Order from the dropdown and click Add to Work Order.
-
Click Create Work Order to generate a new one.
-
-
The selected fault codes are added to the Work Order in the Items section, grouped with other maintenance tasks for the selected asset.
-
Proceed to Complete the Work Order Details.
After initiating a Work Order, complete its details to align with the maintenance requirements:
-
For a new Work Order, select the asset.
Each Work Order is tied to one asset and cannot be altered after you save the new Work Order. Available data such as odometer readings, engine hours, VIN, and license plate will be automatically populated. Edits to these values will apply only to the Work Order and will not update the asset's permanent details.
Note
If you change the asset while the Work Order is in progress, any previously added items will be removed. You can then add items associated with the new asset.
-
Complete the optional Work Order information:
-
Description: Add specific instructions or notes for technicians.
-
Work Order Details: To prioritize and track Work Orders, select a Priority (Low, Medium (default), High, Urgent), Category (Unspecified, Preventative, Annual, Corrective, Damage Repair, Recall), specify a due date, and assign the Work Order to a team member, and optionally select a vendor. You can also enter an invoice number or purchase order number to track external maintenance work.
-
Items: If you created the Work Order from a DVIR, a scheduled preventive task, or a fault code, the related issues are automatically included in the Work Order.
-
To include more defects or issues, click + Add Issue and choose from the list of existing defects and issues, or select + Create Issue to log a new issue for the selected asset and add it to the Work Order.
-
To include upcoming preventive maintenance tasks, click + Add Scheduled Maintenance.
-
To include unresolved fault codes, click + Add Fault and select applicable codes for the selected asset.
-
-
Forms: Add inspection or checklist forms to standardize the maintenance process.
-
Service Tasks: Search and select predefined service tasks. For each task, complete the Labor Hours, Parts Costs, and Labor Rates to include in the Cost Summary. Parts associated with each task are pre-filled when defined.
-
Cost Summary: Add any discounts or tax (% or $) to apply to finalize the total cost.
-
-
Click Save to finalize the Work Order.
-
To track progress or finalize the Work Order, see Tracking a Work Order.
After you create a Work Order, you can track progress, monitor technician activity, and finalize completed maintenance from the Samsara dashboard:
-
View Work Orders: Find specific jobs, check assigned technicians, and review status updates
-
Technician Updates: View task progress, time entries, and parts added throughout the job
-
Work Order Notifications: Enable alerts when jobs are assigned or completed
-
Completion and Closure: Resolve maintenance items and apply maintenance costs by closing the Work Order.
-
Exporting and Importing Data: Share Work Order records or populate fields using invoice files
To view the progress of a Work Order, use the following workflow:
-
In the Samsara dashboard, navigate to Maintenance (
-
Use filters or search to narrow the list by tag, asset, location, due date, or priority.
-
Select a Work Order to view its details. The Work Order displays the current status and assigned technician.
The status of a Work Order indicates its stage in the maintenance process. The following list summarizes each status:
|
Work Order Status |
Description |
|---|---|
|
Open |
Created but not yet assigned |
|
Assigned |
Assigned to a technician |
|
In Progress |
Work has started |
|
Pending Parts |
On hold while awaiting parts |
|
Pending Approval |
Completed work is pending review |
|
On Hold |
Temporarily paused |
|
Completed |
Technician has finished the work, signaling maintenance is complete and ready for review. |
|
Cancelled |
Will not be completed |
|
Closed |
Supervisor has reviewed and finalized the Work Order. NoteClosed status is required to resolve linked items (such as defects or scheduled maintenance) and apply maintenance costs. |
Technicians can communicate maintenance activity by updating the following Service Task details:
-
Task status: Open, In Progress, On Hold, or Completed
-
Hours worked
Important
Technicians can update hours worked, but labor rates are only visible to administrators. Total labor costs can only be viewed and updated by administrators.
-
Parts used from the part library
To receive email alerts when a Work Order is assigned or marked completed:
-
Select the Settings icon (
) at the bottom of your Fleet menu to view dashboard settings.
-
From your Fleet settings, click Maintenance.
-
Under Email Alerts, enable one or both of the following options:
-
Notify Assignee on Assigned: Sends an alert to the assignee when a Work Order is assigned.
-
Notify Creator on Completed: Sends an alert to the user who created the Work Order when it is marked completed.
-
To resolve items and finalize a Work Order after work is completed:
-
Mark the Work Order as Completed.
The completed date defaults to the current day but can be changed, if needed.
-
Review and confirm which items to resolve:
-
DVIR defects
-
Preventive maintenance schedules
-
Asset maintenance costs
-
Faults
-
-
Mark the Work Order as Closed or Resolve and Close to finalize the work order.
Closing a Work Order resolves any linked items (such as DVIRs or preventive schedules) and applies maintenance costs to the asset. Items that are not resolved are removed from the Work Order and remain available to be added to a future Work Order, if needed.
From the more actions ( ••• ) menu in the Work Order, you can:
-
Delete Work Order: Permanently remove a Work Order from your system and unlink any associated items DVIRs (such as DVIRs or preventive schedules)
-
Export PDF: Generate a copy for sharing or recordkeeping
-
Import Invoice: Populate fields using invoice data to reduce manual entry and track costs using Samsara AI
Comments
0 comments
Article is closed for comments.