Trips Tips

Here are a few tips to help you get the most out of the trip recording capabilities and settings of the mLog app.

Driving Route Accuracy

Every second, mLog reads GPS data from your phone or device. mLog calculates and adds the distance traveled every second to ensure and calculate trip accuracy.

The trip data is synced every 2 minutes, a configurable setting. This sync stores the trip's GPS coordinates and waypoints into the database. We refer to this trip data as the Route Resolution. mLog uses the Route Resolution to draw the actual driving route on a map. If mLog is turned off or loses signal, it may cause the route to appear inaccurate or draw a straight line from point to point.

Your phone or device stores the Route Resolution (the number of collected points) for each trip. The number of points is limited based on the storage limitations of the phone or device capturing the trips. If you have storage limitations on your phone or device, you can reduce Route Resolution to 5 or 10 minutes. The default setting is every 2 minutes.

Trips vs. Legs

It is important to know that mLog does not differentiate between a trip and a leg of a trip. With mLog mileage capture, there are only trips. In other words, each leg of a trip is designated as its own trip.

For example, say a driver takes a trip from the Office (Location A) to Client 1 (Location B) and from Client 1 (Location B) to Client 2 (Location C) and finally from Client 2 (Location C) back to the Office (Location A). mLog would record this series of events as three separate trips, NOT as a roundtrip.

This trip example would be illustrated by A => B, B => C, and C => A. Trips are identified by the start and stop of the vehicle, not by a route that includes multiple stops. Try using mLog's Route Planning feature.

Running Trip Indicator

The mLog icon displayed on your mobile device's notification bar will indicate a running trip. To stop a trip, open the mLog app, and select the red square button.

When using MagicTrip™ mileage tracking, be aware that the mLog notification cannot be cleared because mLog needs to run in the background to monitor speed even when you are not driving.

Odometer Link

The Odometer Link manages the starting and ending odometer readings relative to the miles driven. You can turn it off or on to achieve different functionalities.

Odometer Link - OFF: Changing the starting or ending odometer reading will increase or decrease the mileage (Distance Traveled) within the trip.

Odometer Link - ON: Changing the starting or ending odometer reading will NOT increase or decrease the mileage (Distance Traveled) within the trip.

Example with Odometer Link on:

Before:
Starting Odometer 2000 miles
Distance Traveled 10 miles
Ending Odometer 2010 miles
After:
Starting Odometer 2005 miles
Distance Traveled 10 miles
Ending Odometer 2015 miles

Using Odometer Link, changing the Starting Odometer to 2005 miles will not affect the mileage (Distance Traveled) but will update the Ending Odometer reading.

(Note: Using Odometer Link may affect the Odometer Gap between trips before or after the adjusted trip.)

Notes and Tags

Notes are short descriptions of a trip or expense. The notes can provide more information describing a trip.

Tags are text shortcuts that may further describe a trip by using a frequently used client number, project name or number, etc.

Using Tags: Tagging a trip can be done using one or multiple tags. If using multiple tags they need to be separated by a comma. A tag can be re-used by using the pop-up list (+) and selecting the appropriate tag for the trip. Any new tags that are used will be added to this list.

To remove an unwanted tag you will have to remove the tag from each trip that was previously associated with that tag. **When removing a tag it is important that you back up your data** (See How To Backup and Restore Your Data)

Purging old trip data: Open mLog and from the home, or Trips page, go to Menu > Account > Data Backup > Purge Data > Purge Old Data > choose the tax year > select the records to delete > “Purge”. This will purge all selected historic records.