How VanStamp works
VanStamp has two sides. Drivers use their phone to do their daily van check and log shifts, fuel, receipts and problems. The office sees everything in one place, checks it, and keeps every van's paperwork up to date. Here's what each side does, step by step.
For drivers
Everything a driver needs is on their phone, in tabs at the bottom of the screen: My work, Issues, Availability, Fuel card and My details. Each person only sees what applies to them: someone with just a fuel card sees Fuel card and My details. There's nothing to download from an app store.
1.Getting started
The office sends each driver a personal invite link. The driver opens it on their phone, creates a password, and they're in. Their van and fuel card are already attached. They can add VanStamp to their home screen so it opens with one tap, like any other app.
2.My work at a glance
The My work screen shows the driver's van with its number plate, today's daily check, their shift, and four large buttons: Fuel stop, Receipt, Van photos and Report problem. Each one opens on its own screen, so the right form is always one tap away. If the van's MOT, insurance or road tax has run out or is due within a week, the driver sees a warning straight away.
At the top, a Needs you box lists anything waiting on the driver: a fuel stop or receipt the office sent back, van photos the office asked for, a reply on a problem, or a work badge or certificate about to run out. Each line opens the right screen. When there's nothing to do, the box doesn't appear.
3.Daily walkaround check
Before driving, the driver walks round the van and marks ten items OK or Fault: engine bay and fluids, tyres and wheels, lights and indicators, mirrors and windscreen, wipers and washers, brakes, dashboard warning lights, bodywork and doors, load and racking, and seatbelts and horn. It takes about two minutes, and Mark the rest OK speeds up a clean check.
Every check includes a photo of the engine bay with the bonnet open, so the fluids really get looked at. The camera shows an engine bay outline to line up with, with the phone upright or sideways. VanStamp checks the photo really shows an open engine bay: if it doesn't, the driver is asked to take it again, and if the retake isn't recognised either, or the photo can't be checked at that moment, the check can still be saved and the office is asked to look at the photo. A fault needs a photo too, with a short note and whether the van is still safe to drive. Check photos can only be taken with the camera there and then: there's no gallery or upload option, and a photo taken earlier is refused.
Each fault reaches the office as a problem straight away, and if the driver says the van isn't safe to drive, the office is emailed. If the company asks for it, the driver can't start a shift until today's check of that van is done.
4.Start and end your shift
When a driver takes a van, they tap Start shift and photograph the odometer. VanStamp reads the mileage from the photo, so there's nothing to type. If the company asks for it, Start shift opens once today's daily check of that van is done. At the end of the day, End shift does the same for the closing mileage and shows the miles covered. VanStamp won't accept a closing mileage lower than the starting one. Drivers can see their own shift time and miles for the week, and their recent shifts.
If a shift is still open after 12 hours, VanStamp asks "Still working?", so a forgotten End shift doesn't spoil the driver's hours. They can end it there and then, or say they're still working.
5.Vehicle photos, with a guide
VanStamp asks for ten standard photos of the van: front, rear, both sides, all four corners, the cab and the dashboard. The camera shows an outline of the van for each angle and tells the driver exactly where to stand, for example "Offside: stand on the driver's side". For side views it asks them to turn the phone sideways. Photos can be added when it's safe and never stop a driver starting work.
Once taken, the photos show as a grid the driver can view but not change. If something's different, such as a new dent, the driver taps Ask to update and the office decides. If the office asks for a retake, only that photo unlocks, and the camera opens on the right angle.
6.Record a fuel stop
At the pump, the driver photographs the pump display and the odometer. VanStamp reads the litres, the amount, the price per litre and the mileage from the photos, and the fuel type comes from the van's record. The figures are shown locked, marked "Read from your photos", so nothing needs typing. Prices are shown the UK way, in pence per litre (for example 199.9p/L).
If a photo can't be read, the driver is asked to retake it. If the company allows it, the driver can also correct a figure, and the office sees both the original reading and the change.
Bought AdBlue at the same stop? Tap + Add AdBlue and photograph the pump or the receipt. It's saved as its own AdBlue entry with the fuel stop, so AdBlue is never counted as fuel or in miles per gallon.
If the company allows it, a driver with a van can also fill their own car on a work fuel card for a work trip: they choose My own car and say what the trip was for. It's kept apart from the van, so it never changes the van's fuel figures.
7.Send a receipt
For anything else the driver pays for (parking, a car wash, a bulb), they photograph the receipt. VanStamp reads the total, the VAT, the date and the supplier, and suggests what it was for, so there's nothing to type. If the receipt is for fuel, VanStamp suggests recording it as a fuel stop instead. Receipts in another currency are marked for the office to convert. The office checks every receipt before it counts as a cost.
8.Report a problem and talk to the office
If something's wrong with the van, the driver taps Report a problem: what kind of problem, how serious, whether the van is still safe to drive, a description and a photo. If the van can't be driven, or the problem is marked high, the office is emailed straight away.
Every problem has its own conversation with the office. New messages go to the top of the list with a "new" badge, so nothing gets missed. Problems the office logs on the driver's van appear here too. When a driver takes over a van, they also see a short list of open problems already reported on it, so they know about any defects before they drive.
9.Book time off
Drivers pick the dates they're not available and add a reason if they want to. The office sees it straight away and can add or remove dates too. Future dates can be removed if plans change.
10.Your fuel card
The Fuel card tab shows the driver's own card, or the card kept in the van they have that day. The PIN is encrypted, only shown to whoever has the card, disappears after a few seconds, and every time it's viewed is recorded.
11.Your details
Drivers keep their full legal name, mobile number, address, next of kin and emergency contact up to date, so the office always has the right details, including for naming the driver on a fine.
12.When the office sends something back
If the office spots a mistake in a fuel stop or receipt, they send it back with a reason. It appears in Needs you at the top of My work, and the driver sees "Sent back to you" with the explanation, and can correct and resend it, or withdraw it. Anything still waiting to be checked can be edited or withdrawn by the driver. If a driver thinks a reading is wrong, they can add a note for the office on that fuel stop or shift.
13.Your work badge
If your company uses work badges, My details shows your badge as a photo ID pass: your photo, name, job title, employee number, the VanStamp and company logos, and a coloured band that shows whether it's valid, expiring soon or expired. You take the photo for your badge in the app, and the office approves it.
Press the badge to show it full screen with your company logo and its QR code. The whole badge fits on one screen, and the screen stays on while it's open. A customer can scan the code with their phone camera to check that your badge is real and still valid, or you can send them your badge link. You're warned before your badge expires, so you can ask the office to renew it. If you don't have a company vehicle, you'll only see what applies to you, such as your badge, your fuel card and your details.
14.Your certificates, verified when needed
Upload the actual certificate: a photo or PDF of your Driver CPC, CSCS card or first aid certificate goes into My details, kept exactly as uploaded. Pick its name from a list of common UK certificates or type your own, and add its expiry date if it has one.
Choose who sees it. Each certificate is either shown when your badge is scanned, or Private. Private certificates are never shown on your badge page. Certificates with an expiry date show "Expires soon" or "Expired", and appear in Needs you before they run out.
When a customer scans your badge, they see that it's valid, who you work for, the company check, and your visible certificates, with any that have expired clearly labelled. One tap opens the full document. VanStamp shows the document as uploaded; it doesn't check it with the issuer.
Valid work badge
John Smith
Delivery driver
Company check
Example Transport Ltd
Status: Active (sample)
Certificates & qualifications
Driver CPC Certificate
For the office
The office side works on a laptop or a phone. It brings every van, driver, shift, daily check, fuel stop, receipt, problem and document into one place, and shows you what needs doing first. The menu is grouped into Vehicles, People, Money and Company, with a short line under each page saying what it's for.
1.Dashboard
See what your fleet is costing, van by van, and what's happening today: vans off the road, anything due soon, and a short daily brief. Every item opens the van or problem it's about.
2.Needs attention
Anything that needs you appears on one list, Needs attention: MOT, insurance, road tax or a service due soon or overdue, fuel stops with no matching statement line, receipts waiting to be checked, fuel card lines that don't add up, fine deadlines, open problems, shifts left open or unusually long, short rest between shifts, readings that need a second look, notes from drivers, and requests to update a van photo. Tap an item to go straight to the record, and update an MOT, tax or insurance date right there. You choose how early reminders start and the limits for shift flags.
3.Your fleet
Every van has a card with its number plate, driver, mileage and compliance dates, colour-coded so you can see at a glance what's fine and what isn't. Tap a date to update it. The mileage updates itself from every odometer reading, whether it's a fuel stop or the start or end of a shift, and shows where the latest figure came from. It never goes backwards: a reading lower than the last one is flagged for you instead. Vans you sell or scrap can be archived: they leave your active list, keep their full history and no longer count towards your plan. Putting one back on the road needs a free slot. A van with no history, for example one added by mistake, can be deleted instead.
4.A full history for every van
Open any van and its page is split into tabs, so nothing turns into one long list. Overview shows the latest of everything: today's daily check, open problems, the last fuel stop and shift, the MOT, tax and insurance dates, the fuel card and the last few things that happened.
Then there's a tab each for daily checks, shifts, fuel, problems, costs, documents, photos and other activity, newest first and grouped by month. Jump to the van's driver, fuel cards, documents or open problems from the Overview.
The MOT history tab shows every MOT test from DVSA's records: the result, the mileage, the expiry date and every defect and advisory. It warns you if the mileage ever went down between tests or the van has an outstanding safety recall. VanStamp checks DVSA for you when you open Fleet, at most once a day per van, and moves the van's MOT date on after each new test. A later date you typed yourself is kept and shown next to DVSA's, so you can check which is right.
5.Daily checks
The Daily checks page shows at a glance which vans have been checked today, which have faults, and which haven't been checked yet. Open any check to see exactly what the driver marked for each item, their notes, whether they said the van was safe to drive, the problem each fault became, and the engine bay and fault photos. The engine photo sits next to the one from the van's previous check, so a photo of a different van stands out, and an engine photo VanStamp didn't recognise or couldn't check appears in Needs attention until someone has looked at it.
Filter past checks by date, van or driver, and export them as a PDF with your company details and the photos, ready to print or send, or as a CSV. In Settings you choose whether drivers must do the check before they can start a shift.
6.Vehicle photos and retakes
See all ten standard photos for each van as a grid and tap any photo to view it full size. From there you can ask the driver for a retake, replace the photo yourself, or delete it, which automatically asks the driver to retake that exact angle. Replaced and deleted photos are kept as earlier versions, so nothing is lost. When a driver asks to update a photo, you approve or decline it with a reason. You can also ask for an extra photo, such as the engine bay.
7.Your team
Invite people with a single-use link and choose what each one has: a company van or car, a fuel card, a work badge and office access, in any mix. Their app only shows what applies to them. Office staff with a company car or fuel card record their fuel stops in the same phone app. If someone uses a company fuel card in their own car, add the car's registration: their fuel stops are matched to your statement like any other, and their own car doesn't count toward your plan. See each driver's shift time and miles for the week at a glance. If someone leaves, deactivate them: their shift is ended, their van and card are unassigned, and their history is kept. If they come back, reactivate them.
When you give someone a different van, set the day they started using it, so VanStamp knows who had which van on any date. If you allow it, drivers can also take another company van for the day themselves, after its daily check; you're told in Needs attention and their own van stays theirs.
8.Shift time and reports
Every shift records when it started and ended and the miles covered, read from the odometer photos. See weekly and monthly totals per driver, and run a shift report for any dates and drivers, and export it as a CSV for payroll or a PDF with your company details. VanStamp flags shifts left open, very long shifts, and short rest between shifts, using limits you set. If a driver forgets to end a shift, you can close it with the right time and mileage; it's marked "Closed by office" and the driver is told.
Shift time runs from Start shift to End shift as recorded in VanStamp. It is not a record of legal driving hours.
9.Fuel cards
Add your fuel cards and keep each one with a van, or give it to one person, for example someone who uses it in their own car. Add what's printed on each card, such as when it runs out and whether it's fuel only, and you're reminded before a card expires. Move a card to another van at any time, and cancel it if it's lost. VanStamp keeps a dated record of where every card was. PINs are encrypted and only shown to whoever has the card that day.
10.Fuel checked against your statement
Import your fuel-card statement as a CSV or PDF file. VanStamp reads the date, time and pump mileage where the statement has them, and matches each line to a driver's fuel stop by registration, and only matched, verified fuel counts in your spend. A line is matched automatically only when it's within a day of the fuel stop and the litres or the amount agree, so one missed fuel stop never throws out the matches after it. AdBlue lines are matched to AdBlue entries, never to fuel, so AdBlue doesn't count as fuel or in miles per gallon. Lines with no matching fuel stop are flagged, not ignored. Open any fuel stop to see the pump and odometer photos and whether each figure was read from the photo, corrected by the driver or typed in. You can correct the figures (every change is recorded), send it back to the driver with a reason, or void it. VanStamp also warns you when litres × price doesn't add up to the amount paid. If an import goes wrong, you can undo it, and VanStamp shows exactly what will change first.
11.Fuel card checks
After each statement, the Check these tab lists every line that doesn't add up, with the reason: the card used for a vehicle that isn't its van or the card holder's, no fuel stop photo within two days, mileage keyed at the pump far from the odometer photo or lower than the van's last reading, more litres than the tank holds, no shift on that van at that time, the driver booked off that day, a second fill the same day or too few miles since the last one, petrol in a diesel van, and shop items or a car wash. AdBlue is only ever checked as AdBlue, and litres are compared, not money.
For each one, mark it explained with a note, ask the driver (the question appears in their app and their answer shows on the line), or confirm misuse, which stays on record and links to the card so you can cancel it. Lines still to look at also appear in Needs attention. Switch any check off, set the tank margin and the miles expected between fills, and export the list as CSV or PDF. Fuel card checks are on the Business plan and above.
12.Fines: who was driving?
Photograph a parking ticket, speeding notice, bus lane fine, Clean Air Zone charge or Dart Charge and VanStamp reads the reference, registration, time, place, amounts and deadlines for you to check. It then names the driver from their shift on that van at that time, with the shift's odometer photos and that day's daily check as proof. With no shift, it suggests the driver who had the van that day, clearly marked for you to check.
Choose what happens next: the driver pays, the company pays and recharges the driver, the company pays, appeal, or name the driver, with their details ready to copy into the issuer's form. VanStamp warns you before the reduced amount ends and before the 28 days to name the driver run out, and the driver sees the fine in their app and can reply. Fines are on the Business plan and above.
13.Expenses and receipts
Every receipt a driver sends arrives here with its photo and the figures read from it: supplier, net, VAT, total and the supplier's VAT number. VanStamp flags anything worth a second look: an old receipt, a possible duplicate, fuel that may already be counted from a fuel stop or the card statement, VAT that doesn't add up, or no VAT number on a receipt that charges VAT. Check it and it counts as a cost; send it back with a reason, or void it. Receipts a driver has withdrawn stay visible in their own list.
14.Problems and breakdowns
When a driver reports a van that can't be driven, or a high-priority problem, the office is emailed straight away with a link to it. Each problem has its own conversation with the driver, and problems with new messages go to the top of the list. If a van can't be driven, mark it off the road and VanStamp tracks how long it's out of action. You can log a problem yourself too, for example when a driver phones in or a van goes in for repair, and the driver sees it. Faults found on a daily check arrive here too, marked "Daily check", with the driver's photo. When it's fixed, put the van back on the road and add the repair notes and cost.
15.Documents
Keep the MOT certificate, insurance, V5 and other paperwork for each van in one place, with expiry dates. Upload an insurance certificate and VanStamp suggests the insurer, policy number, end date and the vans it covers; you check the details and save. Each van also has a one-tap link to askMID, the Motor Insurance Database, to confirm it's on record. Replacing a document keeps the old one as an earlier version, and deleted documents can still be found.
16.Evidence you can trust
Every photo records when it was taken, when it reached VanStamp, and how: with the in-app camera, the phone's camera, or chosen from the gallery. Daily check photos can only be taken with the camera at the time. Every fuel and mileage figure shows whether it was read from a photo, corrected by the driver or typed in. VanStamp labels anything worth a second look, such as a photo picked from the gallery, a photo taken long before it was sent, or a mileage lower than the last reading. Important actions are recorded in an audit log: who did what, and when.
17.Use only what you need
Switch off the parts your company doesn't use: vehicle photo checks, shifts, time off, fuel cards, fuel statement matching, receipts from drivers or work badges. They disappear for drivers and the office, and switching them back on brings back all the history. You can also decide whether drivers may choose photos from their gallery, whether they may correct figures read from photos, whether they must do the daily check before starting a shift, whether they may switch vans for the day, and whether work fuel cards may be used in their own cars for work.
18.Ready for your accountant
Export your transactions, fuel reconciliation, shift reports and daily checks to CSV files that open cleanly in Excel and accounting software, with plain dates, net, VAT and total amounts, supplier VAT numbers and pence-per-litre prices.
Or download the same report as a PDF with your company name, logo and details at the top, ready to print or send. Daily check PDFs include the engine bay and fault photos.
19.Work badges
Switch on work badges in Settings and add your phone number. Company logo: upload it once in Settings and it appears at the top of every work badge and on the badge check page. Give each person a job title, employee number and expiry date; they take their badge photo in the app and you approve it. You see the same badge your driver sees, with a coloured band for valid, expiring within 30 days, expired or switched off. Anyone in your team can have a badge, drivers or not: people who don't drive can have just a badge. When a customer scans a badge's QR code, a check page on vanstamp.co.uk shows whether the badge is valid right now, with the person's photo, name and job title, your company logo, your company's details and contact buttons. When someone leaves, switch their badge off and the check page shows it's no longer valid straight away.
20.Company verification
On a paid plan, you can ask VanStamp to verify your company. We check with Companies House that your company is active and its name matches, and that the person running your account is a current officer of the company. Badge check pages then show "Verified company" and your registration details taken from Companies House, with a link to your record there. Until then, they say "Company details not checked by VanStamp". Settings shows the three checks one by one and a preview of what customers see when they scan a badge. We re-check verified companies with Companies House every month.
21.Several companies on one login
Run more than one company with the same login, up to five. Add another company from the company menu at the top of the office menu, or accept an invite from another company by signing in as usual, and switch between them from that menu. Each company keeps its own vans, drivers, office logins, plan and data, and you only ever work in one at a time.
Once you're in the office of two or more, the dashboard opens with Important now: anything urgent across all your companies, such as a van off the road, an MOT, insurance or tax date expired or due this week, a fine deadline or a failed payment, each with a button that takes you to it. Next to it, each company shows how many vans are out today, miles, fuel stops and spend. All companies compares up to five side by side, with daily charts and an export.
Every company after the first gets 20% off its plan; the company on the most expensive plan pays full price.
Built with your drivers' privacy in mind
- VanStamp does not track where vans or drivers go
- Location data is removed from every photo before it's stored
- Drivers can only see their own records and the van they drive
- Each company's data is kept completely separate
- Badge check pages never show home addresses, personal phone numbers or vehicle details
See it with your own vans
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