How to Schedule Automated Reports in Samsara

What Will You Learn in This Quick Summary?

Manual reporting wastes time and invites missed deadlines. Automated reports solve both problems by delivering the right data to the right people on a fixed cadence. This guide explains how to schedule emailed reports, which report types support scheduling, and how to build a reliable reporting routine for your fleet.

Samsara – GPS Fleet Tracking Software lets you send reports to a group of users and customize both the cadence and the frequency. You can schedule operational, safety, compliance, and device health reports from the same dashboard. In this article, you will learn the exact workflow, the prerequisites for specific reports, and the best practices that keep automated reporting useful over time.

What you will cover:

• Why scheduled reports improve fleet management
• The step-by-step scheduling workflow
• Report categories you can automate
• Prerequisites, naming rules, and troubleshooting tips

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Why Should You Automate Reports in Samsara?

What Does Automation Change for Your Fleet Team?

Fleet teams rely on recurring information. Safety managers review coaching progress, compliance officers check hours-of-service violations, and dispatchers monitor trips. When each person logs in to run the same report every week, the process consumes hours and depends on memory.

Scheduled reports remove that dependency. The platform generates the report and emails it automatically, so your team receives consistent data without manual effort. Moreover, a predictable delivery rhythm builds accountability, because everyone knows when to expect the numbers.

Which Benefits Matter Most?

Benefit	How It Helps
Consistency	Reports arrive on the same schedule every time
Time savings	Staff stop running repetitive reports by hand
Accountability	Recipients receive the same data and act on it
Audit readiness	Archived emails create a dated record of performance
Early detection	Regular summaries reveal trends before they escalate

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Who Can Schedule a Report, and What Do You Need First?

Before you schedule anything, confirm that your user role allows access to the report you want to send. Administrators typically manage scheduling, and Samsara also encourages admins to schedule reports as a workflow for themselves or for team members.

Prepare the following items in advance:

1. A clear purpose. Decide what decision the report supports.
2. A recipient list. Identify the colleagues who need the data, and confirm their email addresses.
3. A cadence. Match the delivery frequency to how often your team acts on the information.
4. Any required settings. Some reports depend on a feature you must enable first. The Missing DVIR report, for example, requires you to enable pre-trip or post-trip DVIRs in the Driver App.

Additionally, remember that recipients without dashboard access may still receive emailed content, so review your data-sharing policies before you add outside addresses.

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How Do You Schedule an Emailed Report in Samsara?

The scheduling process follows the same pattern for most reports. You open the report, choose the scheduling action, and configure delivery.

What Are the Step-by-Step Instructions?

1. Open the report. Navigate to the report you want to automate, such as a report under the Reports page or a page in the Safety Overview.
2. Open the actions menu. Depending on the report, select More Actions or the more actions menu (…).
3. Select Schedule Emailed Report. This option opens the scheduling settings.
4. Verify the Report Type. Samsara populates this field based on the report you currently view, so confirm that it matches your intent.
5. Name the report. Choose a descriptive name, because it appears in the email subject line.
6. Choose recipients. Add the users who should receive the report.
7. Set the cadence and frequency. Select how often Samsara sends the report.
8. Save the schedule. Confirm the settings and wait for the first delivery to verify that everything works.

Samsara adds the prefix “[Samsara]” to the subject line, followed by the name you chose. As a result, you can create inbox rules that sort scheduled reports automatically.

How Should You Name Your Scheduled Reports?

A clear naming convention saves time later, especially when you manage many schedules. Include the audience, the report subject, and the frequency. For example, “East Depot – HOS Violations – Weekly” tells recipients exactly what they open. In contrast, a generic name such as “Report 1” forces readers to guess.

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Which Reports Can You Schedule in Samsara?

Samsara supports scheduling across many report categories. The documentation lists scheduled report types grouped by feature area. The table below summarizes representative examples.

Category	Example Reports
Assets	Utilization Report (by vehicle, trailer, or equipment), Asset Dormancy Report, Vehicle Activity Report, Vehicle Timesheet Report
Driver activity	Activity Log Report, Driver Activity Report
Compliance	Hours of Service Violations Report, Duty Status Summary Report, Log Edit Report, Unassigned HOS Report
Trips and sites	Start / Stop Report, Time on Site Report, Trip History Report
Device and maintenance	Gateway Health Report, Camera Health Report, Missing DVIR Report, Maintenance Status By Fault Report
Safety	Driver Safety Report, Coaching Effectiveness Report, Event Resolution Report

Because Samsara updates its catalog over time, check the Scheduled Report Types list in the Samsara Knowledge Base for the current options in your account.

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How Do You Schedule Reports for Specific Use Cases?

How Do You Schedule Safety and Coaching Reports?

Safety reports help managers track coaching progress and driver behavior. You can open any page in the Safety Overview, select the menu in the top right corner, and choose Schedule Emailed Report. Samsara also lets you schedule the Coaching Timeliness Report, which identifies which coaches complete coaching on time, so you can monitor trends without logging in.

Note that Samsara attributes coaching sessions based on the Assigned Coach field. If nobody holds that assignment when someone marks an event as coached, the session does not receive credit in reporting. Therefore, assign coaches consistently before you rely on the scheduled output.

Samsara also uses structured export file names for safety reports. These names include the report title, your organization name, and the date range, which makes archived files easy to identify.

How Do You Schedule a Missing DVIR Report?

The Missing DVIR report tracks missed or incomplete pre-trip and post-trip inspections. Each row represents one missed event. To schedule it, follow this sequence:

1. Select the Settings icon at the bottom of the Fleet menu.
2. Go to Fleet > Driver App > Features and locate the DVIRs settings.
3. Enable the setting that requires pre-trip or post-trip DVIRs.
4. Follow the standard scheduling workflow and choose Missing DVIR Report as the report name.

You must complete the setting first. Without it, the Driver App does not record missed DVIR events, so the report has nothing to show.

How Do You Schedule a Utilization Report?

The asset Utilization Report shows how often your vehicles, trailers, and equipment work, along with their locations and usage history. You can schedule the report for archival or reporting purposes. If the scheduling option does not appear in your dashboard, contact Samsara Support to enable the feature. Equipment that uses an APWR cable also needs a configured Aux Input before hours appear in the report.

How Do You Schedule Device Health and Trip Reports?

Device Health reports let you open the more actions menu and select Schedule Emailed Report to set up recurring email delivery. The Device Health report refreshes every 15 minutes, so a scheduled delivery reflects recent device status. Similarly, the Start / Stop Report lets you export data as CSV or XLSX or schedule an email report for additional analysis.

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What Is the Best Cadence for Each Report?

Cadence should match how quickly your team can act. A report that arrives too often creates noise, whereas a report that arrives too rarely misses problems. Use the following guidance as a starting point and adjust it based on feedback.

Report Type	Suggested Cadence	Reason
HOS violations	Daily	Teams can correct issues before they accumulate
Missing DVIRs	Daily or weekly	Prompt follow-up reinforces driver habits
Safety and coaching	Weekly	Coaches review progress in regular cycles
Utilization	Weekly or monthly	Trends matter more than single-day changes
Device health	Weekly	Ongoing monitoring catches hardware problems
Executive summaries	Monthly	Leadership reviews broad trends

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How Do You Build an Effective Reporting Routine?

Scheduling is only the first step. A report delivers value when someone reads it and acts. Apply these practices to turn automation into results:

• Assign an owner. Name one person who reviews each report and follows up.
• Limit recipients. Send each report only to people who need it.
• Create inbox rules. Use the “[Samsara]” subject prefix to route reports into a dedicated folder.
• Review schedules quarterly. Remove reports that nobody uses, and add new ones as priorities change.
• Document the purpose. Record why each schedule exists so that new team members understand it.
• Verify the first delivery. Check that the email arrives and that the data looks correct.

Furthermore, pair scheduled reports with alerts when a metric requires immediate action. Reports summarize patterns, while alerts address urgent events.

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What Should You Do When a Scheduled Report Does Not Arrive?

Most delivery problems have simple causes. Work through the checklist below.

Symptom	Likely Cause	Fix
The scheduling option does not appear	The feature is not enabled for your account	Contact Samsara Support
The Missing DVIR report stays empty	The DVIR requirement is not enabled	Enable the setting in Driver App features
The email does not arrive	A spam filter or wrong address blocks it	Check junk folders and verify recipients
Coaching data looks incomplete	No coach was assigned to the session	Assign coaches before updating status
Numbers differ from the dashboard	The date range or filters differ	Compare the settings in both views

If these steps do not resolve the issue, review the report’s article in the Samsara Knowledge Base or contact Samsara Support.

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What Are the Key Takeaways?

Automated reporting converts repetitive manual work into a dependable routine. You open a report, select Schedule Emailed Report, verify the report type, choose recipients, set the cadence, and save. Samsara then delivers the data on time, every time.

Success depends on preparation and discipline. Enable any required settings, name your reports clearly, match the cadence to your team’s decision cycle, and assign an owner to every report. Samsara – GPS Fleet Tracking Software gives you the reporting foundation, and a well-planned schedule turns that foundation into faster decisions. If your organization needs help designing a reporting structure, plan a structured rollout with clear ownership and regular reviews.

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Frequently Asked Questions

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