Fleet Equipment is the part of VEVS Car Rental Software where you define the reusable extra items that can be attached to your vehicles and vehicle categories. Items such as child seats, GPS units, and roof racks are created once in a central list, kept active, and then offered wherever they are relevant. This guide explains what the page contains, how to manage the list, and how to keep your equipment catalogue clean, accurate, and easy for staff to use.
What Fleet Equipment is
Fleet Equipment is a catalogue of definitions rather than a set of assignments. Each entry describes one extra item through its status, its title, and an optional description. The entry itself does not decide which cars carry the item. That decision is made on the category page or on the individual vehicle page, where the defined equipment becomes available to attach. Keeping these two ideas separate is what makes the feature efficient: a single child seat definition can serve your whole fleet without being re-entered for every vehicle, and any correction to that definition flows from one place.
One list, many vehicles
Because the list is shared, consistency improves across your operation. Staff who attach equipment to a category see the same names and descriptions, whether they are preparing a compact car, an estate, or a van. Customers receive the same wording on every booking, and managers can review the full catalogue in a single screen instead of hunting through individual vehicle records.
Where to access Fleet Equipment
In the admin area, open Settings → Predefined Data → Fleet Equipment. The page shows a list of equipment items. Use Add Equipment to create a new item, or click a row to edit an existing one. The same page is the home for searching, sorting, exporting, and removing entries, so most day-to-day maintenance of your extras catalogue happens in one place.
Fleet Equipment stores the definitions. Assigning an item to a category or a specific vehicle is done on the category or vehicle page, not on this screen.
What an equipment item contains
Each equipment record is deliberately compact. There are only three fields to think about, and each one has a clear operational purpose.
| Field | What it does |
|---|---|
| Status | Sets the item as Active or Inactive. Active items are the ones offered as selectable choices when you attach equipment to a category or vehicle. |
| Title | The equipment name, for example "GPS" or "Child seat". If the system runs in multiple languages, you enter a title for each language. |
| Description | An optional longer description of the item, useful for telling similar-looking equipment apart. |
Managing the equipment list
The list shows each item's ID, Title, Description, and Status. A small set of controls covers the everyday work of maintaining the catalogue.
- Search by title or description using the search box, then click Search to filter the list.
- Clear resets the filter so the full list is visible again.
- Sort the list by clicking a column heading.
- Edit an item by clicking its row or its edit button to open and change the record.
- Delete a single item with its trash button, or tick several items and use Delete selected.
- Export selected downloads the ticked items for reporting, review, or migration work.
Adding an equipment item step by step
- Open Settings → Predefined Data → Fleet Equipment.
- Click Add Equipment.
- Choose the Status and enter a Title and an optional Description.
- Click Save.
That is the whole workflow. There is no separate publishing step and no per-vehicle duplication. Once saved, the item joins the list and becomes part of the vocabulary your team can use when configuring categories and vehicles.
What happens after you save
The item appears in the equipment list, sorted by title, so the catalogue stays readable as it grows. Once defined, the equipment becomes available to attach to your vehicle categories and vehicles. From that point onward, the practical question is not whether the item exists, but whether it is active and whether the right category or vehicle has been set up to use it.
Permissions and read-only behaviour
Editing is only available to users with permission to manage fleet equipment. Users without that permission see the page in read-only form, which is a sensible default for rental businesses that separate catalogue administration from daily counter work. A counter agent can still see what equipment exists and what it means, while a manager or system administrator controls the definitions themselves.
Why this matters for your rental business
A tidy equipment catalogue is one of those small operational details that quietly affects pricing accuracy, customer satisfaction, and staff confidence. When the same item is described the same way everywhere, three things improve at once.
- Faster counter work. Staff attach equipment from a familiar list instead of creating ad-hoc entries while a customer waits.
- Fewer misunderstandings. A clear title and description leave less room for confusion between similar items, such as two kinds of child seat.
- Cleaner reporting. Consistent names make it far easier to review what equipment your fleet actually carries and where it is offered.
Practical use cases
Child seats
Child seats are a classic example of equipment that appears across many categories but in different forms. A central definition with a precise title and a short description helps staff pick the right option for the customer's child and for the vehicle, without inventing a new label each time a booking is taken.
GPS units
Where navigation devices are offered, a single GPS entry keeps the offer consistent. Staff can see immediately whether the item is active, and customers receive a predictable description of the extra rather than a name that changes from booking to booking.
Roof racks
Roof racks suit only some vehicle categories, which is precisely why the definition and the assignment are separate. The item is defined once, then attached only where it physically fits and where your team is comfortable renting it out.
Seasonal and specialist extras
Equipment that is only relevant for part of the year is easy to handle: keep the definition and switch its status as the season changes, rather than deleting and rebuilding the entry each time.
Setup and configuration considerations
Before you start entering items, decide on a naming convention. Short, customer-friendly titles work best, because the title is what staff recognise at a glance when attaching equipment. Reserve the description for the detail that prevents mistakes: size, suitability, or any practical note that distinguishes one item from another. If the system runs in multiple languages, plan the translated titles at the same time as the original, so you are not left with a catalogue that is only half usable for an international customer base.
Think about the life cycle of an item as well. Deleting an entry removes it from the catalogue, whereas making it inactive keeps the definition on record while stopping it from being offered. For equipment you may reintroduce later, deactivation is usually the gentler choice. Bulk deletion and export tools are useful during a clean-up, but export first if you want a record of what existed before you prune the list.
Best practices
- Give each item a clear, customer-friendly Title so it is easy to recognise when attaching equipment to a vehicle.
- Keep a short Description so staff know exactly what the item is, especially for similar-looking equipment.
- Use Inactive rather than deletion for items you may need again later.
- Search before adding, so you do not create near-duplicate entries with slightly different names.
- Export the catalogue before a large clean-up so you have a record of the previous state.
Conclusion
Fleet Equipment is a small page with a large organisational role. By defining your extras once, naming them clearly, and controlling which ones are active, you give your team a reliable shared vocabulary for child seats, GPS units, roof racks, and any other item your vehicles carry. The result is quicker counter work, fewer misunderstandings, and a catalogue that stays understandable as your fleet grows.