In-Depth Motus Review: Essential Tips and Insights

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What is Motus?

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Motus Vehicle is a mileage-tracking system that aims to eliminate the hassle and errors of manual logging for employees and businesses. 

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It offers a range of features to streamline mileage reimbursement for tax purposes and expense management. However, it’s best known for its FAVR program, which provides location-based reimbursement rates that comply with IRS guidelines and labor laws.

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To better understand what Motus brings, let's first explore its key features and functionalities. 

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Motus Review: Main Features and Functionalities Walkthrough

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Motus Vehicle is a web-based platform with an iOS and Android app that lets your employees track their mileage and expenses, quickly view their mileage logs, and submit them for approval.

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Motus aims to provide ease of use, allowing users to access and manage their mileage data from their desktops and on the fly.

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Mileage Tracking

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To track and reimburse employee mileage with the Motus Platform, you must first build your Vehicle Reimbursement Program. 

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Then, your employees can set up the Motus app to capture their mileage - automatically or manually. 

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Automatic mileage tracking relies on the set-it-and-forget-it approach. When employees set up their working hours, the app will automatically keep track of their business-related mileage.

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There are two automatic tracking options, both based on predefined working hours.

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The Smart Track mode is designed to maximize your battery. But, if your employees frequently make stops less than a mile apart, it is suggested that they use the Auto Track mode, which captures mileage with GPS precision.

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Employees can also opt for the Manual Mode, meaning their trips will be recorded only if they press the start button.

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Workers can also set optional reminders to begin or end mileage recording or use location-based push notifications reminding them to input trip details.

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So how reliable is Motus mileage tracking? 

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According to our review source - an employee who uses the app actively, Motus mileage tracking is fairly accurate and works when there is no internet connectivity.

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However, there are some issues they’ve noticed:

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“There are days when it will pick up mileage, and sometimes it doesn’t. Sometimes it just signs you out, and you must manually add what you have. Sometimes WiFi really helps to pick up mileage. You must also open the app frequently, or the automatic mileage tracker will not work. If you do not open the app for about a week, the app will stop tracking. Also, the app seems to log users out after a week, and they have to log in again and manually enter any mileage they may not have tracked.”

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And while browsing numerous review websites and stores for Motus mileage app reviews, we found users sharing similar experiences. But we’ll get to that below. 

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As the IRS defines commuting as a personal expense and doesn’t consider it reimbursable, Motus has a way of managing commuter mileage. To be able to do so, employees need to enter their home address and base location.

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The Motus app also allows employees to access their mileage logs and their mileage history. In addition, they can edit or delete their travels and submit their mileage for reimbursement directly from the app.

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Motus also provides employees with a detailed map showing their daily routes and stops.

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Using the Motus Web Portal, employees can view their reimbursement reports and access other resources.

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Motus Vehicle Mileage Tracking Vs. Timeero Mileage Tracking

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If you need more than just a top-notch mileage tracker, there are some other great tools for you to consider. 

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Timeero, a GPS time, location, and mileage tracking solution, is on par with Motus Vehicle regarding capturing business mileage. But unlike Motus Vehicle, it can also help businesses streamline other time-consuming workflows.

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So, what does Timeero provide?

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Tracking mileage automatically during employees’ shifts

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When using Timeero mobile app, monitoring business mileage starts when an employee clocks in for their shift and stops when they clock out.

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The app recognizes driving speed and accurately captures employees’ mileage only while the vehicle is in motion. 

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So, there is no reason for you and your employees to have privacy concerns - locations and mileage are not captured while your employees are off the clock.

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Segmented Tracking

With the new hands-off approach, Timeero can segment your field employees' workdays into a detailed overview of their work-related activities.

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With a single clock in and out in the app, the segmented tracking feature provides a detailed breakdown of:

• Business-related travels and routes, including mileage and time to cover the distance.
• Time spent on specific jobs & locations. 

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This way, you can save time and hassle for your field crew and their managers, letting them focus on their core tasks instead of doing tedious, manual work. 

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For example, if your employees have several jobs to work on during the day, they don’t have to worry about clocking in and out or switching from each. 

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If a certain job is assigned to them, the app will recognize when they arrive at the job location - all data they need will be listed in the overview.  

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Shortest Route

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Timeero can also suggest to your employees the shortest route to their destination, improving their accountability and helping you reduce your mileage costs.

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For example, if you schedule your employee with a job and enter the worksite address, they only need to click the directions button for a recommended route.

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Offline mileage tracking

And, even if your employees work in zones with weak or no internet connectivity, there is no reason for concern - Timeero captures data offline and will keep data up to date when the connectivity is back.

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IRS-compliant mileage logs

After a tracking session ends, employees’ IRS-compliant mileage logs are added to their timesheets. 

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Employees and managers can access their routes and make necessary edits depending on their privileges. 

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Each edit is saved in the history log, meaning all changes are accounted for.

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So you won’t waste time on manual company mileage logs, such as pen and paper or spreadsheets. Instead, with a few clicks, Timeero lets you have all the data you need in one place.

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Other customization options

Timeero can also help you solve everyday mileage-related challenges, such as employees forgetting to keep track of their miles or deducting commuting mileage.

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Motus Vehicle Reimbursement Program for Employers

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If you use GPS with Motus Vehicle, the Motus App will automatically record business stops and location details, calculate mileage and transfer all these data to the Motus Platform for further processing. 

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Although Motus is best known for its Fixed and Variable Rate (FAVR) mileage reimbursement solutions, it also allows you to use CPM (cent-per-mile) and Car Allowance programs.

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Using the Motus web portal, you can see all the mileage reimbursement programs currently active in your company and the number of drivers using them.

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When you enter the Drivers tab in the top navigation, you can easily access the list of the currently active drivers and the mileage reimbursement program they’re on.  You can just as quickly filter and access those on leave or terminated.

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Once you’re in a driver’s profile, you can have an insight into the driver's mileage history, current forms, compliance status, account information like the reimbursement rate, and more.

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If there is a need,  Motus also allows you to offboard drivers for accurate reimbursement instantly.  

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Adding new drivers to the system seems straightforward - you just need to enter their first and last names, employee ID, start date, and mileage reimbursement program. 

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Regarding the mileage reports approval process, Motus allows you to assign delegates to review the reports and view the entire assignment history.

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You can use the Reports button in the top navigation to access all data, including key findings such as reimbursement history and summaries, tax reports, and more.

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Motus Vehicle Vs. Timeero: Mileage Reimbursement for Employers

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Like with Motus, tracking and reimbursing employees’ business mileage runs smoothly with Timeero.

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Getting started with mileage tracking

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To track mileage for reimbursement, you must choose employees whose business mileage you want the app to record. This process is quite straightforward, and so is offboarding them.

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You also need to enter the mileage reimbursement rate in your company settings. Here, you can even define the speed of vehicle movement, which the app will use to track rides.

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If an employee’s mileage cost differs from your company’s standard rate, you can define it in the employee’s user profile and override company settings.

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Simplify Mileage Reports Approval

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During working hours, mileage logs are automatically created and submitted for approval.

Like Motus Vehicle, Timeero lets you set user roles and permissions to customize your approval flow. For instance, you can assign supervisors to view, edit or delete their team’s timesheets and mileage.

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GPS Mileage Tracking with Breadcrumbing Technology

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During the ride, GPS points are captured in real-time so that you can have an immediate insight into the movements of your employees’ vehicles.

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You can just as easily replay employees’ routes. As Timeero uses state-of-the-art breadcrumbing tech, you can see an accurate and detailed overview of your employees’ trips, timestamps, and speed data. 

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As a result, Timeero enables you to spot safety issues easily and act accordingly if your employees take longer routes than needed. 

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Generate reports and streamline reimbursement using integrations

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Also, Timeero lets you generate customizable reports, including the ones on your employees’ mileage and expenses.

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Timeero integrates with popular payroll and accounting software, such as QuickBooks Online and Desktop, ADP, Paylocity, Rippling, Xero, Gusto, and more, to quickly export reimbursement data. Businesses looking to do more outside of the current integrations can use the public API to get more out of Timeero.

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So, from the employer's perspective, the main difference is that Timeero comes with more data that you can use to streamline your company’s workflow. For example, besides mileage-related information, you also get employees’ timesheets and detailed overviews of their whereabouts during their shifts.

On the other hand, Motus Vehicle offers more driver and vehicle-related information and more detailed mileage reports.

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Motus Review: Vehicle Programs

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According to the Motus website, the Vehicle programs aim to empower the mobile workforce and offer solutions tailored to your business needs regardless of the company size. 

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 Let's take a closer look at the critical components of these programs:

Fixed and Variable Rate (FAVR) Programs

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These programs aim to reimburse employees for fixed and variable costs associated with using their own vehicles for business purposes based on the locations where employees live and work. FAVR mileage reimbursement programs are designed to be flexible, scalable, and compliant with IRS regulations.

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Cents-Per-Mile (CPM) Reimbursement Programs

Motus offers CPM reimbursement programs that can be used as a standalone solution or together with other vehicle programs. These programs are designed to provide cost savings, tax-free reimbursements, automated IRS compliance, and help mitigate risks associated with vehicle reimbursement.

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Car Allowance Programs

This program aims to reduce tax waste and increase the amount employees take home by creating an accountable allowance and offering accurate mileage tracking.

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Fleet Solutions

If your business provides company vehicles to their employees, Motus offers a solution to monitor each employee’s personal use expenses for your chargeback needs.

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Drive-Safe Programs

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Besides vehicle reimbursement, Motus offers drive-safe programs to promote safe driving behavior among employees. These programs help reduce liability and ensure compliance with company policies regarding safe driving practices.

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Motus provides Motor Vehicle Records (MVR) monitoring to help you mitigate risks. As it pulls centralized reports for employees nationwide and analyzes them (MVRs), Motus identifies high-risk drivers and evaluates their driving histories, including accident reports, DUI convictions, license suspensions, and traffic citations.

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Besides the MVR monitoring, Drive Safe programs include Driver Safety Training and Insurance Verification.

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Motus Vehicle also offers Environmental Impact Solutions program to help your business address the environmental impact of employee vehicles.

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Motus Vehicle Vs. Timeero: Vehicle Programs 

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Motus Vehicle is crafted for mileage tracking and reimbursement, so it's no wonder its offer of reimbursement programs is more diverse than Timeero’s. It is especially beneficial for companies looking to streamline their FAVR mileage reimbursement program.

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On the other hand, Timeero is an all-in-one solution that combines the essential features of mileage and time-tracking software. So, besides easy-to-use and accurate mileage tracking and reimbursement, it is an excellent fit for businesses that want to streamline their other workflows, such as timekeeping, field and fleet management, scheduling, PTO, etc.

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All this at an affordable price.

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Motus Review: Pricing

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Motus does not make its pricing publicly available. On one review site, we found the starting price to be $500 per month.

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source

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We also couldn’t find any option to sign up for a free app trial, as it is not mentioned on their website. 

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The price quote for Motus is dependent on your reimbursement program. As Motus Vehicle Programs are highly customizable, you can get more details by scheduling an introductory meeting with their team.

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And if you want to see how Motus Vehicle works, you can explore their website or request a demo. 

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Timeero, on the other hand, has simple and affordable pricing plans, ranging from $4 to $11 per user per month, that allow you to pick the solution that suits your needs. And the best part is you can enjoy all its features for 14 days with no strings attached. 

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Other Helpful Reviews

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While browsing other Motus Reviews, we found it has a fairly satisfying overall rating among its users. However, there are some issues users noticed. 

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Therefore, we’ve listed a couple of them.

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One time the auto capture wasn't working for almost a whole month and I didn't realize it until it was time to submit my milage for the month. Definitely no way to go back that far and map out the places I had driven.

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Source: G2

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Doesn't work well in the remote environments I often travel through, so signal drops off and it doesn't capture all my mileage. It's cumbersome to go back and find where it dropped off and manually request the miles to replace what was missed. It doesn't accurately capture the price of gas I pay because I'm an on-the-road sales professional with a large territory and often huge price discrepancy from one state/city to the next. Motus reimburses what they determine to be the average price of gas where I live/travel, which might be much less than what I actually paid for it/where I pumped it. Also, there is no accounting for the amount of gas that is consumed transporting the extra weight of products, travelling through bad weather, etc., because it is predictive rather than actual data.

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Source: G2

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One area for improvement is the website's user-friendliness, which could benefit from a more streamlined design. As it currently stands, navigating through the website can be time-consuming and require multiple clicks to find the desired information.

Source: G2 review

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We’ve also used the G2 website to compare Motus Vehicle with Timeero. Here is what we found:

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Source: G2

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So, Timeero seems like a preferable choice for G2 reviewers. They appreciate its user-friendliness, simplicity, and efficiency. In their opinion, Timeero adapts better than Motus Vehicle to the specific needs of each business and offers a smooth and intuitive experience that matches their expectations.

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Users also praise Timeero’s product support and are impressed by Timeero’s feature updates and roadmaps.

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How Do You Choose the Best Mileage Tracking Solution for Your Business?

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There are many mileage-tracking solutions available on the market today. However, not all of them are created equal.

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Some, like Motus Vehicle, specialize in mileage tracking and reimbursement and offer programs like Motus FAVR reimbursement. 

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Others, such as Timeero, track employee mileage just as accurately. But, even though they might not provide a specialized FAVR program, they come with a more comprehensive set of features to answer more diverse business needs. 

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Timeero, for example, can simplify mileage, time and location tracking, scheduling, and PTO. In addition, its Who’s Working real-time tracking feature can also help you manage your field employees and fleet on the fly. 

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All this while following the best practices in mileage tracking and staying compliant with even the strictest regulations, such as California’s Labor Code 2802.

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So, when choosing the mileage-tracking solution for your company, consider your business needs. Then, search for a tool that addresses your needs and fits into your mileage reimbursement policy. In addition, you would want to check the apps’ accuracy, ease of use, integrations, and compliance safeguards.

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Transparency and pricing are also crucial, so look for free trial opportunities to get a first-hand feel of value for money.

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Motus Review: FAQ

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How Does Motus Track Mileage?

Motus tracks mileage via Motus App, installed on your employees' mobile devices. They can choose whether the app will track mileage automatically during business hours or manually by starting and stopping tracking themselves.

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Does Motus Use GPS?

Motus Vehicle uses GPS signals from employees’ mobile devices to track their business mileage for reimbursement.

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Does Motus Track Speed?

According to the Motus and the business software review websites, it is inconclusive whether the Motus Vehicle tracks speed. Unfortunately, we couldn’t find this information specifically listed.

As for the information we’ve gathered from the active Motus app user, the app doesn't track speed according to their knowledge. 

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