How to Create and Manage Prestart Checklists

Overview

Prestart Checklists help ensure your operators complete essential safety checks before using vehicles or equipment. In Gearbox, you can create customised checklists for different asset types (e.g. trucks, trailers, plant), add fail reasons, and manage which questions appear based on checklist type.

This guide covers how to:

1. Create a new Prestart checklist – Set up checklists with labels, operator declarations, and optional question templates.
2. Add checklist questions – Define safety checks, assign them to specific checklist types, and control their order and visibility.
3. Archive outdated questions – Hide questions that are no longer relevant without deleting them.
4. Add and manage fail reasons – Create standardised fail options that operators can select when an item fails.
5. Import questions in bulk – Use an Excel template to quickly upload multiple checklist items.

How to Create a New Prestart Checklist

1. Go to Settings:
   Click your User Icon in the top-right corner, then select Settings.
   
2. Open the Prestart section:
   In the left-hand menu, scroll down and click on Prestarts.
   
3. Click Add New:
   On the Prestart Checklists page, click the Add New button.
   
4. Enter checklist details:
   • Label: Enter a name for the checklist (e.g. “Truck Daily Inspection”).
   • Reading Requirement: Choose whether the operator must enter a kilometre or hour reading.
   • Display Kilometre/Hour Reading: Choose whether the operator can see the reading value.
   • Operator Declaration (optional): Add a custom statement for operators to acknowledge before submitting the checklist.
   • Copy Checklist Questions From (optional): Use this dropdown to pre-fill the checklist with questions from an existing list.
5. Click Save and Continue to create the checklist.
   

After Saving: Add Questions and Fail Reasons

Once you click Save and Continue, two new tabs will appear in the checklist window: Questions and Fail Reasons.

1. Add Checklist Questions

1. Click the Questions tab.
2. Click Add Question + to create a checklist item.
3. A new window will pop up. Fill out the following fields:
   • Section (optional): Group related questions under headings like “Brakes” or “Exterior”.
   • Question Order: Set the display order of the question.
   • Question: Enter the question operators need to answer.
   • Include in checklist for (optional): Tick if the question should be included in Start of Day, End of Day or Spare (these fields can be enabled and renamed).
4. Click Save and add another to continue, or click Save to finish.
5. (Optional) To archive a question later, click Edit next to the question, tick Archived, and click Update. Archived questions are greyed out and no longer appear in the Prestart app.

2. Add Fail Reasons

Click the Fail Reasons tab. Gearbox includes a default set of common fail reasons, but you can add more to suit your operation.

1. Click Add New.
2. Enter a clear reason that operators can select when marking a question as failed (e.g. “Damaged”, “Leaking”, “Missing”).
3. Click Save.

Note:

• Archived: false means the fail reason will appear in the Prestart app.
• To hide a fail reason (e.g. if no longer relevant), set Archived to true.

How to Import Prestart Checklist Questions in Bulk

1. Click on the User Icon in the top-right corner, then select Settings.
2. In the left-hand menu, scroll down and click on Prestarts.
3. Select the Import button to open a new screen.
4. Click Download to access the Prestart Checklist XLSX Template, or download it directly here.
5. Complete the template using the following columns:
   • Checklist Name: Enter the exact name of the checklist. This is case-sensitive and must match exactly; any difference in capitalisation or spacing will result in a duplicate entry.
   • Section: Group checklist questions under sections (e.g. Engine, Safety) to keep related items together.
   • Question: Enter the specific question the operator should answer during the prestart.
   • Daily, Weekly, Monthly: Mark as TRUE for each frequency the question should appear on.
   • Order: Number each item in consecutive order to control the display sequence in the Prestart app.
   • Pass Photo Required: Mark as TRUE if a photo is required when the item is marked as Pass.
   • Critical: Mark as TRUE if the item is considered critical and should trigger further attention when failed.
6. Select File To Import, choose your completed file, then click Import.