Tips for getting started in the new vehicle reservation system

More than 600 Iowa State employees have completed their user profiles in the FleetCommander vehicle reservation system, said transportation services manager Kathy Wellik. The link from transportation services' website to the new reservation system goes live on Sunday, Feb. 1, but employees may access it now to create their user profiles and reserve vehicles for travel on Feb. 1 or later.

"We're excited about this new web-based system," Wellik said. "We're especially grateful that so many users have gone ahead and created their profiles in the system already. They're ready to go."

Wellik said that several weeks of using the system and training others to use the system have exposed a few system requirements and likely user errors. She offered these tips to help new users navigate FleetCommander with ease:

About user profiles

  • Anyone who reserves a vehicle, drives a vehicle or even picks up a vehicle -- or picks up a key set -- on behalf of a colleague or supervisor must have a user profile in the ISU FleetCommander database
  • Log into ISU FleetCommander using your ISU Net-ID, not your email address. In most cases, your Net-ID is the letters in front of "@iastate.edu" in your email address. Your password is the same one associated with your Net-ID. A welcome email inadvertently advised users to change their passwords; this is not needed.

On creating your user profile

  • Note that the template asks for last name, then first name. Take care not to flip-flop these. The system will accept a first-name-first entry, but a system search, typically done by last name, would not find the entry.
  • Enter billing account number (either a 7-digit or 13-digit number) without spaces or dashes

On creating a vehicle reservation

  • When a user saves a reservation, he or she may receive a message that the driver's license hasn't been validated. Continue through these screens; the license is validated at the time a vehicle is picked up.

Wellik advised employees to use the Internet Explorer or Firefox browsers when working in the FleetCommander site. Some users have experienced system difficulties when using Google Chrome, she said.

Wellik also said that her staff is able to customize user profiles according to individual or department needs – for example, whether a supervisor automatically is copied on all reservation confirmation emails, or whether an employee is authorized to make reservations, drive vehicles or both. Contact Wellik, 294-1657, for assistance with customizing or with questions.