DRIVE SMS v26.6.0 – Release Notes

Modified on Wed, 5 Aug at 2:08 PM

DRIVE SMS v26.6.0 – Release Notes

August 4, 2026

✨ NEW FEATURES

Repair Orders & Shop Workflow

Clearer Activity History

Repair order activity logs use clearer, more consistent formatting, including readable past-tense actions and more understandable field-level updates.

Safer Collaboration

When another user already has a repair order open for editing, additional users can open it in view-only mode and see that it is currently being edited.

More Flexibility for Record Corrections

Authorized users have support for correcting a closed repair order date and the related invoice date when period-end adjustments are needed. Corresponding audit tracking and KPI recalculation are included.

Expanded Negative Repair Order Support

Support is being expanded for negative-value repair orders used in refund-style scenarios.

Why it matters: Service advisors and managers gain clearer audit history, fewer accidental overwrite situations, and more flexibility when correcting accounting-period records.

Customers, Contacts & Vehicles

Customer records are evolving to support both individual and company accounts, helping shops manage private customers, fleets, and business customers.

Multiple-owner support improves handling of vehicle resale and ownership changes while preserving historical accuracy.

Recommendations, reminders, and repair order history remain more closely aligned with the vehicle record when ownership changes.

Vehicle linking visibility, VIN and license matching, and related customer-vehicle workflows are being improved.

Why it matters: These changes are particularly helpful for family accounts, business fleets, ownership transfers, and long-term vehicle service history.

Parts & Purchasing

E-commerce part lookup can alert users when a part is already in inventory, allowing them to choose whether to use stock or order another item.

Needed-parts ordering across vendors is being streamlined to reduce repetitive purchasing steps.

Purchase invoice totals can display freight and fee values separately for clearer purchasing-cost visibility.

Why it matters: Shop teams can make faster part decisions, reduce duplicate ordering, and see purchasing-related costs more clearly.

Scheduling & Appointments

Expanded appointment attributes and status tracking improve how appointments are represented in the scheduler.

Website-created appointment rescheduling is moving toward better customer communication.

A scheduler issue that could close the appointment popup unexpectedly during new repair order or estimate creation has been addressed.

Why it matters: Front-desk teams experience less friction when updating appointments and moving customers into estimate or repair order workflows.

Reporting, Metrics & Operational Accuracy

Billed-hours calculations are being refined where chargeback hours apply, using net billed hours instead of original billed hours when appropriate.

The refinement affects technician analysis, labor analysis, sales metrics, end-of-day reporting, DVI, and other reports.

Efficiency and profitability reporting becomes more accurate where these chargeback adjustments apply.

Why it matters: Shop owners, service managers, and operations leaders receive more accurate information when reviewing billed hours, technician efficiency, productivity, and profitability.

✨ Additional Customer-Visible Improvements

Pagination visibility is being improved so tables remain easier to understand, including when result sets are smaller.

Selected permission and access-related areas are being tightened for more consistent and secure system behavior.

Selected integration experiences are being refined, including account-level and webjob visibility in specific administrative scenarios.

✅ What This Means for Your Shop

Better accuracy: Cleaner customer, vehicle, date, and reporting records.

Better usability: Clearer logs, safer repair order viewing, and smoother scheduler flows.

Better operational control: Improved parts visibility, multiple-owner support, and date-correction flexibility.

❓ Frequently Asked Questions

Will these changes alter existing repair order history?

Activity history presentation is being improved for readability. Customer and vehicle relationship changes are intended to preserve historical accuracy rather than remove it.

Why does multiple vehicle-owner support matter?

It allows SMS to reflect ownership changes over time while retaining the vehicle’s complete service history.

Who benefits most from the reporting changes?

Service managers, shop owners, and operations leaders who use billed hours, efficiency, productivity, and profitability information will see the clearest benefit.

Thank you for continuing to help shape Drive SMS. Every release is built from real-world shop feedback, technician workflows, and advisor experience to keep your operation running smoother, faster, and cleaner every day.

Questions or feedback? Contact our support team.

Thank you for choosing DRIVE SMS!