A good log entry answers four questions: when, how long, in what conditions, and with whom. Anything that captures those four accurately is a valid record in most states. What makes a log fail is not its format — it is being filled in from memory weeks later.
What a good log entry looks like
Here are the same drive recorded three ways. All three are fine. The third is the one that is still useful in April.
The extra detail costs about ten seconds. What it buys: the next session has an objective, the night subtotal is always current, and if anyone ever questions a number you can say exactly where it came from.
The fields, and why each one is there
| Field | Required? | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Date | Always | Hours only count once the permit is issued, and states certify hours accumulated during the permit period. |
| Start and end time | Often | Several official forms have columns for both. They also make a duration harder to inflate — which is rather the point. |
| Duration | Always | Driving time, not trip time. Twenty minutes parked outside a shop is not practice. |
| Day or night | Almost always | Nearly every state sets a separate night minimum, and it is the number families come up short on. |
| Conditions | Sometimes | Pennsylvania requires poor-weather hours by name; South Dakota and Alaska build conditions into the requirement. Everywhere else it shows you what you have been avoiding. |
| Supervisor | Sometimes | Matters when several adults drive with the teen, and matters a lot to the parent signing a certification covering hours they did not personally witness. |
| Notes | Never | Free, and the difference between a column of numbers and a training record. "First time merging." "Parallel parking, still rough." |
| Running total | Effectively | Every certification asks for a total. Keeping it current means never reconstructing it. |
A printable template
Our printable driving log templates page has a one-click printable sheet with all of the above laid out as a table — date, start time, end time, duration, conditions, and a supervisor signature column, with page totals, a night total, a running total, and a parent certification line at the foot. Print one sheet per fifteen drives and keep it in the glovebox.
The same page lists each state's official form where one exists, including the Massachusetts RMV log PDF and New York's form MV-262, and flags which states mandate a specific format and which accept any accurate record. Use the state's form where there is one; the generic template is a running record you copy onto it.
If you're building your own
- One row per drive, not one row per day. Three short trips are three entries.
- A separate night column, not a note in the conditions field. It is a number your state asks for on its own.
- Running totals at the bottom of every page, carried forward. A log you have to add up at the end is a log that gets added up wrong.
- Header fields for the driver's name, permit number, and permit issue date. The issue date is the one people forget and then need.
- A certification line for the parent or guardian, with a date. Even if your state has its own form, having the sentence in front of you is a useful reminder of what the signature means.
- Room to write. A log with 3 mm rows does not get filled in.
The digital alternative
PermitReady's supervised driving hours log is the same template, minus the arithmetic and the risk of leaving it in the other car.
- One entry per drive — date, duration, condition tags (highway, night, rain, city streets, parking, heavy traffic), and optional notes. About fifteen seconds.
- Running total and night subtotal at the top, always current, never added up by hand.
- Backdating, so you can transcribe an existing paper log in or start recording in month three and still finish complete.
- Editable entries, so a mistyped drive or a double entry is a correction rather than a crossed-out mess.
- Share to a parent as a file over AirDrop, Messages, or Mail — and if they have the app, an import preview that prevents double-counting.
- Offline, no account. Nothing to sign into, nothing to sync, nothing to be locked out of.
The honest limits: PermitReady's log is not a state form, and no state has approved or rejected it as a substitute for one. It does not produce a signed affidavit, does not detect drives automatically, does not use GPS, and runs on iPhone and iPad only. Where your state mandates a form, you still fill in the form — from a total that is already correct.
The combination most families end up with: log every drive on the phone as it ends, then transcribe once onto the state's official sheet at the end. You get accuracy from the phone and compliance from the form, and you only do the paperwork once.
Habits that keep a template filled in
- Fill it in in the driveway. Before the seatbelt comes off. Every minute you wait costs accuracy.
- One person owns the log. Two people casually logging the same drives is how totals get double-counted.
- Log the boring trips. School runs and errands are the majority of your hours.
- Check the night subtotal monthly. It falls behind quietly while the total looks healthy.
- Never round up to a milestone. Forty-seven hours is forty-seven hours — and in several states the parent's signature on the total is a sworn statement.
If you have already fallen behind, how to log driving hours has a section on closing a gap honestly.
Frequently asked questions
What should a driving log entry include?
Date, start and end time or a duration, the conditions that applied (day, night, highway, rain, city, parking, heavy traffic), and who supervised. A one-line note about what you practiced is optional and worth more than it costs. The first three are what states ask about; the last two are what make the log useful to you rather than just to a clerk.
Is there an official driving log template?
It depends on the state. Ohio publishes the Fifty-Hour Affidavit (BMV 5791), Pennsylvania form DL-180C, New York form MV-262, Massachusetts an RMV Supervised Driving Log, and Florida and Texas both publish log formats. California requires no particular form and simply recommends keeping a log. Where a state publishes a form, use theirs — a generic template is a running record you copy onto it, not a replacement for it.
Can I make my own driving log?
In most states, yes, as long as it is accurate and captures what the state asks about — which almost always means a total and a night subtotal. A spreadsheet, a notebook, a printed template, or an app all work. The format matters far less than whether it was filled in at the time. What you cannot do is substitute your own document for a state form where one is mandated.
Does the parent have to sign every entry?
Usually not every line, though some official forms have a per-drive signature column and a few families use one as a discipline. What states almost universally require is a single parent or guardian certification of the total at the end, and in several states that certification is sworn. Signing per drive is a stricter habit than required; signing nothing until the last day is how totals become guesses.
What if I made a mistake in the log?
Correct it visibly rather than invisibly. On paper, strike through, write the correction, and initial it — an erased or overwritten entry looks worse than an obvious correction. In an app, edit the entry. Either way, if the correction is significant, note why: "duplicate of 14 Feb entry, removed". A log with visible corrections reads as a real record; a spotless one that nobody could have kept perfectly does not.
Should I use paper or an app?
Most families are better off with an app, mainly because the phone is in the car and the sheet is in the other car, and because a digital log totals itself. Paper wins when your state mandates a specific printed form or when the teen does not carry a phone. Plenty of families do both: log on the phone as each drive ends, transcribe onto the state form once at the end.
Related
- Printable driving log templates and official state forms
- How to log supervised driving hours
- What counts as a supervised hour
- Supervised driving hours by state
- A parent's guide to supervising a teen driver
Important Notice
- PermitReady is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or approved by any DMV, RMV, BMV, DPS, or state agency.
- No state has formally approved or rejected PermitReady's driving log as a substitute for an official state form. Always confirm with your state agency what log format they accept.
- Requirements shown on this page are approximate and change. Verify current rules with your state licensing agency before your road test.