Driving Log Template vs App for Permit Hours
Driving log template or app? See which states require their own form, where paper and phone logs go wrong, and how to use both for permit hours.
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If your state names a form or an app for supervised driving hours, that is your official log, whatever else you keep. If it only wants a signed certification, pick the log you’ll actually update after every drive. For most families that’s a phone app used as the running record, copied onto the state form on a set schedule.
Below we cover what six states accept and where paper and phone logs each go wrong, plus what a study comparing the two found.
Road44, the driving log app mentioned near the end, is our app. State rules were checked on state DMV pages and forms in September 2026. Rules change, so confirm yours with your state DMV. This guide covers learner-permit practice logs in US states only; a mileage log for work is a different record with different rules.
What your state accepts comes first
Nearly every state sets a minimum number of supervised practice hours. The IIHS graduated licensing table lists one for every state plus DC except Arkansas and Mississippi. How you prove those hours varies a lot more.
The states we checked fall into three groups:
- A named form or a named app, and nothing else. Nevada is blunt about it: “You must use either the RoadReady app or the DLD-130 form. Other logs will not be accepted.”
- The state’s own log. Indiana wants hours entered on State Form 54706. Ohio’s BMV 5791 affidavit has its own log section, and the only app it names is RoadReady Ohio.
- Your own log, or just a signature. New Jersey says “the submission of the driving log or any other form is not required,” only a signed certification. Michigan asks for a signed logbook, but families “may also create their own logbook” based on its sample.
North Carolina sits between groups. Its Level 2 page asks for a “Driving log showing at least 60 hours of driving,” links that line to the DL-4A form, and says “digital and printed copies accepted.” It doesn’t say whether another log would do.
| State | What you hand in | Hours (total / night) | App or digital log? | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nevada | DLD-130 Beginning Driver Experience Log, with a parent or guardian certification | 50 / 10 in darkness (under 18) | Only RoadReady. Other logs are not accepted | NV DMV, DLD-130 |
| Ohio | BMV 5791 Fifty Hour Affidavit, notarized, with a log section | 50 / 10 | Only RoadReady Ohio is named. Other apps aren’t addressed | BMV 5791, Ohio BMV |
| Indiana | State Form 54706, Log of Supervised Driving Practice | 50 / 10 | Unclear. No app option is stated; the form may be completed “in blue or black ink or print form” | Indiana BMV, Form 54706 |
| North Carolina | A driving log signed by the supervising driver (the state’s form is DL-4A) | 60 / 10, with no more than 10 hours a week counted | Digital and printed copies accepted. No app is named | NCDMV Level 2, DL-4A |
| New Jersey | BA-CSD Certification of Supervised Driving only | 50 / 10 during darkness | Not applicable. No log is submitted | NJ MVC, BA-CSD |
| Michigan | A logbook signed by the parent or guardian, which families may make themselves | 50 / 10 | Not stated | Michigan SOS |
New Jersey’s rule covers permit holders under 21 whose permit was issued on or after February 1, 2025. New York (MV-262, 50 hours with 15 after sunset) and Pennsylvania (DL-180C, 65 hours with 10 at night and 5 in bad weather) work like New Jersey: the parent signs a certification, and the form itself isn’t a log.
Looking for a printable template?
Where your state names a form, that form is the template that counts, and a generic sheet from another site can be the wrong document. Download yours from the agency: Nevada’s DLD-130, Indiana’s Form 54706, North Carolina’s DL-4A or the log section of Ohio’s BMV 5791. If your state isn’t here, search its DMV site for “supervised driving log” or “certification of supervised driving.”
Where a paper log goes wrong (and where it wins)
Paper has four habits that cause trouble over a 6 to 12 month permit.
It gets lost or left behind. A log in the glove box of the other car is no help after Tuesday’s drive. Months of entries on a few sheets can vanish with one spill or one cleaned-out backpack.
Entries get written days later. When the pen isn’t handy, drives get filled in from memory on Sunday night. Start times turn into guesses, and short errands drop out.
The math is manual. Nevada’s DLD-130 is kept in minutes, with a line for “Total Hours (Divide Total Minutes by 60).” Fifty hours is 3,000 minutes, and 600 of them “must be completed in darkness.” North Carolina’s DL-4A adds a weekly cap: “No more than 10 hours per week may count toward the 60 hours.” A road-trip weekend can blow past it, so you have to track weekly totals too.
Format rules can get a log rejected. Nevada’s form asks for “blue or black ink. No gel pens or pencil will be accepted,” and “Logs completed using military time will not be accepted.” Nobody wants to find out on test day that a log kept in pencil or 24-hour time is a problem.
Where paper wins:
- In Indiana, it’s the log, and in Nevada too if you don’t use RoadReady. Every line goes straight onto the document you hand in.
- Nothing to charge or update. It works in any car, with any supervisor.
- The supervisor can sign or initial right away, while the drive is fresh.
Where a phone log goes wrong (and where it wins)
Apps fix the math. They also have weak spots of their own, which app makers rarely mention.
Nobody taps start. A tap-to-start app records only what someone tells it to. A forgotten drive has to be added by hand later, which is the same memory problem paper has.
The phone dies or stays home. Then the drive gets entered afterward, if at all.
Phone rules apply to the teen. Michigan’s Kelsey’s Law “specifically prohibits teen drivers with a GDL 1 Learner’s License or a GDL 2 Intermediate License from using any electronic or cellular device, except in an emergency” (Michigan SOS). In North Carolina, a conviction for a mobile phone infraction in the last six months blocks Level 2 eligibility. So the supervisor runs the app, or it’s started before the car moves.
One phone, one log. If the log lives on a single phone with no backup, a lost or replaced phone can take months of drives with it. Two parents with the app on two phones can end up with two separate logs to merge.
The app’s night may not be your state’s night. Ohio counts night from “one-half hour after sunset” to one-half hour before sunrise (BMV 5791). An app that flags night from sunset will count some dusk drives as night that Ohio doesn’t. Our post on how long 50 supervised hours take covers how other states define night, along with weekly pacing.
Where a phone wins:
- Timestamps are captured as the drive happens instead of being rebuilt from memory.
- Day and night totals add up on their own. No dividing minutes by 60.
- Gaps are visible. A calendar view makes a skipped week obvious.
- It’s already in your pocket, in whichever car you take.
Is one more accurate? What a Maryland study found
Researchers at Johns Hopkins and IIHS followed parent-teen pairs in Maryland for six continuous months between January 2020 and December 2021 (Ehsani et al., 2023). Of those pairs, 147 used a smartphone logbook app and 131 used paper, with pairs assigned to the groups using a block design.
Neither format led families to report significantly more practice. In the study’s words: “There were no statistically significant differences in any measures of self-reported practice driving by logbook type (electronic versus paper).”
In the app group, the families’ own questionnaires about the previous week counted about 1 trip a week more than the app recorded. IIHS summarized it this way: “This suggests electronic logbooks, which require the user to press start and stop at the beginning and end of each drive, may improve the accuracy of reporting.”
App families liked it, too: “93.0% of teenagers and 91.9% of parents” said they would recommend the app to a friend. The IIHS summary doesn’t name the app, so don’t read these results as a review of any particular app, ours included.
A timestamp only helps if someone presses start. In either format, accuracy comes down to logging right after each drive.
Use both: the app as your running log, the state form as the record
You don’t have to pick a winner. Split the jobs instead: the app catches every drive, and the state form holds the record.
A routine that works:
- Log each drive in the app before anyone leaves the car. The supervisor stops the drive and checks the day or night flag.
- Copy onto the state form once a week, unless the form says to fill it in after each drive. Pick a fixed time, such as Sunday evening. Copy each drive, or just the totals if that’s all your form asks for, and have the supervisor sign or initial where the form asks.
- Follow the form’s rules as you copy. In Nevada that means minutes, AM/PM times, blue or black ink, and filling in the DLD-130 after each driving session, as the DMV asks. In North Carolina, count no more than 10 hours in any week.
- Collect what the form asks for. Ohio’s log has a column for the “Supervising Adult Ohio Driver License #,” and North Carolina’s DL-4A asks for the supervising driver’s license number too. Note it the first time each person supervises.
- Back up both. Photograph the paper pages after each copy session, and export the app log.
In Nevada, an app other than RoadReady is only a timer: write each drive onto the DLD-130 after that session. In Ohio, an app other than RoadReady Ohio is your scratchpad, and the BMV 5791 log section is the record you hand in. Indiana families copy onto Form 54706. North Carolina families copy onto the DL-4A and have the supervising driver sign it, because the Level 2 page accepts digital copies of a log but names no app. Michigan doesn’t say whether an app export counts, so keep a signed logbook based on the sample in the Supervised Driving Guide. For New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania, the app log is the private record the parent checks before signing the certification.
If a drive gets missed, add it later with realistic times and leave out anything you can’t confirm. The forms take false entries seriously. New Jersey’s BA-CSD suspends driving privileges for six months for “a fraudulent certification,” and North Carolina’s DL-4A makes a teen with a falsified log complete a new one and wait six months for the limited provisional license.
Setting up Road44 as the running log
We built Road44 to be that running log. Pick Hours as your goal during setup (onboarding suggests 50), and set the night-hours sub-goal, which defaults to 10. New York learners would raise it to 15, and North Carolina families would set the total to 60.
The supervisor starts a live drive with a press-and-hold button and ends it the same way. The timer keeps running if the app is backgrounded or restarted, and “Add past drive” covers the ones you forgot. Past supervisor names come up as suggestions, the calendar shows each day’s hours, and a daily reminder is free.
Two limits to know. On live drives the night flag is set once, from the start time, and doesn’t apply your state’s definition, so check dusk drives and switch the flag by hand when needed. There’s also no field for a supervisor’s license number, so put it in the drive’s notes or add it when you copy.
Exports are free in Text, CSV, PDF or PNG, in a Table or Cards layout, with no watermark. Use one as the sheet you copy from, or print it for whoever signs to check against. It’s a personal record, not an official or certified logbook, and it doesn’t replace your state’s form.
Road44 has no account and no cloud, so drives stay on the phone that logged them. Pick one phone as the family log and export regularly. Recurring weekly and monthly goals, the Insights screen and the rest of the themes are in the optional Pro subscription. For apps that sync across supervisors, see our roundup of driving hours tracker apps or the comparison hub. If Road44 fits the way you drive, download it here.
Whatever you log with, the state form is the one that counts.
Road44
Driving Hours Tracker & Logger
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Choose to track hours, distance, earnings or trips, and Road44 keeps the totals. Learner drivers can set a night-hours goal too.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Where can I get a printable driving log for my permit?
From your state's licensing agency. Examples include Nevada's DLD-130, Indiana's State Form 54706, North Carolina's DL-4A and the Supervised Driving Log section of Ohio's BMV 5791. Michigan's Supervised Driving Guide includes a sample log that families can base their own on. Where your state names a form, use that form rather than a third-party template.
Can I use any driving log app in Nevada?
No. Nevada DMV accepts either the RoadReady app or the DLD-130 form and says other logs will not be accepted. Even if you use the app, a parent or guardian still signs the first page of the DLD-130.
Can I keep a paper log and an app log at the same time?
Yes, and it's often the easiest setup. Log each drive in the app right away, then copy it (or just the totals, if that's all your form asks for) onto the state form on a set schedule, such as weekly, unless your state says to fill in the form after each drive, as Nevada does. The signed state form is the record that counts.
Can I type or print my driving log instead of handwriting it?
It depends on the state. Indiana's Form 54706 may be completed in blue or black ink or as a printed form. Nevada's DLD-130 requires blue or black ink, with no pencil, no gel pens and no military time. New Jersey asks you to print the BA-CSD and sign it by hand. Check the instructions on your state's form.
Does North Carolina accept a digital driving log?
For format, yes. NCDMV's Level 2 page asks for a driving log showing at least 60 hours, links that line to the state's DL-4A form, and says digital and printed copies are accepted. It names no app and doesn't say whether another log would do. The DL-4A must be signed by the supervising driver, and no more than 10 hours a week count toward the 60.
Do I have to hand in my driving log in New Jersey or New York?
Neither state asks for one. New Jersey requires only the signed BA-CSD certification and says the driving log is not required. New York asks for the MV-262 certification at every road test and doesn't list a log. Keeping a log still makes signing the certification honest and easy.
Is a paper log or an app more accurate?
A Maryland study of 278 parent-teen pairs found no statistically significant difference in reported practice between paper and app logbooks. In the app group, periodic questionnaires about the previous week counted about one trip a week more than the app recorded, which suggests start-and-stop timestamps may help. Either one is only as good as logging right after each drive.
What happens to an app log if I lose my phone?
It depends on the app. Road44 keeps drives only on your phone, with no account or cloud copy, so export your logbook regularly (CSV or PDF, both free) and keep the file somewhere else. A paper log has the same problem, and a photocopy or photo of the pages is the paper version of that backup.