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Assignment rules for drivers and trucks

Know why an assignment succeeds, warns or is refused, covering shifts, blocked trucks and expired documents.

For
DispatcherService advisorAdministrator
Hosting
Any hosting
Devices
All devices
Business
Towing

Checked against Pop Street Dispatch 0.1.0

When you assign a driver to a call, Dispatch checks the driver, the truck and their documents. You will be able to read each refusal and warning and fix its cause.

Before you start #

You need the dispatcher, advisor, manager or owner role.

Steps #

  1. Open the call and choose Assign.
  2. Choose an active driver. Add the truck if it differs from the driver's usual one. Add an ETA in minutes if you know it.
  3. Dispatch checks, in this order:
    1. The call is New, Scheduled, Dispatched, En route or On scene.
    2. The driver is on shift.
    3. The driver has no other live call (dispatched through loaded).
    4. The truck is active.
    5. The truck has no open critical defect.
    6. No document is past its date.
  4. If every check passes, the call records the assignment. A New or Scheduled call becomes Dispatched. The ETA, when given, shows on the board.
  5. Warnings come back with the saved call. Read them, since the assignment still stands.

Documents that block or warn #

  • A document past its date blocks the assignment. The message names the person or truck, the document and the date.
  • A document due within 30 days gives a warning with the number of days left.
  • The server reads the driver's licence date, the truck's insurance date and the truck's inspection date. Medical card and truck registration dates follow the same rules and apply once those dates are recorded.

Blocked trucks #

A truck with an open critical defect is out of service. The message reads like "Unit 4 is out of service: Brakes is marked critical. A manager has to clear it first." The trucks list shows the same text under blocked.

Shifts #

  1. A driver starts a shift in the driver app: choose the truck, and the shift begins.
  2. Starting a shift needs an active driver, an active truck, a truck that no other driver is using on shift, no open critical defect, and a pre-trip inspection within the last 14 hours when the setting "Require a pre-trip inspection before a shift" is on.
  3. A driver ends a shift after the current call is finished or handed over.

Other warnings #

A call that must go on a flatbed (AWD, 4WD, EV or a flatbed need) assigned to another truck type gives the warning "This vehicle must go on a flatbed." and names the truck and its type.

Technical details
  • The shift start rule is one function, used by the driver app and by the roster, so a blocked truck is refused on both paths.
  • The setting is stored as tow_require_pretrip in app_settings; the values 1, true, on and yes turn it on.
  • A truck on another driver's shift is refused at shift start. An assignment with a truck that another driver uses goes through, because dispatchers hand trucks over mid-shift.
  • Refusals answer conflict (409) with the message. An unknown or inactive driver answers validation_failed (422) on driver_id; an unknown truck on truck_id.

If something goes wrong #

  • "<driver> is off shift. Start a shift first.": ask the driver to start a shift.
  • "<driver> is already on <call number>.": finish or reassign that call first.
  • "<unit> is out of service ...": a manager clears the defect, or choose another truck.
  • The expired-document message names the person or truck, the document and the date: renew the document, or choose another driver or truck.
  • "Choose a driver.": the driver is missing or inactive.
  • "This call can no longer be reassigned.": the call is loaded, delivered, completed or cancelled.