Creating Driver Runs and Allocating Consignments

Using the Delivery Menu to create and plan Driver Runs

Dispatchers can plan Driver Runs and allocate consignments using the Dispatch Board and Delivery Runs pages.

In this article:

Dispatch Board Overview

Creating a Run

Auto-allocating consignments to a Run

Manually allocating consignments to a Run

Dispatch Board Overview

The Dispatch Board page provides a view of consignments related to a specified timeframe. Consignments can be filtered by a number of criteria, including Customers, Service Types and Date type (e.g. consignment creation date, requested delivery date).

Consignments matching the selected criteria are organised into tabs on the Dispatch Board page as follows:

Pending	Consignments not yet requested for pickup.
Inbound*	Consignments in transit to a Dispatch group depot.
Unallocated	Consignments not yet picked up from the sender, and not yet allocated to a Run.
Checked in	Consignments checked in at a depot, but not yet allocated to a Run.
Allocated	Consignments already allocated to a Run.
Outbound*	Consignments which have left the Dispatch group , but are not yet delivered.
Delivered	Consignments delivered to their receivers.

Note 🔎 The Inbound and Outbound tabs will only appear for Hitrak customers using the Dispatch Groups feature to manage more than one dispatch region.

When a consignment is ready to add to a Driver Run, it can either be allocated to an existing Run, or a new Run can be created during the allocation process.

Creating a Run

Hitrak Run Templates help to streamline Run creation by automating consignment allocation, based on a Run route area and other settings. We highly recommend setting up a Run Template for each regular route.

If required, Runs can also be created manually.

Using Run Templates to create a Run and auto-allocate consignments

Navigate to Dispatch Board>Unallocated.
Click Auto Allocate to perform the action on all consignments in this tab. If any consignments in the tab should not be auto-allocated for some reason, check the box beside each relevant consignment to select it.
Select the Date and Job Type for the Run to search the available Run Templates. Optional filters on Dispatch Group, Service Type or Name can be applied as needed.
Click Search to view the applicable template options.
Check the box next to the preferred template for the Run, or select All Templates and click Accept to create and allocate consignments on multiple Runs.
A dialog will appear with the template name, schedule where applicable, and the number of consignments to be added to the new Run. Click Accept to proceed with Run and consignment allocation.
Another dialog will appear to summarise the automatic allocations which were processed, with a link to each Run reference. Click a Run's reference to open and edit the Run as needed.
If the Run is ready at this point, click Activate. The assigned driver will be able to view and start the Run in the Driver App.

If no templates match the criteria selected, a notification dialog will appear to advise the user. In this case, the Run will need to be created manually.

Creating a Run manually

If a Run doesn't meet the constraints of any Run Templates, e.g. in the case of an irregular area being serviced, it can be created manually.

This can be done via the Delivery Runs page, or when allocating consignments from the Dispatch Board.

On the Delivery Runs page:

Click New Run.
Select the Run Type, and add a name for the Run. Run names typically reflect the area and job type, e.g. Lower Hutt deliveries.
Select whether the Run will be delivering to a Receiver or a hub, and click Accept.
Select the driver and vehicle. If there is a default vehicle for the selected driver, the vehicle field will populate automatically.
Select an Offsider for the Run, if applicable.
Confirm or change the Run Date using the Date field calendar. The date will default to the next calendar day. A planned start time can also be entered for the Run.
Set the route Start and End locations. For regular Runs (i.e. non-linehaul), these locations are likely to be the same, and are typically a site already configured in Hitrak for a company Hub. Alternatively, a custom address for the Run's Start or End location can be entered.
To complete the process, click Create Run.
To make the Run available to its assigned driver, click Actions>Activate.
The driver will be able to view and start the Run in the Driver App.

Allocating consignments

Allocating to a new run

As above, if a Run needs to be created manually, this can be performed at the same time as consignment allocation.

On the Dispatch Board Checked In or Allocated tab:

Select all consignments to be added to the same Run.
Click Allocate.
Select whether the run will be delivering to a Receiver or a Hub, and click Accept.
Following the remaining steps for Creating a Run.

💡 To learn how to create and update Run Templates for your Driver Runs, see Managing Run Templates.

Allocating to an existing Run

Consignments can be added to a run which was created earlier. This is useful for consignments which were Staged added after the Run was created, but before it has reached full capacity.

On the Dispatch Board Checked In or Allocated tab:

Select all consignments to be added to the same Run.
Click Allocate to Existing Run.
Select a Run from the list, and click Accept.
If the Run was still in Draft, but is now ready to begin, click Actions>Activate.
The assigned driver will be able to view and start the Run in the Driver App.

💡For more information on Driver Runs, including removing and reallocating consignments, cancelling a Run and modifying a route, see Managing Driver Runs.