Recurring trips

What this is

A template holds the stops, the vehicle (or a vehicle class), an optional driver and a schedule. Each night at 03:15 a job creates one draft trip for each coming date inside the template horizon. A planner still assigns shipments, checks and releases each draft.

A template does not carry shipments. It makes the trip shell.

Before you start

You need fleet.trips.plan.

Steps: create a template

1. Open Dispatch and choose Recurring trips. Choose to add a template.
2. In Template, enter a Name, for example Monday depot round. Keep Active (creates draft trips) ticked.
3. In Stops, choose the place of each stop in order. Add stops with Add a stop. A template has 2 or more stops.
4. For each stop, you are able to enter Arrives, minutes after start and Departs, minutes after start, and a Note. If you leave the minutes empty, the planner estimates are used.
5. Tick Return to the first stop if needed.
6. In Vehicle and driver, choose one Vehicle, or only a Vehicle class and let the planner choose. The Driver is optional.
7. In Schedule, choose Repeats: On certain weekdays or Every few days. Choose the weekdays, or Every how many days (counted from the first date).
8. Enter the Start time, the First date, an optional Last date and Draft ahead, days.
9. Choose Create template.

Dates and times use the time zone of the first stop.

Steps: manage a template

1. Open the template from the list. The list shows the name, route, schedule, vehicle, next date and status.
2. The Coming dates panel shows the next dates with the status Planned, Draft created or Skipped.
3. To skip a date, choose Skip, enter a Reason and confirm. To undo, choose Bring back.
4. To create drafts now, choose Create drafts now.
5. To change the template, edit the form and choose Save changes.
6. To stop the template, archive it. An archived template cannot be edited.

Result

The system creates a draft trip for each date, once per date. After Create drafts now the page says how many drafts it created, or "Nothing new to create: every date in range already has its draft."

Rules and limits

• With a class only, the generator picks an active in-service vehicle of the class that has no other open trip near the start. If every vehicle is busy, it picks the first by registration, and the release gate catches a clash.
• If no vehicle of the class exists, the date is not created.
• Changes apply to drafts made from now on. A released trip keeps what it was released with.
• Skipping a date whose draft is not yet released cancels that draft.

If something goes wrong

Related

• Plan a trip
• Trips list and trip page