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Back-office procedures

Dispatch

Building a delivery run from stock, choosing a rider, releasing the run, and handling what comes back.

Ops managers and the dispatch desk3 min readPrintable handbook

Dispatch turns stock into runs. A run is a rider, a date, a set of parcels and a printed run sheet. The screens are /admin/warehouse/runs and /admin/warehouse/runs/new.

Building a run

  1. 01Choose the areaFilter stock by zone and area. A run that covers one side of the city delivers more parcels than a run that crosses it twice.
  2. 02Pull express firstExpress parcels have a same-day promise and were collected before 13:00. They go on the first run out, not the convenient one.
  3. 03Add the stopsSelect parcels and add them. The run shows the parcel count, the COD total and the areas covered as you build.
  4. 04Pick the riderThe candidate list ranks riders on duty by current load, delivery performance and familiarity with the area. Capacity is a limit, not a target.
  5. 05Release itReleasing assigns the parcels to the rider and makes the run visible in their app. The rider sequences the stops themselves.
  6. 06Print the run sheetOne sheet per run, one row per stop, with the COD total. It is the paper fallback when a phone dies.

What makes a good run

  • One contiguous area, not a tour of the city.
  • A COD total the rider can safely carry back.
  • Express and aged parcels before new ones in the same area.
  • Parcels whose attempt count is close to the threshold, so their last attempt is a real attempt and not a rushed one.
  • Nothing in it that is flagged return pending, damaged or on hold for a support decision.

Run states

Delivery run lifecycle
StateMeaning
PlannedBeing built. Parcels are allocated but not released to the rider.
ReleasedVisible in the rider app. The rider sequences and starts it.
In progressThe rider has started. Stops are closing one by one.
CompletedEvery stop has an outcome and the undelivered parcels are back in stock.
CancelledWithdrawn with a reason. Parcels return to stock for another run.

During the run

A stop goes on hold
Normal. The attempt counter rises and the parcel comes back tonight for another run. Watch for a pattern on one area or one rider.
A refusal with no evidence
Chase the rider the same day. A refusal without a photograph is weak if the merchant disputes it.
A rider stops reporting
Call them. The run sheet and the last synced stop tell you where they were; the app queues work offline, so silence is often signal, not absence.
A parcel needs pulling mid-run
Remove the stop from the run so the rider sees it disappear, and tell them. Never leave a stop the rider will attempt after a merchant cancelled it.

Closing the day

  • Every released run is completed or cancelled with a reason.
  • Every undelivered parcel has been inbound-scanned back into stock.
  • Every rider has declared and settled cash.
  • Parcels that reached the attempt threshold today are flagged for the return decision tomorrow morning, not left to drift.

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