Between "order confirmed" and "goods delivered" sits a step most businesses still run from a whiteboard and a phone: dispatch. Which orders go on which vehicle today, in what order, with which crew. When it is done by memory, the symptoms are familiar — a customer left off the run, a product loaded for the wrong stop, a vehicle half empty while another is overloaded, and nobody in the office able to say where the delivery is.
What dispatch planning needs to answer
- What is going out today — confirmed orders ready to deliver.
- On which vehicle, with which crew.
- In what order — the run's stops.
- Is the load right before the vehicle leaves?
- Where is it now, and which stops are done?
- What happened at each stop — delivered, partial, refused — with proof.
How dispatch works in Zaqnet
Zaqnet's Fleet app in ControlRoom is where dispatchers plan:
- Vehicles and routes are set up once and reused.
- Runs are built for the day, each with its vehicle, crew and stops linked to the orders and customers they serve.
- Manifests list what each run carries, so loading follows a list, not a conversation.
Drivers and delivery staff work the run in GroundLink:
- Check the load against the manifest before leaving.
- Update each stop as it happens, and close it with proof of delivery — who received it, with a signature or photo.
- Complete the run when the last stop is done.
The vehicle's position comes from the crew's phones, so dispatchers can follow runs without separate trackers, under tracking rules your admin sets.
Dispatch is where a promise to a customer becomes a plan for a vehicle. It deserves better than a whiteboard.
Small changes that help most
- Freeze the day's runs at a fixed time, so late orders go to the next run instead of breaking this one.
- Load in reverse stop order, so the first delivery is at the door.
- Treat a failed stop as data: the reason — closed, refused, wrong item — tells you what to fix upstream.
- Review partial deliveries daily; they become claims and disputes if left alone.