Tracking Shipments

Once a draft is submitted, the order page at /orders/<order-ref> becomes the single place to follow what’s happening. This guide walks through the tracking-related tabs and the actions a shipper can take from each.

Before you start

The order page is most useful once the order is in progress — that’s when driver location updates start flowing. Before then (in staged state), the map shows the planned route and the timeline is empty except for the order-created event.

The order page at a glance

Open chrt.com/orders, then click into any order. The header shows the order’s short ID, an optional off-chrt reference, the overall status, mileage, the time window, and a Public tracking indicator if you’ve shared a public link. The tabs underneath drive the URL via ?tab=…, so you can deep-link directly to a tab.

1. Watch the live map

The Map tab shows everything chrt knows about where the shipment is.

• Staged orders display the Mapbox-routed planned path as a blue line between stops.
• In-progress orders display the map-matched history of the driver so far plus the remaining planned route to the next stop.
• Completed orders display the full traversed route.

Use the layer toggle in the top-left of the map to switch between:

• Task group by driver — driver location for each segment.
• Cargo by driver — cargo positions inferred from driver location.
• Cargo by device — independent tracker positions when you’ve attached chrt tracker devices to cargo.

Toggle clustering if many markers stack at low zoom. If the order has no coordinates yet (an early staged state), the map shows “No route information to display.”

2. Read the timeline

The Details tab is a chronological event feed: order created, courier assigned, driver assigned, driver location updates, ground task events, flight events, OBC phase events, and final order completion or cancellation.

Click any event to open the event details side panel, which slides in from the right and shows:

• The stop’s address and status, with a mini map of the location.
• The time window chrt is targeting (earliest and latest acceptable arrival).
• The ETA for upcoming stops — chrt recalculates this live from the driver’s location once the task group is in progress (see How ETAs work).
• The cargo picked up or delivered at this stop.
• The task artifacts captured here — photos, signatures, and any other proof.
• Flight info for flight tasks (departure/arrival, gate, status).
• Special instructions and the point of contact for this stop.

The side panel auto-closes when you navigate to a non-Details tab.

3. Take action from the actions menu

Use the Actions menu in the order header to:

• Share tracking — open a dialog to generate a public tracking link you can send to a customer or recipient.
• Edit stops — reorder the stops (only available before the order is in-progress).
• Cancel order — cancel the entire order and its tasks.
• Generate POD — render a proof-of-delivery PDF from the captured artifacts.
• Generate BOL — render a bill-of-lading PDF.

4. Add ad-hoc notifications for this order

The Notifications tab on the order lets you add email recipients who should get notified about this specific order’s events — typically the end recipient or your customer’s operations contact.

1. Open the Notifications tab.
2. Click Add recipient and pick from your directory (or add a new contact).
3. The recipient receives emails on the order-staged and order-completed events. Delete a recipient any time to remove them.

For org-wide notification routing (across all orders), use notification groups instead.

How ETAs work

chrt calculates the ETA for upcoming stops from the driver’s live location plus Mapbox driving directions, with a small buffer between tasks. There is no separate “estimated” vs. “scheduled” field — the ETA is always derived from live data and updates as the driver moves. Completed tasks display the actual completion time, not an ETA.

• Ground orders. First task’s ETA = staged-at-time + 2 hours; subsequent stops chain via Mapbox routing plus a 20-minute buffer.
• Flight orders. Tender ETA = departure − 2 hours; recover ETA = arrival; post-recover stops use a 30-minute buffer. Flight arrival uses actual time when available, falling back to estimated, then predicted, then scheduled.
• In-progress orders. Once the driver starts driving, the first uncompleted task’s ETA is recomputed from their real-time location.

See ETA overview (internal) for the full calculation reference.

How to know it’s working

• The Map tab shows the driver’s location updating as they move.
• Timeline events appear as tasks complete and as artifacts are uploaded.
• The order status badge in the header transitions from Staged to In Progress to Completed.

If something looks different

• Map shows the planned route but no driver path. The order is still staged or the driver hasn’t started driving yet. Driver location starts flowing once they tap Start driving in the driver app.
• Status looks stale. Click the Refresh button in the top-right of the tabs row to immediately refetch.
• Event details side panel won’t close when you click outside. It’s a drawer, not a modal — click the panel’s close control, or switch to a non-Details tab.
• You don’t see Edit stops in the Actions menu. The order is already in-progress. Stops can only be reordered before driving starts.
• Sharing menu missing. Only the order creator’s org can generate a public link.
• Contact hi@chrt.com if something looks off.

Related guides

• Public tracking links — share a customer-facing view of the order.
• Notifications — set up org-level routing for order events.
• Trackers on orders — attach hardware trackers to cargo for an independent location and condition feed.
• Creating shipments — back to the draft builder.