Explanation of the importance of the Start Trip button when Drivers are beginning a trip.
Overview
This document explains the importance of the Start Trip button in Eleos workflow when drivers are beginning a trip, including the features and functions that rely on it for accurate operation, and what to do in the event it is missed or skipped.
Start Trip
Trips must be Started for many different functions and automations to work correctly in the remainder of the trip's workflow. If a driver does not press the Start Trip button when they begin their trip (or at least before their first arrival event on a trip), then the integration cannot be certain which trip is being acted on. This will cause it to skip or otherwise fail to process many actions.
Functions and Features That Rely On Start Trip
The following is a list of functions and features that could fail to work correctly (or at all) when a trip is not Started.
- Creating Beginning Events - The integration automatically handles the creation of beginning events (such as Begin Empty, Begin Bobtail, etc.) when Start Trip is pressed.
- Real-Time Workflow Tracking - Accurate auditing of the flow of a trip requires the driver to complete workflow actions when they occur.
- Electronic Documents Interchange Integration - For TMS systems that support automated trip status updates between the business and its clients.
- Geofenced Location Arrival and Departure - A driver must have a trip that is currently in-progress for the integration to correctly capture and apply geofence entries and exits.
- Distance-Based Auto Departure - When this feature is enabled, vehicle location updates can trigger an automatic departure from open stops when the system detects that the driver has left the location. The corresponding trip must be Started for this to be possible.
- Trip Update Messages - Drivers will likely not receive trip update messages through Eleos if the trip isn't started.
- Deadhead Stops To/From Driver Domicile - Without an open trip, this feature cannot know which locations deadhead stops should be created to or from.
- Automated Shipment Log Syncing - The integration can automatically attach / remove shipment logs to integrated ELD systems, but requires a started trip in order to do so.
What To Do When Start Trip Is Missed Or Skipped
Pressing the Start Trip button is required to activate other workflow actions in many of the integration's default workflows. When a driver skips the Start Trip action and proceeds directly to their pickup location, they should complete all missed workflow steps (including stop arrival) as soon as possible to continue their workflow.
The integration captures workflow events and records them in the underlying TMS in real-time. In this scenario, the Start Trip and first Stop Arrival times will be compressed together, making it appear in the back-office as though the driver arrived at their first stop shortly after starting the trip. This timing compression becomes even more pronounced if the driver delays subsequent workflow actions until later in the trip.
For this reason, drivers should press Start Trip as soon as they begin their trip and perform all workflow actions at the actual time they occur. This ensures that trip information is recorded in the TMS as accurately as possible.
Why can Start Trip not be automatic?
Automatically starting a trip presents several challenges. It's difficult to consistently determine which trip in a driver's shift should be activated, especially when drivers may have multiple trips assigned that go to and from the same locations. Additionally, real-world scenarios frequently disrupt automated detection, such as drivers completing trips out of their planned order, needing to skip or cancel trips due to unexpected circumstances, or having to adapt to other on-the-ground situations that require immediate driver judgment.
Data accuracy in the underlying TMS improves significantly when drivers manually indicate trip initiation, as they have the most reliable knowledge of when they're beginning a route and which trip or order they're working. For these reasons, Start Trip actions require manual driver input.