What is a trip template
A trip template stores the stops of a recurring route, for example a daily trunk between two depots. An auto-assign rule can copy the template into a new trip, so the route is on the trip before orders are added to it.
Templates are used by rules with the option Use trip template for matching. For how rules match orders to trips, see PLANNING - Auto Assign Resources.
Terminology
Term | Definition |
Trip template | A named, fixed sequence of at least two stops for a recurring route. |
Placeholder stop | A stop copied from a trip template onto a trip. It shows the route on the trip and is not dispatched to the driver. |
Created using this template | A count on the template detail page of the trips that were created from the template. |
Create a trip template
🧰 Super Admins: Creating or editing a trip template requires the trip template write permission on the user's role.
Navigate to TRIPS > Trip templates.
Click Create a new template at top right.
Enter a Template name.
Add at least two stops. Each stop requires a Location, with an optional Date and Time. Add a stop appends the next stop in the order the route calls at them.
Save the template. The trip template detail page opens.
A template can also be created from inside a rule: the Trip template dropdown on the rule ends with Create a new trip template, which opens the same modal. Saving it selects the new template on the rule (Screenshot below).
The Trip templates list
The Trip templates list shows Template name, Number of stops, Primary resources and Location of the stops, and all columns are filterable.
The trip template detail page
On the template detail page, the Created using this template under a template title shows how many trips came from the template. Delete trip is only enabled while this count is zero.
How a trip is built from a template
When a rule with Use trip template for matching finds no matching trip for the date, it creates a new trip and copies the template onto it. The rule's resources and trip start time are set on that new trip.
Every template stop is copied onto the trip as a placeholder stop. Placeholder stops show in the stop list with the activity Stop and the trip number as tag, and are not dispatched to the driver. The order's stops are inserted next to them, so the route of the template stays visible.
A template stop that no order uses stays on the trip as a placeholder stop. For example, a template with three stops keeps its third stop when orders only use two. The stop's menu (three dots) offers Dispatch activity to send such a stop to the driver.
‼️
A trip template is copied whole, and only once, when the trip is created. Later changes to the template do not update trips already built from it.
Trips are not pre-built on a schedule: a template trip only appears once the first matching order for that date arrives.
What planners see on a trip
Trip detail > General info shows a Trip template row. Click the name to open the template.
The Trips list has an optional Created from trip template column. SWITCH it on under Customise > Columns.
Unplanning an order from a trip created from a template works the same as on any other trip.
Example
A transport company runs a regular route between Ieper and Brussels via Gent and Heverlee. The trip template "Elisa" holds 4 stops (Ieper, Gent, Heverlee, and Brussels).
A rule with Use trip template for matching and this template receives the first order for 22 October. No trip exists for that date, so a trip is created from the template. Ieper, Gent, Heverlee, and Brussels stops are on the trip as placeholder stops, and the order's stops are inserted next to them.
Or-0000128
An order for 23 October creates a separate trip from the template, because the date differs.
On the template, Created using this template now shows 2 trips, and Delete trip is disabled.
Troubleshooting
Issue | Fix |
Delete trip is disabled on a trip template. | Trips were created from the template. Delete is available once the count under Created using this template is zero. |