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Customer Tracking Portals

What are Customer Tracking Portals?

Customer tracking portals are unique URLs that TMS.ai generates for each order, giving customers direct access to shipment status, current location, and estimated delivery time without calling or emailing your team. Each tracking link displays the pickup and delivery addresses, current order status (dispatched, in transit, out for delivery, delivered), real-time truck location if available, and the latest ETA. Customers can check these links as often as they want from any device without consuming your team's time.

This self-service visibility reduces the communication burden on your dispatch and customer service teams. Instead of answering "where's my truck?" calls all day, your team handles actual problems and exceptions while customers track their own freight. You also look more modern and professional than competitors who only provide status through phone calls or require customers to log into separate tracking systems.

How Customer Tracking Portals work:

  1. Each order automatically generates a unique tracking URL. When you create or save an order in TMS.ai, the system assigns it a unique tracking identifier and generates a public tracking link (format: https://track.tms.ai/[unique-code]). This link appears in the order view under "Customer Tracking Link."
  2. Send tracking links to customers via email. Copy the tracking URL from the order view and paste it into your customer communication. Many operations include the tracking link automatically in order confirmation emails, dispatch notifications, or the email signature that goes out with BOLs and rate confirmations.
  3. Configure automated tracking link delivery. Set up email automation rules to send tracking links at specific order milestones. Common triggers include "when order status changes to dispatched," "when driver picks up freight," or "when order is created." The automated email includes the tracking link along with order details and customer service contact information.
  4. Customers access tracking without login or authentication. The tracking link works like a shipment tracking URL from major carriers. Customers click it and immediately see order information without creating an account, entering a password, or calling your office. This reduces friction and makes it easy for customers to check status.
  5. The tracking portal displays current shipment information. The portal shows origin and destination addresses, current order status with a visual progress indicator, pickup and delivery dates/windows, and any status updates that have been recorded. If the order has ELD tracking enabled, customers see the truck's current location on a map.
  6. Real-time ETA appears in the customer portal. When automated ETA calculations are active, the tracking portal displays the estimated delivery time based on current traffic and truck location. This ETA updates automatically as conditions change, giving customers accurate arrival predictions without phone calls.
  7. Status updates appear automatically in the portal. As your team updates order status (picked up, at delivery, POD received) or as the driver completes tasks in the mobile app, those updates flow through to the customer tracking portal within minutes. Customers see progress in real-time without waiting for email notifications.
  8. Customers can access historical tracking data. After delivery completes, the tracking link remains active and shows the completed shipment record including final delivery time, proof of delivery if captured digitally, and any delivery notes or exceptions that were recorded.

What it means for you:

Your phone stops ringing with "where's my truck?" calls. Customers check their tracking links instead of calling dispatch. When they do call, it's usually about real issues that need human attention, not simple status questions that waste your team's time. One freight broker reported reducing customer status calls by 40% after implementing customer tracking portals, freeing their team to handle more loads and provide better service on complex issues.

The professional perception matters too. When you email a customer a BOL and tracking link, you look like a modern, tech-enabled carrier. When a customer has to call you for basic status updates, you look like you're running your business out of a spreadsheet. In competitive situations where multiple carriers can handle the freight, the one with better visibility tools often wins the business because customers value transparency and ease of working together.