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Delay Alerts & Customer Email Updates

What is Delay Alerts & Customer Email Updates?

Delay Alerts & Customer Email Updates in TMS.ai monitor your orders in real time and automatically flag deliveries that are running late, sending you immediate alerts through in-app notifications and email so you can notify customers before they call you. When the system detects a delay, it gives you a pre-populated email template to update your customer about the situation directly from the platform.

This feature combines ELD location data, MacroPoint tracking, and HERE Maps ETA calculations to continuously monitor whether deliveries will hit their requested windows. You set delay thresholds at the customer level (1 minute, 5 minutes, 10 minutes, 15 minutes, 30 minutes, 45 minutes, or 1 hour), and the system compares the order's Delivery ETA against the Requested Delivery time. When an order crosses your threshold, TMS.ai immediately sends you notifications and opens the option to email your customer about the delay without leaving the platform or picking up the phone.

How Delay Alerts & Customer Email Updates works:

  1. Configure alerts for each customer: Go to the customer profile in TMS.ai. Enable delay alerts and select your delay threshold from the dropdown (1 minute through 1 hour options available).
  2. Threshold applies to all customer orders: Once configured, the delay alert settings apply automatically to every order for that customer. No need to set it up repeatedly for each shipment.
  3. System monitors orders in transit: When an order status changes to "In Transit," TMS.ai begins comparing the Delivery ETA (either manually set or calculated by HERE Maps) against the Requested Delivery time.
  4. Delay triggers get identified: When the Delivery ETA exceeds the Requested Delivery time by your configured threshold, the system marks the order's ETA Status as "delayed."
  5. Notifications arrive immediately: You receive both an in-app notification and an email alerting you to the delayed order. Click the notification to jump directly to the delayed order's full view.
  6. Customer email opens automatically: In the delayed order view, you'll see an option to email your customer regarding the delay. The email opens with a pre-populated subject line and body explaining the situation.
  7. Customize before sending: Edit the pre-populated email subject and body as needed before sending. Send yourself a preview email if you want to check the wording first.
  8. Enable notification preferences: Make sure your subscription settings have in-app notifications turned on. Go to notification settings and confirm delay alerts are active to ensure you receive the alerts.

What it means for you:

You find out about delays at the same time (or before) your customers do, flipping the dynamic from reactive to proactive. Instead of customers calling you frustrated because a delivery is late, you're already reaching out with an update and a plan. That shift in timing changes the entire conversation from defensive to transparent.

The business impact is measurable. Teams using this feature report cutting customer escalations significantly because they control the narrative around delays. Your dispatch team spends less time putting out fires and more time actually solving problems. The pre-populated emails save time while maintaining professionalism, and being able to notify customers without leaving TMS.ai means you're responding in minutes, not hours. Your customers see you as reliable because you're upfront about issues, not hiding from bad news.