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Proactive Delay Alerts

What is Proactive Delay Alerts?

Proactive delay alerts are automatic notifications that trigger when a shipment's ETA crosses a threshold that will cause a late delivery. You set tolerance levels for each customer (e.g., alert me if delivery will be more than 30 minutes late), and TMS.ai monitors all in-transit orders against their delivery commitments. When an order's calculated ETA exceeds the delivery window plus your tolerance, you receive an in-app notification and email alert with a pre-drafted customer communication ready to send.

These alerts shift you from reactive to proactive customer service. Instead of customers discovering delays when trucks don't show up at expected times, you're notifying them about issues before they impact operations. This changes the conversation from "why didn't you tell me?" to "thanks for the heads up" and dramatically improves how customers perceive your reliability even when things go wrong.

How Proactive Delay Alerts work:

  1. Set up delay thresholds for customers. Navigate to your customer record and find the "Delay Alert Settings" section. Set the delay tolerance (e.g., 30 minutes, 1 hour) that defines when you want to be notified about potential late deliveries for this customer's orders.
  2. Configure notification preferences. Choose how you want to receive delay alerts: in-app notifications, email alerts, or both. Add additional email addresses if multiple team members should be notified about delays (dispatch manager, customer service lead, account manager for specific customers).
  3. TMS.ai monitors orders against delivery commitments. For every in-transit order, the system compares the current ETA (based on GPS location and traffic) against the requested delivery time. This monitoring happens continuously as location data updates and ETAs recalculate.
  4. Receive alerts when delays cross your threshold. When an order's ETA exceeds the delivery window by more than your set tolerance, a notification appears in your TMS.ai interface. You also receive an email with the order number, customer name, current ETA, and how late the delivery will be.
  5. Click the notification to open the delayed order. When you click the alert notification, TMS.ai opens the order view showing the current truck location, updated ETA, and the delivery commitment you're at risk of missing. You can see exactly why the delay is happening (traffic, breakdown, wrong turn) based on the location data.
  6. Review the pre-drafted customer notification. The order view displays a "Notify Customer" button with a pre-populated email template. The email includes the order number, original delivery time, new estimated arrival time, and an apology for the delay. The template also includes the tracking link so the customer can monitor progress.
  7. Customize and send the customer notification. Edit the email template to add specifics about the delay cause if you know it, include alternative arrangements if applicable, or personalize the message for the customer relationship. When ready, click "Send Email" to notify the customer directly from TMS.ai.
  8. Track which delays have been communicated. Orders with sent delay notifications show a "Customer Notified" flag in the order view. This prevents duplicate communications and helps your team coordinate who's handling customer updates for late deliveries.

What it means for you:

Late deliveries stop being disasters and become managed exceptions. When you notify a customer at 1 PM that their 3 PM delivery will actually arrive at 4 PM, they can adjust their receiving schedule, notify their warehouse team, and plan around the delay. When they find out about the late delivery at 3:15 PM because the truck isn't there, they're frustrated, their dock is disrupted, and you look unprofessional.

This proactive approach also protects your customer relationships. Studies show customers care more about communication than perfection. A carrier who delivers late but communicates early gets better ratings than a carrier who delivers late with no warning. Delay alerts help you maintain trust even when operational issues happen, and they differentiate you from competitors who stay silent until customers call angry.