What changed in this version
Priya updated this version with Codex on Friday, after the rollout review with Jonas. Three changes:
Live ETAs gives dispatchers, and their customers, an arrival time that updates from the truck's position, traffic and the dwell times we have learned at each stop. In the pilot, six carriers saw 87% of arrivals land within ten minutes of the ETA we showed two hours earlier. This plan takes it to every carrier on Tessel before the December peak.
Accurate ETAs
85%
of arrivals within ten minutes of the ETA we showed two hours earlier, across all carriers.
Pilot: 87%Target 85%
Fewer check-in calls
30%
fewer “where's my truck?” calls to dispatch within 60 days of a carrier turning it on.
Pilot: 34% fewerTarget 30%
Carriers using it
60%
of active carriers turn Live ETAs on within 30 days of launch.
Pilot: 6 of 6 kept it onTarget 60%
In this launch
- An ETA with a range on the dispatch board and route detail
- A tracking link carriers can send their customers by email or text
- An ETA endpoint in the carrier API
- The driver app sends location every 30 seconds during a route
Not in this launch
- A live map for carriers' customers
- Re-ordering stops based on the ETA
- Notifications to carriers' customers, planned for Q1
Four stops, each gated on the one before. Select a phase to see who is in it and what has to be true before we move on.
Pilot: 6 carriers
Running since Monday 21 September
- Who
- Halden Freight, Brightwater Haulage, Corran Transport, Pine Ridge Carriers, Okanee Freight and Westmoor Logistics.
- Moves on when
- 85% of arrivals within ten minutes for two weeks running. The pilot is at 87%.
- Owner
- Jonas Feld
- If it goes wrong
- Turn Live ETAs off for that carrier. The dispatch board shows planned times again within a minute.
Phase 1: 10% of carriers
Starts Wednesday 28 October, 10:00
- Who
- The 14 carriers with the densest location data, from Jonas's lane coverage query.
- Moves on when
- No serious incidents for a week, accuracy at 85% or better, and fewer than ten ETA support tickets a week.
- Owner
- Priya Raman
- If it goes wrong
- Turn Live ETAs off per carrier. The dispatch board and tracking links show planned times again within a minute.
Phase 2: 50% of carriers
Starts Wednesday 4 November, 10:00
- Who
- Half of active carriers, mixed by region and fleet size. Rural-heavy carriers join once rural accuracy is above 80%.
- Moves on when
- No serious incidents for a week, accuracy at 85% or better, and fewer than ten ETA support tickets a week, and support has handled a full week of ETA questions.
- Owner
- Priya Raman
- If it goes wrong
- Turn Live ETAs off per carrier. The dispatch board and tracking links show planned times again within a minute.
Launch: every carrier
Wednesday 11 November, 10:00. The announcement email and in-app note go out at the same time.
- Who
- All 143 active carriers.
- Done when
- Done when 85% accuracy holds for two weeks at full volume.
- Owner
- Dana Whitlock
- If it goes wrong
- Turn it off per carrier, or for everyone from the admin panel. Tracking links fall back to planned times.
Rated together at the rollout review on Friday. Likelihood and impact are rough calls, not a model. The three marked in red are high on both counts, so we review them every week.
| Risk | Likelihood | Impact | Owner | Mitigation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rural lanes stay under 85% accuracy | High | Medium | Jonas | Blend in historical dwell times and re-test on 16 October. If still under 80%, show a wider range on those lanes. |
| Drivers on old app versions send no location | High | High | Lucía | Update prompt in the driver app from 19 October. Carriers under 80% on 4.13 join in a later phase. |
| Location updates double the load on the routing API | Medium | High | Priya | Load test at three times pilot volume by 23 October. Raise autoscaling limits before phase 2. |
| Customers read the ETA as a promise | Medium | Medium | Sam | The tracking link says “estimated” and shows when it last updated. Carriers can turn links off per customer. |
| Support is swamped in launch week | Medium | Medium | Sam | Training on 3 November, reply templates, and two extra people on the support rota for launch week. |
| A rollback leaves stale ETAs on customer links | Low | High | Priya | Rollback clears tracking links and shows planned times. Tested on staging by 23 October. |
Dana WhitlockVP Product
Accountable for the launch. Makes the go or no-go call before each phase.
Priya RamanEngineering lead
Rollout, the Live ETAs switch, the carrier API and launch-week on-call.
Jonas FeldData
The ETA model and the weekly accuracy report.
Lucía OrtegaMobile lead
Driver app 4.13 and its location updates.
Sam OkaforProduct marketing
The announcement, the help centre and support training.
2 of 10 done before launch on 11 November
- JonasDone 25 Sep
- PriyaDone 24 Sep
- LucíaDue Wed 14 Oct
- PriyaDue Fri 23 Oct
- PriyaDue Wed 28 Oct
- PriyaDue Wed 4 Nov
- SamDue Wed 4 Nov
- SamDue Tue 3 Nov
- PriyaDue Fri 6 Nov
- DanaDue Mon 9 Nov
Hi first name,
From Wednesday 11 November, every stop on your dispatch board shows a live ETA. It updates from your truck's position, traffic, and how long stops at each site usually take.
In our pilot, 87% of trucks arrived within ten minutes of the ETA we showed two hours earlier. Dispatchers took a third fewer “where's my truck?” calls.
You can also send customers a tracking link, so they don't need to call you.
It's included in your plan. Turn it on under Settings, then Live ETAs.
Sam Okafor, product marketing at Tessel
93 wordsEdited by Sam. Waiting for Dana's approval.
They need driver app 4.13 or later, which sends the truck's location every 30 seconds during a route. Nothing else changes for them.
In the pilot, 87% of arrivals were within ten minutes of the ETA shown two hours earlier. Accuracy is lower on rural routes with patchy signal, and the range on your dispatch board widens to show it.
A tracking link with the stop, the ETA and when it was last updated. No map and no driver details.
The ETA stays at its last value and shows how long ago it was updated, so nobody is misled by a frozen time.
No. Live ETAs is included in every Tessel plan.
Yes. Turn them off per customer under Settings, then Customers.
-
Pilot dispatchers like the range. Two carriers worry their customers will read ±15 minutes as late. Dana decides by Friday 9 October.
Owner: Dana Whitlock
-
In the pilot, 3% of routes had a gap longer than ten minutes, mostly in rural dead zones.
Keep the last ETA and show how old it is, for example “Updated 12 min ago”. After 30 minutes without a location, fall back to the planned time. Built behind the same switch.
Answered by Priya Raman on 2 October
-
We want carriers with good location data, so the early accuracy numbers mean something.
The 14 carriers with the densest location data, from Jonas's lane coverage query. All 14 have more than 90% of drivers on a current app version and agreed to a weekly feedback call.
Answered by Jonas Feld on 2 October
-
9% of active drivers are still on 4.9 or older. Supporting them means a second location path to maintain.
Owner: Lucía Ortega
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Four of the six pilot carriers asked for it. It adds about four days of work for Priya's team.
Owner: Sam Okafor
Nothing resolved yet. Answers will show here as owners close questions.