Real-Time Driver Location Tracking

EasyRoutes provides real-time driver location data for active and completed routes, including: 

• Live GPS location of drivers on active routes and route groups
• A Tracking tab for active and completed routes, featuring at-a-glance information as stops are completed in real-time
• An option for displaying live driver location on customer order tracking links when a driver is anywhere from 1 to 10 stops away from a customer's stop

Quick Links

Setup Instructions

Step 1: Enable real-time tracking in your store

To get started, check "Enable real-time tracking" to turn on this feature in your store at Settings -> Driver Settings:

Step 2: Require your drivers to start the delivery route (optional)

To ensure your drivers start their routes before making any deliveries we recommend enabling the following settings so that real-time location tracking is enabled and any notifications are delivered at the beginning of the route. Check both the "Show 'Start Delivery' button" and "Require driver to start route before being able to update stops" at Settings -> Driver Settings:

Step 3: Ensure your drivers have the latest mobile app and updated location permissions

Ensure your drivers have the latest public version of EasyRoutes Delivery Driver app. See Where can I download the EasyRoutes Delivery Driver app? to visit the Android / iOS app store link to check for and install the latest version of EasyRoutes.

After tracking is enabled in your store in Step 1, your drivers will be required to accept additional background location tracking permissions when starting delivery routes for this feature to work:

How it Works

Once real-time driver tracking is enabled and permissions are approved, drivers will see a blinking red dot on the route list and individual route pages for any route that is being tracked. Drivers have the option to tap "Stop tracking" to disable live location tracking, and will be prompted that real-time tracking will be enabled again when tapping "Resume" to continue their route:

When real-time tracking is enabled and a route has started, a tracking tab will be visible on the route's page showing the driver's most recent location (represented by a large red dot), a dashed line with their past path, and at-a-glance information for the next stop:

Routes that are planned as part of a Group can be tracked simultaneously by selecting "All routes" once viewing a Route Group's Tracking tab:

When tracking a Route Group, the real-time location dot will display in the same colour as the route it applies to (instead of red) in order to prevent confusion over which driver dot applies to which route:

As stops are completed, their map pins will update to show a green dot (Marked as Delivered, as shown for stop pins #1 and #2 below) or a red dot (Marked as Attempted, as shown for stop pin #3 below):

The table of stops below the map will also update in real time to reflect the precise time an order was marked as Delivered or Attempted - this can be found under the "Completed at" column for each stop. GPS location data captured for each stop when marked as Delivered or Attempted can be accessed by clicking the pin icon under the "Proof" column on the far right of any order's line, along with any other Proof of Delivery items captured by a driver as soon as they're uploaded:

Real-Time Location on Customer Tracking Pages

Once enabled, customer tracking pages can be configured to display a delivery driver's real-time location (represented by an orange car pin in the image above) when a customer's stop is anywhere from 1 stop to 10 stops away - see this support article for instructions on setting this feature up.

Troubleshooting Steps

Issue: I am not seeing a tracking tab on my route?

Remedy: Make sure real-time tracking is both available in your plan, and that you have enabled this in your EasyRoutes Settings. Once enabled, make sure the route has been either Started or is Completed and all associated tracking data for the route will be shown in the tracking tab. Generally, once live-tracking is enabled, the driver app requires tracking to be enabled before actions can be performed that would update the status of a route to be started or completed.

Issue: I am seeing "No tracking data recorded yet"?

When enabled, the tracking tab shows up on all Started and Completed routes so old routes won't have any data associated with them

Remedy: For newer routes, make sure your drivers have enabled location tracking. They can manually enable and verify the permissions in their iOS / Android settings for EasyRoutes match what's shown below. Once the correct permissions are enabled, and location tracking is enabled, then the driver app requires tracking to be enabled before actions can be performed that would update the status of a route to be started or completed.

Issue: Why is the tracking dot not moving or makes big "jumps" when it finally does?

1. Generally, if you are seeing data where you are not seeing live tracking data, either permissions are not set as required or there may be connectivity issues that is preventing data from being uploaded. Reasons for the tracking dot not moving include:

• Device lost GPS signal
• Device lost cellular data signal
• Device was stationary long enough (e.g., traffic or making a delivery) that they need to have enough movement to trigger real-time location tracking again
• Tracking is explicitly stopped (e.g. through changes in permissions, device being turned off, location tracking has switched to a different route, application was uninstalled, etc.)

EasyRoutes will attempt to upload tracking data as soon as connectivity resumes, so tracking data not being captured is usually related to permission issues. EasyRoutes will also keep tracking location even if the application is force quit if the correct permissions are given.

Remedy: Make sure your drivers have enabled location tracking. They can manually enable and verify the permissions in their iOS / Android settings for EasyRoutes match what's shown in the screenshot above. Once the correct permissions are enabled, and location tracking is enabled, then the driver app requires tracking to be enabled before actions can be performed that would update the status of a route to be started or completed. If tracking has stopped, driver is required to resume tracking before any action can be taken within the EasyRoutes app. Ensure the driver hits 'resume'. If this issue persists, send a screenshot of the permissions screen on the driver device as a part of your support request.

2. You are seeing inaccurate data or only a handful of data points because precise location tracking is not enabled.

Remedy: See the permission screenshot above and ensure that "Precise location" is enabled. Drivers can manually enable and verify the permissions in their iOS / Android settings for EasyRoutes match what's shown in the screenshot above. If this issue persists, send a screenshot of the permissions screen on the driver device as a part of your support request.

3. I am seeing the tracking dot be stale and I do not see a recent update because the driver location has not changed for a long enough time period.

Remedy: with all permissions enabled, location tracking resumes with movement. To conserve battery life, Android and iOS only permit apps to record real-time location data once enough movement has occurred. In typical situations this is usually around 200 meters / 650 feet. This results in the devices log a "jump" from the initial location to the new real-time location once enough movement has occurred.

4. Background location tracking is disabled.

If location access is not set to always, then location will only be tracked while the application is in the foreground. EasyRoutes only allows actions to be taken while this permission is enabled but it's possible to disable this setting manually outside of EasyRoutes. We'll attempt to show you that this setting is not enabled with a yellow exclamation icon next to the driver name in the tracking tab.

Remedy: ensure this setting is enabled (e.g. set to Always). Drivers can manually enable and verify the permissions in their iOS / Android settings for EasyRoutes match what's shown in the screenshot above. If this issue persists, send a screenshot of the permissions screen on the driver device as a part of your support request.