Multi-stop jobs explained

A multi-stop job is one order with more than one place to collect from or hand over to. It is still one order: one number, one customer, one price, one status. The extra places are stops on that order. Use it for a lab run (several clinics, one lab), a pharmacy round (many homes) or "deliver this and bring the signed papers back".

The shape of a job

Every order already has a pickup (stop 1) and a delivery (the last drop). Extra stops go between them, and one optional return goes at the very end.

Rules the form and the server enforce:

• Up to 25 extra stops. At most one return, and it is always last.
• Each pickup or drop stop needs an address from this customer's active address book. A pickup stop cannot use a delivery-only address and a drop cannot use a pickup-only address.
• Each stop can carry a Contact (optional), a Phone (optional) and Instructions (optional) for the driver.
• Stops are numbered in the order they are worked: the pickup is 1, extra stops follow, the delivery comes next and the return is last.

Stop states

The order's own pickup and delivery have no separate state of their own: they follow the order's status (see Order statuses and lifecycle).

How a job runs

1. The driver collects at the first pickup. The order becomes Picked up.
2. While the order is Picked up or En route to delivery, the driver works the extra stops in order. The driver app shows the current stop in place of the delivery, and the order's big button follows it. A driver cannot skip ahead or skip a stop: only the office can.
3. When the last stop before the delivery is closed (done, failed or skipped), the order moves to En route to delivery and the driver does the final drop.
4. A planned return is worked after the delivery. The order stays Delivered while it is open.
5. The order can be Completed only when no return is open. The nightly auto-close also waits for every Failed stop to have a redelivery; you can still click Mark completed yourself when nothing more will be done about it.

Proof per stop uses the proof rules of its leg: a pickup stop follows the pickup rules, drops and the return follow the delivery rules. The delivery PIN and the ID or age check belong to the final recipient and are not asked at extra stops. If a stop still lacks what the rules ask for, Complete is refused until it is added, or someone with the right to delete orders (an admin or operations manager) ticks Complete without the proof the stop asks for and gives a reason. See Proof and delivery rules.

Price and distance

• The distance is the sum of every leg in driving order: pickup, extra stops, delivery, return. The order preview shows it as one Distance and drive time.
• Every stop needs a map location when your price uses distance. A stop with no location blocks the quote and the save, with the message Location needed. Fix it on the address (Use the address book).
• Two pricing modifiers use the stops: Per extra stop (a rate for each stop beyond the pickup and delivery, optionally after some free ones, and a planned return counts as one) and Return trip (a fee, or a percentage of the base, when the job has a return). Worked examples are in Per-unit modifiers and Fixed fees.
• Changing the stops on a submitted order can change the locked price: the edit form shows the old and new totals and asks you to confirm.

Driver pay

A pay plan with Per stop pays the final drop plus each extra pickup or drop marked done, one per address, as on a route. The first pickup, a return and failed or skipped stops don't count. See Pay per stop, package or route.

Planning

A multi-stop job is a run of its own, not a stop on a depot route. The route planner refuses it with "… is a multi-stop job (n stops) — assign it to a driver instead of a route". Assign a driver on the order, from the orders list or from the Live map, or let auto-assign choose. The job needs no depot: you can book it from a customer's pickup address with No depot — direct job (see Routes with or without a depot).

An order that is already on a route cannot become a multi-stop job: take it off the route first.

Editing and cancelling

• Extra stops can be added, moved or removed while the order is Draft, Awaiting approval or Pending. Once a driver is assigned only the safe details (instructions, contacts, windows, notes) can change, and the stop list is locked.
• A stop that was already visited keeps its state and address: it cannot be removed or re-addressed.
• A job that is delivered, completed, returned or cancelled cannot change its stops.
• Changing the customer or the pickup address refreshes the pending stops (a return with no address follows the new pickup).

Who sees the stops

Customers can also book multi-stop jobs themselves in the portal and through the API, and a recurring series created from a multi-stop order repeats the stops. See Place an order.