Orders and routes troubleshooting
An order won't price, can't go on a route, a button is greyed out or nobody can be assigned? Find the symptom, why it happens and how to fix it.
7 min readLast updated
On this page
Find the message or behaviour you see in the left column. Quoted text is what NemiRoute shows on screen.
Booking an order
| Symptom | Why | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| No service cards, only "No service types yet." | Your company has no active price set yet | Someone with pricing rights clicks Create your first price set (or opens Price sets) and adds one |
| No price on the order form: "Prices and delivery dates show once the depot and the delivery address are set." | The price needs both ends of the trip | Pick the Depot (or a Pickup address) and the delivery Address |
| The delivery address shows Location needed, or the quote is refused with a message about a map location | NemiRoute couldn't place the address on the map. Distance prices, routes and the GPS check need it; zone prices still work. | Open the address in Addresses, edit it and pick it from the address suggestions (or correct the street). See Use the address book. |
| "This customer has no shipping address yet." | Deliveries go to one of the customer's saved addresses | Click Add one on the customer and add it on the Places page |
| Pickup address is greyed out or empty | The customer has no address marked for pickup | On the customer's Places page, set Used for to Pickup only or Pickup and delivery |
| No depot — direct job is not in the Depot list | It only appears once a Pickup address is chosen | Pick the pickup address first |
| Order limit reached and new orders are blocked | Your plan's monthly order limit is used up | Save a draft for now; an admin upgrades on Subscription |
| A warning about the customer's credit limit | The customer is close to or over their limit, or has an overdue invoice | Depending on your company's Credit limit rule the order is placed, held On hold for approval, or refused. Someone who can edit customers can place it anyway. Tell finance. |
| Portal and imported orders of one customer stop arriving | The customer is on hold: new orders stop until someone clicks Reactivate | Ask finance or an admin. See Add customers. |
| You can't edit the order any more | Orders can be fully edited while Draft, Awaiting approval or Pending | Use the actions on the order page instead (assign, hold, cancel). See Work on an order. |
| Portal orders sit in Awaiting approval | The customer's orders need your approval (Approve orders automatically is off on their Portal & ordering page) | Open each and click Approve order or Decline order |
Getting an order to a driver
| Symptom | Why | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Auto-assign says "nobody fits" | No driver passes the dispatch rules: their postal zones, Only drivers on shift, or Farthest from the pickup | Pick a driver by hand, or ask an admin to relax Dispatch rules… on the Orders page. Check the drivers' Pickup area and Delivery area (their zones, unticked codes and extra postal codes). |
| "Outside the driver's zone" when you assign | The pickup postal code isn't in the driver's Pickup area, or the delivery postal code isn't in their Delivery area | You can still assign. If they do cover it, edit that area on the driver: tick the right zone (or its unticked code), add the code under Extra postal codes, or add the prefix to the zone in Pricing → Zones. |
| A driver is greyed out with "can't carry this order" | The order needs a certification or vehicle feature the driver or vehicle lacks (for example cold chain) | Pick a driver with the right certification and vehicle |
| "… is pending approval — pick an active driver." (or on break, unavailable, suspended) | Only Active drivers take orders. New drivers start as Pending approval. | Approve the driver (Approve driver) or pick another one |
| You can't unassign: "A driver can only be unassigned before the pickup." | The goods are already in the van | Transfer it to another driver, report a failure or return it to the sender |
| The order doesn't show in Exceptions as Needs a driver now | Orders waiting for a driver show 20 minutes after they were placed, and not earlier than an hour before pickup (90 minutes for High, 2 hours for Urgent) | Use the Need a driver tile on the Operations overview or the Orders list instead |
| Retry delivery is gone and the order is On hold with "Max attempts reached" | The order used all its delivery attempts (3 unless your rules say otherwise) | Return it to the sender, or agree a new arrangement and release the hold. See Handle a failed delivery. |
Planning a route
| Symptom | Why | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| An order is missing from Unassigned orders | The list only shows orders that leave from the Start depot you picked and are not on a route yet | Pick the order's depot as Start depot, or check that it isn't on another route |
| "… is a direct job with no depot — assign it to a driver instead of a route" | Direct jobs go straight from the pickup address to the delivery | Assign a driver on the order instead |
| "… is a multi-stop job — assign it to a driver instead of a route" | A job with extra stops is a run of its own | Assign a driver on the order |
| "… the delivery address has no map location yet" | A stop without a map point can't be sequenced or driven to | Edit the address and pick it from the address suggestions, then add the order again |
| "… is in driver's vehicle — receive it at the depot first, or route it with that driver" | Another driver is carrying the goods | Scan it in at the depot first, or put it on that driver's route |
| "… already used all its delivery attempts" | No attempts left | Release or return it first |
| "… is held by a driver-network driver" | A network driver accepted it | Take it back from them first |
| A yellow Stops from another depot box | An order picks up at another depot | Click Remove it |
| Optimize does nothing or is greyed out | It needs a start depot and at least 3 stops | Add more stops, or order them by dragging |
| You can't add more stops | A route holds 50 stops unless an admin changed Max stops per route in Fleet settings | Split the work over two routes |
| The Driver field stays empty | The driver always comes with the vehicle | Give the vehicle a driver in Fleet (Change opens it) |
| You can't change the route's depot | Only draft routes can change depot | ⋯ > Move back to draft first, or cancel and re-plan |
Running a route
| Symptom | Why | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Dispatch is greyed out: "Dispatch opens on the service day" | Routes are dispatched on their own date | Wait for the day, or change the route's date with Edit |
| Mark ready fails | The vehicle must be in service, have an available driver, carry the load and not run another ready or active route that day | Read the message, then change the vehicle or driver, or remove stops |
| Confirm load is greyed out: "Loading opens on the service day" | Same rule as dispatch | Load on the route's date |
| The vehicle shows No position yet on the live map | The driver's app hasn't sent a position since the driver started, so the marker is a placeholder at the depot | Ask the driver to open the app, allow location and check battery settings. See Location and battery settings. |
| A route from yesterday is still open | Nobody completed or ended it | Open it and click End route… in the warning |
| Complete route doesn't close the route | A route closes once every stop is done | Complete or fail the remaining stops, or use More > End route… |
Scanning at the depot
| Symptom | Why | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Wrong depot | The order picks up at another depot and wasn't collected | Send the package to that depot |
| Not recognised | Unknown code | Check the label or type the order number |
| Already received | It was scanned here today already | Nothing to do |
| The order's status didn't change after a scan | Orders whose pickup is this depot only get a "Received at depot" line on their timeline | That's expected. Goods a driver collected become At depot. |
Still stuck? Your admin can check the Activity log for what happened to a record. See also Run the depot day and scan station.
Related articles
- Setup pathA day in dispatchThe dispatcher's routine from the first check in the morning to closing the last route, with the page and guide for each step.
- How-toCreate an orderBook a pickup and delivery for a customer, compare services and see the live price before you save.
- How-toPlan a routeBuild a route from unassigned orders, put the stops in a good order, pick the vehicle and save it as a draft or dispatch it.
- How-toDispatch and run a routeMove a route from draft to ready, dispatch it, print the run sheet, change the driver, record stops and close or cancel the route.
- How-toHandle a failed deliveryDecide what happens after a failed pickup or delivery: schedule a new attempt and tell the recipient, return the package to the sender, or put the order on hold.
- How-toUse the address bookLook up saved pickup and delivery addresses, check their pricing zone, and find addresses that need fixing before orders can use them.
- How-toWork the exceptions queueOne list of everything that needs a dispatcher now: failed and late orders, orders without a driver, delayed vehicles, lost signal and driver issues. Take, snooze or resolve each one.
- ConceptMulti-stop jobs explainedHow a job with extra pickups, drops and a return works from booking to completion: stop types, the order they are worked in, price, distance, proof, failures and who sees what.
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