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Waterfall Tracking: Automated Tracking Escalation

Use Waterfall Tracking in Workflow Automation to escalate a shipment through tiers of outreach automatically when tracking goes quiet or the driver drops off.

What this does

Waterfall Tracking is a way to build Workflow Automations that escalate a shipment step by step when tracking stops. If one tier of contacts has not restored tracking within the time you set, the next tier is contacted automatically. There is no separate screen to learn: it uses four Workflow Automation building blocks that work together. These are a trigger for when a driver cancels tracking, a trigger that waits a set time after an action-log event, a filter for shipments with no recent location, and a filter that checks how old an alert is.

  • Catch dark loads without watching the board. Shipments that stop reporting location are flagged on their own. You don't need someone refreshing the loadboard.
  • React the moment a driver drops off. When a driver closes or cancels the tracking app, a workflow can respond right away.
  • Escalate on a clock you control. Each tier gets a set amount of time, such as 2 hours, before the next tier is contacted.
  • See where every load stands. Each tier is marked with its own shipment alert, so you can see how far a load has escalated. Every step is recorded in the shipment Activity Log.

User Guide

Before you start: what you need for Waterfall Tracking

  • Workflow Automation access. Only users with Workflow Automation admin permission can create or edit workflows. If you can't edit workflows, ask your TMS admin.
  • One alert type per tier. The waterfall uses shipment alerts to mark which tier a load is in. Create them first under Back Office → LSP → Shipment Alerts. For example: Tier 1 Carriers Contacted, Escalate Tier 2 Carriers and Tracking Escalated to Ops.
  • A tracking source on your loads. The location and driver-tracking building blocks work from the location updates on the shipment. These include updates from tracking integrations such as MacroPoint and Trucker Tools, and check calls.
  • A decision on who each tier is. Decide who is contacted at each level and how long each level gets. For example: Tier 1 is the carrier's dispatcher by email, Tier 2 is a check call to the carrier, and the final tier is an assignment to your operations lead.

How the Waterfall Tracking building blocks work

Where to go: Back Office → LSP → Workflow Automation → create or open a workflow.

  • Driver Tracking Canceled (trigger). This trigger runs the workflow when the driver closes or cancels the tracking app on a shipment they were actively tracking. It fires once, when tracking goes from active to canceled. Tracking updates that don't cancel tracking don't fire it.
  • Shipment Action Log (trigger with a time delay). This trigger runs the workflow a set time after an action-log event is recorded on the shipment, such as Shipment Dispatched. You pick the Action Log Entry Type and a Run After delay in hours and minutes. The delay must be at least 1 minute, and minutes can be 0–59. Your filters are checked when the delay ends, so they see the shipment as it is at that moment.
  • Last Location Update Filter. This filter matches shipments that have had no location update in the last Hours Since Last Location Update hours. A shipment that has never had a location update also matches. Hours must be a whole number of 1 or more. The step summary reads “where there has been no location update in the last "6" hours.”
  • Alert Created Comparison Filter. This filter matches shipments with an unresolved alert of the type you pick, where the alert was created more or less than a set time ago. You set:
    • Alerts: one or more alert types. If you pick several, any one of them can satisfy the filter.
    • Comparison: Greater Than means the alert is older than your time. Less Than means it is newer than your time.
    • Time unit: Days, Hours or Minutes.
    • Period: the number of units, such as 2.
    Resolved alerts are ignored. For example, Tier 1 Carriers Contacted, Greater Than, Hours, 2 means "this load has had an open Tier 1 alert for more than 2 hours."
  • All four work with your existing filters and actions. When you use more than one filter in a workflow, every filter must match before the actions run.

Ideal Waterfall Tracking workflow: the recommended setup

Where to go: Back Office → LSP → Workflow Automation.

A waterfall is a chain of separate workflows, not one big workflow. Starting workflows put a load into Tier 1. Then each escalation workflow watches for the previous tier's alert to get older than your time limit. When that happens, it resolves that alert and adds the next tier's alert, and the next escalation workflow picks the load up from there. We recommend the four workflows below. Build them in this order, and use your own tier names, times and contact methods.

Workflow 1: Start Tier 1 when there's no location after dispatch

  1. Trigger: Shipment Action Log. Set Action Log Entry Type to Shipment Dispatched and Run After to 1h 0m.
  2. Filter: Last Location Update Filter, set to 1 hour.
  3. Action: Add Alert Action, set to Tier 1 Carriers Contacted.
  4. Action: your Tier 1 outreach, for example Send Email Action to the carrier or Carrier Check Call Action.
  5. Save, then click Activate Workflow.

What happens: an hour after a load is dispatched, if it still hasn't reported a location, the load is marked Tier 1 and the carrier is contacted. This workflow runs once per dispatch, so it won't keep re-alerting the same load.

Workflow 2: Start Tier 1 when the driver cancels tracking

  1. Trigger: Driver Tracking Canceled.
  2. Filter (recommended): Status Filter limited to your in-motion statuses, such as Dispatched and In Transit. This stops a normal cancel after delivery from starting a waterfall.
  3. Action: Add Alert Action, set to Tier 1 Carriers Contacted.
  4. Action: your Tier 1 outreach, such as Send Email Action or Carrier Check Call Action.
  5. Save, then click Activate Workflow.

Workflow 3: Escalate from Tier 1 to Tier 2

  1. Trigger: Scheduled.
  2. Filter: Alert Created Comparison Filter set to Tier 1 Carriers Contacted, Greater Than, Hours, 2.
  3. Filter (recommended): Last Location Update Filter, set to 2 hours. This makes sure the load is still dark, so a load whose tracking came back in the meantime isn't escalated.
  4. Action: Resolve Alert Action, set to Tier 1 Carriers Contacted.
  5. Action: Add Alert Action, set to Escalate Tier 2 Carriers.
  6. Action: your Tier 2 outreach.
  7. Save, then click Activate Workflow.

What happens: each time the scheduled run checks, any load that has had an open Tier 1 alert for more than 2 hours and is still not reporting moves to Tier 2. Because the Tier 1 alert is resolved in the same run, the load can't be escalated from Tier 1 twice.

Workflow 4: Escalate from Tier 2 to your final tier

  1. Trigger: Scheduled.
  2. Filter: Alert Created Comparison Filter set to Escalate Tier 2 Carriers, Greater Than, Hours, 2.
  3. Filter (recommended): Last Location Update Filter, set to 2 hours.
  4. Action: Resolve Alert Action, set to Escalate Tier 2 Carriers.
  5. Action: Add Alert Action, set to Tracking Escalated to Ops.
  6. Action: Add Assignment Action, assigned to the person who owns dark loads, such as your operations lead.
  7. Save, then click Activate Workflow.

To add more tiers, copy Workflow 3 for each new tier. Each copy watches the alert from the tier before it and adds the alert for the tier after it.

How to check that your Waterfall Tracking workflows ran

Where to go: Back Office → Shipments → open the shipment → Activity Log.

  • Each run is logged as Workflow Automation "<your workflow name>" has successfully completed., along with each action it took, such as Alert Tier 1 Carriers Contacted added to shipment.
  • The shipment's alerts show which tier the load is in. Only one tier alert should be open at a time.
  • Runs aren't instant. Allow a few minutes after the triggering event, or after the delay ends, before checking.

Tips & best practices for Waterfall Tracking

  • Use one alert type per tier, and name it for the tier. The escalation workflows find loads by alert type. Reusing one alert for two tiers breaks the chain.
  • Always resolve the previous tier's alert in the escalation workflow. This is what stops a load from being escalated again on every scheduled run.
  • Give each tier enough time to answer. Set each tier's wait to at least as long as you'd realistically give that contact. Two hours is a good starting point for over-the-road loads.
  • Resolve the tier alert when tracking comes back. With the recommended Last Location Update filter, a load that starts reporting again stops escalating. Its current tier alert stays open until someone resolves it.
  • Test on one customer first. Add a Customer Filter to each workflow while you try the waterfall out, then remove it when you're happy with the timing.
  • If both starting workflows fire on the same load (no location after dispatch and the driver cancels), the load gets the Tier 1 alert twice. Resolve the extra one, or keep only the starting workflow that fits your operation.

Frequently asked questions

Is Waterfall Tracking a separate feature I have to turn on?

No. Waterfall Tracking is a way of setting up Workflow Automation. You build it from the Driver Tracking Canceled trigger, the Shipment Action Log trigger, the Last Location Update Filter and the Alert Created Comparison Filter, together with the alert and outreach actions you already use.

Does the Last Location Update filter match a load that has never reported a location?

Yes. A shipment with no location updates at all is treated as having no update in the last X hours, so it matches.

If I set the filter to 2 hours, does a load updated exactly 2 hours ago match?

No. The last update has to be more than 2 hours old. The same applies to the Alert Created Comparison Filter: an alert exactly 2 hours old doesn't match Greater Than 2 Hours.

Does a resolved alert count for the Alert Created Comparison filter?

No. Only unresolved alerts count. That's why resolving the previous tier's alert moves the load cleanly to the next tier.

Can I pick more than one alert type in the Alert Created Comparison filter?

Yes. When you pick several alert types, the filter matches if any open alert of those types meets your time comparison.

What happens if I turn off a Shipment Action Log workflow while it is waiting?

Nothing runs. When the delay ends, the workflow checks that it is still active. If you have deactivated it, it does nothing.

Does the Shipment Action Log trigger check the original event again when the delay ends?

No. When the delay ends, the workflow runs your filters against the shipment as it is then, but it doesn't re-check the original event. For example, a Run After delay on Shipment Dispatched still runs if the load was changed back from Dispatched in the meantime. Add a Status Filter if that matters to you.

Does Driver Tracking Canceled fire again if tracking is already canceled?

No. It fires only when tracking goes from active to canceled, so repeat cancel messages for the same track don't run the workflow again.

Does Driver Tracking Canceled work with my tracking provider?

It is built to fire whichever tracking integration the driver is using, whenever that integration reports the driver's tracking as canceled. If you're not sure whether your provider reports cancellations, ask Support.

If something doesn't work
  • A new trigger or filter isn't in the list. Check that you have Workflow Automation admin permission. If you do and the option is still missing, contact Support. It may not be enabled for your account yet.
  • “Please enter a delay of at least 1 minute.” The Shipment Action Log trigger needs a Run After of at least 1 minute. Enter hours, minutes, or both.
  • “Please add the number of hours in order to save or update a Last Location Update Filter.” Enter a number in Hours Since Last Location Update.
  • “The number of hours must be greater than zero in order to save or update a Last Location Update Filter.” Enter 1 or more.
  • The workflow didn't run. Check that the workflow is Active, wait a few minutes, then check the shipment Activity Log. Then check each filter against the load. Is the tier alert unresolved? Is it older than your time? Has the load really had no location update for longer than your hours setting?
  • A load isn't escalating to the next tier. Check that the previous tier's alert is still open (not resolved) and is the exact alert type your escalation workflow watches. If you use the Last Location Update filter, a load that has reported recently won't escalate. That is expected.
  • A load keeps getting the same tier alert. Check that the escalation workflow includes a Resolve Alert Action for the previous tier's alert.
  • Still stuck? Contact Support with the shipment number, the workflow name(s), and roughly when you expected the workflow to run.

To learn more, see Workflow Automation for building and activating workflows, Shipment Stop Alerts for alert setup, and Trucker Tools Load Track for an example of a tracking integration that feeds location updates.