How Trips Are Sorted in the Trips & Routes Pane
Overview
When you open the Trips & Routes pane on the Operations screen, the order of trips and runs is not purely chronological. Instead, the system arranges them in a way that helps you focus on what needs attention first, while keeping each group neatly organized by pickup time.
This article walks you through the two simple rules behind that order, the fallback logic for trips that are missing a pickup time, and a few examples so you can predict, at a glance, where any given trip will land on the list.
In short
Trips are grouped by status first, so the work that needs your attention floats to the top. Inside each group, trips are arranged by pickup time, earliest first.
The Two Sorting Rules
Every time the Trips & Routes pane loads or refreshes, the system applies these two rules, in order:
-
Status priority, which decides the group a trip belongs to.
-
Pickup time, which decides where the trip sits inside that group.
Rule 1: Status Priority (the group order)
Each trip is placed into one of the priority groups below, based on its current status. Groups with the lowest number sit at the top of the list, so Waiting trips always show before Unassigned, which show before Will Call, and so on.
| Priority |
Status |
What it means |
| 1 |
Waiting |
The trip is waiting for action, so it surfaces at the very top of the list. |
| 2 |
Unassigned |
The trip has not yet been assigned to a driver or vehicle. |
| 3 |
Will Call |
The rider has indicated they will call when ready. These trips typically do not have a pickup or drop-off time. |
| 4 |
Assigned |
The trip has been assigned and is scheduled to go. |
| 5 |
Ongoing |
The trip is currently in progress. |
| 6 |
Completed |
The trip has finished successfully. |
| 7 |
Canceled (No-Show only) |
Only canceled trips marked as a No-Show appear in this group. |
| 8 |
Canceled trips |
Regular canceled trips that are not flagged as a No-Show. |
A note on canceled trips
Only canceled trips flagged as a No-Show are included in priority group 7. Regular canceled trips fall into priority group 8.
Rule 2: Pickup Time (within each group)
Once trips are sorted into their status groups, each group is arranged internally by pickup time, earliest first. To figure out which time to use, the system checks a few fields in a fixed order and uses the first value it finds.
Pickup time fallback order
-
Requested Pickup Time, the explicit pickup time entered for the booking. Always used if present.
-
First Node Time, used for routes when the first stop has a scheduled time.
-
Start Time, also used for routes when neither of the above is set.
-
Estimated Pickup Time (ETA), a calculated estimate that the system falls back to when none of the above are available.
Drop-off time is not used
The Trips & Routes pane does not consider the Requested Drop-Off Time when sorting. Even if a booking only has a drop-off time set, the system will skip past it and use the ETA instead.
Examples
Example 1, two trips with different statuses
Trip A is Assigned with a pickup time of 2:00 PM.
Trip B is Waiting with a pickup time of 4:00 PM.
Order shown: Trip B appears above Trip A, even though Trip A is earlier, because Waiting (priority 1) outranks Assigned (priority 4).
Example 2, two trips with the same status
Trip C is Assigned with a pickup time of 9:00 AM.
Trip D is Assigned with a pickup time of 11:00 AM.
Order shown: Trip C appears first, then Trip D. Same status group, sorted by the earliest pickup time.
Example 3, trips with no Requested Pickup Time
Trip E is Unassigned. It has no Requested Pickup Time, but its ETA works out to 3:15 PM.
Trip F is Unassigned. It also has no Requested Pickup Time, and its ETA works out to 3:45 PM.
Order shown: Trip E appears first, then Trip F. When the Requested Pickup Time is missing, the system walks down its fallback list and uses the ETA as the sort value.
Quick Reference
| If you see… |
It is because… |
| A later trip appearing above an earlier one |
The later trip belongs to a higher priority status group, for example Waiting versus Assigned. |
| A trip with no pickup time still ordered correctly within its group |
The system fell back to First Node Time, Start Time, or ETA. |
| Will Call trips ordered by their ETA |
Will Call trips typically have no pickup or drop-off time, so the system uses the ETA to order them inside priority group 3. |
| A canceled trip mixed in with other live trips |
It is flagged as a No-Show, which gives it priority 7 instead of priority 8. |
| Drop-off only bookings sorted by ETA instead of drop-off time |
The pane intentionally ignores Requested Drop-Off Time when sorting. |
Frequently Asked Questions
Why isn't my list strictly chronological?
Because the goal of the Trips & Routes pane is to help you focus on the work that needs attention first. Statuses like Waiting and Unassigned usually need a dispatcher to do something, so they are placed above trips that are already assigned or in progress, no matter what the pickup time is.
Does the drop-off time ever affect the order?
No. The Trips & Routes pane only looks at pickup related times. The Requested Drop-Off Time is not used at any stage of the sort.
What happens if a trip has no pickup time at all?
The system walks down a fallback list, checking First Node Time, then Start Time, and finally the Estimated Pickup Time (ETA). It uses the first value it finds, so every trip ends up with a value to sort against.
Where do Will Call trips show up?
Will Call trips sit in priority group 3, right after Unassigned trips. Because they typically do not carry a pickup or drop-off time, the system falls back to the ETA when ordering them inside that group.
Why are some canceled trips visible while others are not?
Canceled trips marked as a No-Show are surfaced in priority group 7 so dispatchers can keep track of them. Regular canceled trips fall into priority group 8.
How often does the order refresh?
The order is recalculated whenever the pane refreshes, for example when a trip's status changes, a pickup time is updated, or you manually reload the view.
Can I change this sort order?
The status based grouping is built into the Operations screen and cannot be overridden from the Trips & Routes pane. If you need a different view of your trips, filters and reporting tools elsewhere in the platform can help.
