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The Driver App

Driver

TrafficDelivery is the mobile app your drivers use to complete local deliveries. It's one app with three modes -- Driver, Dispatcher, and Both -- so the same install works for a dedicated driver, a back-office dispatcher, or a one-person shop doing everything from a single phone. This page covers the Driver workflow.

Feature flag required

Delivery requires Enable Local Delivery (enable_local_delivery) on the store. See Drivers for creating accounts and Delivery Setup for Google Maps and push setup.


Getting Into the App

  • Native app -- install TrafficDelivery (iOS/Android), enter the store code, and sign in with your Brother POS email and password. This is the recommended way to drive: it supports device location, push, and one-tap navigation.
  • Browser preview -- open your store's POS URL with ?display=delivery appended (for example https://yourstore.brotherpos.ca/pos?display=delivery). Useful for a quick look from a desktop.

After sign-in the app opens to your saved mode. A driver should be in Driver mode (set it from the ⚙ Settings button in the header if needed). See The Delivery App & Modes for what each mode does.


The Driver Screen

Driver mode has a bottom tab bar with four tabs:

TabWhat it shows
CurrentThe stop you're working right now, with the actions to complete it.
ListAll your stops in order, with Optimize and whole-route navigation.
MapA pin map of your stops (delivered pins turn green).
AvailableUnassigned deliveries you can claim.

Getting Work: Claim vs. Assigned

There are two ways stops land on your route:

  • A dispatcher assigns you a delivery -- it appears on your route automatically; nothing to do.
  • You claim one yourself -- open the Available tab, find a delivery, and tap Claim. It's added to your route.

The Available list shows each delivery's address, whether it's Today / Overdue / a future date, and the customer's requested window. Future-day orders don't appear until their day.

Optimize after claiming

Every time you pick up new stops, tap Optimize on the List tab so the app re-sequences your route and refreshes ETAs.


Working a Stop

1. The Current Stop card

The Current tab shows the stop you're on:

  • The address in large type, the customer name, and the ETA.
  • An amber COD $X.XX pill if the customer owes cash on delivery.

Three buttons:

ButtonAction
📨 Notify ~5 minSends the customer the "almost there" text (see below).
🗺 NavigateOpens Google Maps directions to this single stop.
✓ DeliveredOpens the delivery confirmation (and COD entry).

2. Notify the customer

Tapping Notify ~5 min sends the customer a friendly "your order is about 5 minutes away" text. Who actually sends it depends on your mode:

  • Driver mode -- the request goes to your dispatcher (their app buzzes and shows a "text them" card). You do not text from your own phone. The app confirms with "Dispatcher notified."
  • Both / Dispatcher (solo) mode -- the text composer opens on your own phone with the message pre-filled, so you send it in one tap.

This keeps customers from ever getting a text from a driver's personal number when you have a dispatcher handling communications.

3. Navigate

  • One stop -- the Navigate button on the Current card opens directions to just that address.
  • The whole route -- on the List tab, 🗺 Navigate route opens your entire remaining route as a single multi-stop Google Maps trip, starting from your current location.
Big routes split into trips

Google Maps fits about 10 stops per trip. If you have more than that, the app opens the first 10 and tells you how many remain for a second trip.

4. Mark delivered (and collect COD)

Tap ✓ Delivered to open the Mark delivered screen:

  • No cash owed -- just tap ✓ Mark delivered.
  • Cash on delivery -- tap the one-tap ✓ Collected exact -- $X.XX button when the customer paid the exact amount. If they paid something different, tap Different amount, enter the cash collected, and Confirm.

The stop is recorded as delivered along with the cash collected. At the end of the run, your route totals the cash you've taken in across all COD stops.


Optimizing Your Route

On the List tab, ↕ Optimize reorders your remaining stops for the fastest trip and fills in ETAs. The app uses your current device location as the starting point, so allow location access when prompted.

  • If customers have time windows, the optimizer puts the most time-sensitive stops first.
  • If there are no windows, it just finds the fastest overall order.
  • Each stop shows an on time (green) or late (red) badge against its window.

For the full logic behind ordering and ETAs, see Routes & Optimization.


Finishing the Run

When every stop is delivered, the Current tab shows All stops delivered with a green Finish route button. Tapping it completes the route and shows your run summary, including total cash collected.


Offline Behavior

The app is built for spotty mobile coverage. Stop data loads when you have signal, and core actions are designed to keep working through brief drops. If something doesn't go through, retry once you're back on a stable connection.

Location & data use

Optimization and navigation need a data connection and device location. In a dead zone, you can still drive to an address you've already opened in Google Maps; re-optimize once you have signal again.


Troubleshooting

ProblemSolution
Optimize is greyed outYou may be offline, or an optimization is already running. Wait for signal and try again.
No ETAs after optimizingThe store's Google Maps key may not be set up. Tell your manager; see Delivery Setup.
A stop has no map pinIts address didn't geocode. A manager can fix it from Fix delivery pins (see Routes).
Notify says "Dispatcher notified" but I expected to textYou're in Driver mode, which routes the text to dispatch on purpose. Switch to Both mode if you're working solo.
I claimed a delivery by mistakeAsk your dispatcher to reassign it, or deliver it -- there's no self-unclaim in the app.

What's Next?