Shifts

Shifts in RouteBot help you manage transportation for employees who work on rotating or varying schedules. This feature is primarily used for personnel/employee transportation.

What is a Shift?

A Shift in RouteBot represents:

  • A specific work schedule (day and time)
  • A group of employees who work that schedule
  • The basis for shift-based transportation services

Shifts are useful for:

  • Factories with multiple work shifts
  • Hospitals with rotating schedules
  • Any organization where employees work different hours

Shifts vs. Shift Management

RouteBot provides two related but different pages for working with shifts:

Page Purpose Best For
Shifts Create and configure shift definitions Setting up new shifts
Shift Management Manage daily shift operations and services Day-to-day operations

For advanced shift operations including service assignment and route management, see Shift Management.

Accessing Shifts

  1. Click Shifts in the main navigation
  2. You'll see a list of all shifts in your system

Shift List Columns

The list displays:

  • Client: The company this shift is for
  • Day: The day of the week
  • Name: The shift's name
  • Description: Additional details
  • Number of Personnel: Count of employees registered (updates automatically)
  • Service Arrival Time: When shuttles should arrive
  • Service Leave Time: When shuttles depart

Creating a New Shift

To create a shift:

  1. Click Create New Shift button
  2. Fill in the shift information

Shift Information

Field Description Required
Company/Client Which company this shift is for Yes
Day Which day of the week Yes
Name A descriptive name for the shift Yes
Description Additional details about the shift No
Service Arrival Time When the shuttle should arrive at the company No
Service Leave Time When the shuttle should depart from the company No

Day Selection

Select which day the shift applies to:

  • Monday through Sunday options
  • Create separate shifts for different days
  • Or create one shift that applies to multiple days

Shift Naming

Use clear names that identify the shift:

  • "Morning Shift - Monday"
  • "Night Shift"
  • "Weekend Day Shift"

Shift Times

Service Arrival Time

This is when transportation should arrive at the company:

  • For pickup services, this is when the shuttle reaches the workplace
  • Workers need to be ready to start their shift after this time

Service Leave Time

This is when transportation departs from the company:

  • For drop-off services, this is when the shuttle leaves to take workers home
  • Workers should be at the pickup point by this time

Editing a Shift

To modify an existing shift:

  1. Go to Shifts
  2. Click on the shift you want to edit
  3. Update the fields as needed
  4. Click Update to save

Deleting a Shift

To delete a shift:

  1. Open the shift details
  2. Click Delete
  3. Confirm the deletion

Warning: Deleting a shift affects any services and passengers linked to it.

Shifts and Personnel Services

Shifts connect to personnel services:

Creating Shift-Based Services

  1. Create the shift first
  2. Go to Services > Shift Personnel Services
  3. Create a service linked to the shift
  4. Add employees who work that shift

Employee Assignment

Employees can be marked as shift workers:

  1. Edit the employee record
  2. Enable the "Uses Shifts" option
  3. The employee can then be added to shift-based services

Managing Multiple Shifts

For organizations with multiple shifts:

Separate Shifts Per Day

Create different shifts for each day:

  • "Monday Morning"
  • "Tuesday Morning"
  • etc.

Shift Categories

Create shifts by category:

  • "Day Shift" (applies to multiple days)
  • "Night Shift" (applies to multiple days)
  • "Weekend Shift"

Rotation Schedules

For rotating schedules:

  • Create all possible shift variations
  • Assign employees to appropriate shifts
  • Update assignments as rotations change

Shift Reports

RouteBot can generate reports based on shifts:

  • Number of employees per shift
  • Service utilization
  • Shift-based attendance tracking

See Data Validation for accessing Shift Service Reports.

Best Practices

Clear Naming

  • Use consistent naming conventions
  • Include day and time in the name
  • Make shifts easy to identify

Accurate Times

  • Set realistic arrival and departure times
  • Account for traffic and travel time
  • Coordinate with actual work schedules

Regular Updates

  • Review shifts when schedules change
  • Update employee assignments
  • Adjust times for seasonal changes

Documentation

  • Use the description field for notes
  • Document any special requirements
  • Note contact persons for each shift

Common Issues

"No employees available for shift service"

  • Check employees have "Uses Shifts" enabled
  • Verify employees are assigned to the correct company
  • Confirm employee status is Active

"Shift times seem wrong"

  • Verify you've set both arrival and leave times
  • Check the times are in the correct format (HH:MM)
  • Ensure AM/PM is correct if applicable

Next Steps:

Last updated: March 23, 2026