Courier Station Setup: Pickups, Sort Wall, and Delivery

How a courier station runs pickup orders, sort-wall operations, VRP route planning, and driver deliveries in LastMile.

This guide is for courier stations and regional delivery hubs. LastMile covers the full operating chain: a customer places a pickup order → a driver picks it up → parcels are sorted onto the wall back at the station → loaded by route → the driver delivers and captures proof of delivery. Follow the four steps below and you can be running on day one.

Step 1: Create pickup orders and dispatch drivers#

1. Create a pickup order: the number is generated automatically, like LMP-000001. Contact, phone, address, parcel count, and pickup time window are required — missing details mean a wasted trip for the driver.
2. Dispatch it to a driver: assign the pickup order to a specific driver — it appears immediately in the driver app under “Today’s tasks”.
3. Driver pickup: the driver arrives within the time window and moves the order from “pending” to “in progress” to “completed” in the driver app, one tap per step.
4. Failed pickups need a reason: no one home, wrong address, or parcel not ready all count as failures — and the failure reason is required. This data is what you use later to improve your pickup rate.
5. Bring parcels back to the station: once the driver returns, parcels move on to the sort-wall flow (Step 2).

Step 2: Sort-wall operations#

1. Set up slots first: each slot must be linked to at least a route_id or a zone — i.e. “which route or area does this slot belong to”. Without that, the system cannot recommend a slot at scan time.
2. Scan to sort: scan the parcel barcode and the system matches it to the corresponding delivery or pickup order, then recommends an open slot for today. The operator drops the parcel into the suggested slot.
3. Mark full slots as full: when a slot is full its status becomes full, the system stops recommending it, and the operator moves on to a neighboring slot.
4. Close slots after loading: once all parcels in a slot are loaded onto the vehicle, the slot switches to closed, freeing it for the next wave.
5. Send exceptions to the exception area: parcels whose barcode won’t scan or that no one claims don’t belong in a slot — move them to the exception area so they don’t corrupt the wall’s data.

Step 3: Route planning and delivery#

1. Create a route: the number is generated automatically, like LMR-000001. Attach the delivery and pickup orders to be served — these are the input for VRP optimization.
2. VRP auto-optimization: pick the mode you need — balanced (a trade-off between distance and time), fastest (minimizes total duration), or eco (minimizes driving distance). Stops support time windows, and the optimized result automatically avoids conflicts.
3. Numbered stops: optimized stops are numbered in delivery sequence, so the driver app simply shows “Stop 1 → Stop 2 → …” — no manual sequencing needed.
4. Driver delivery in the app: the driver sees their route under Today’s tasks and moves each stop “en route → delivered” with one tap; every status syncs back to dispatch in real time.
5. Proof-of-delivery capture: on delivery, have the recipient sign electronically and take a photo — signature plus photo completes the delivery proof.

Step 4: Exceptions and returns#

• Return orders: when a customer requests a return, create a return order — the number is generated automatically, like LRT-000001. Return pickups follow the same driver flow as regular pickups.
• Sort-wall exceptions: parcels that won’t scan go to the exception area first; once ownership is identified, decide whether to sort them onto the wall, return them, or dispose of them.
• Shared driver master data: driver records live in shared_drivers, maintained once and shared across TMS, Drayage, and LastMile — when a driver leaves or changes vehicles, you update it in one place.
• Customer tracking: end customers can follow “picked up → in transit → out for delivery → delivered” with a tracking link, cutting down on “where’s my parcel” calls.