What are Autopilot Rules?
Autopilot rules let your team automate status updates, reminders, and check-in messages based on shipment events like pickup, ETA, and delivery. These rules help reduce manual check calls, improve tracking compliance, and ensure that carriers receive timely prompts, all without the need for constant human intervention.
Each rule is based on a specific shipment milestone and sends a message when that condition is met. You can choose from a curated set of templates or build your own custom rules.
1. Exploring Rule Templates
To get started:
Go to Autopilot settings in your workspace.
Click "Create a new rule".
This opens the template collection, which contains dozens of pre-built rule templates.
Each card represents a rule template. You’ll see:
A title describing the trigger (e.g., "2 hours before ETA").
A brief explanation of what triggers the rule.
Tags like SHIPMENT, TRACKING, or CHECK-CALL to indicate the rule’s context.
You can scroll through the full list to find templates for tracking reminders, arrival checks, POD follow-ups, and more.
2. Enabling a Rule Template
Once you've found a template you want to use:
Hover over the card for the template you want to use.
A sidebar will open with more detail about the rule.
Click the “Enable” button.
Note: Enabling a rule adds it to your active list, but it won’t go live until you flip the toggle.
3. Activating or Deactivating a Rule
After enabling a rule:
Go back to the main Autopilot settings page.
Under Your Rules, you’ll see all the enabled templates.
To activate a rule, toggle the switch to the on position (blue).
To deactivate, toggle it back off (gray).
You can activate or deactivate rules anytime without losing their configuration.
4. Editing a Rule Template
If you'd like to modify the rule (for example, change the trigger time, message content, or target audience):
Click the three-dot menu (⋮) on the rule card.
Select Edit rule.
This will open the rule in custom mode, where you can change the logic or message.
You can also choose Duplicate rule if you want to make a variation without editing the original.
5. Disabling or Deleting a Rule
To temporarily stop a rule from firing, toggle it off.
To remove a rule entirely, click the three-dot menu and choose Delete rule.
6. Example Rule Cards
Here are some example templates you’ll see:
"2a. Two hours before ETA" – Triggers a message two hours before the ETA.
"Check-Call" – Sends an alert at 2 PM for all in-transit loads.
"Tracking reminder: 4 hrs before origin appointment" – Prompts the carrier to enable tracking before pickup.
Pro tip: Rules are smart: some only trigger if there's no ETA, or if tracking is off, helping reduce spam and focus on exceptions.
Next: Customizing Templates & Building Custom Rules
Now that you know how to activate and manage rule templates, the next step is learning how to modify them, or create your own rules from scratch. We’ll cover that in the next section on Creating Custom Rules & Editing Autopilot Templates.