Auto Assignment

In this article, you will discover how tasks can be assigned to drivers automatically through the Onfleet dashboard, bulk task import, or via API and Zapier.

Note: Drivers must be active (idle or in-transit) to be considered in an auto-assignment decision. Once a driver is chosen, the task will be appended to the end of their assigned task list.

This article covers:

• Auto-assign via Dashboard
• Auto-assign via Bulk Task Import
• Auto-assign via API and Zapier

Auto-assign via Dashboard

Dispatchers can quickly auto-assign unassigned tasks within the dashboard. 

Select a task or tasks to be auto-assigned from the sidebar, right-click the task and then choose auto-assign task/tasks. 

1. To closest driver: This will auto-assign the task to the driver who is currently the shortest distance from the new task's destination.
   
2. To shortest route: This will auto-assign the task to the driver who, upon assignment of the new task, will have the shortest total distance to travel. This calculates the distance from the active driver's last-known location to their active task if there is one, and through to each of the ordered destinations corresponding to the driver's assigned tasks, with the final computation being from their last-assigned task to the newly-created one.

Note: If your organization is using team assignment, tasks that are auto-assigned from within a team will be restricted to drivers in that team. You can find Restrict Auto-Assignment to Team under the Organization tab.

(Optional) Select advanced options:

1. Limit assigned tasks per driver: Sets an upper bound to the number of tasks a driver can be assigned at once. For example, if the limit is set to 2 tasks, a driver who already has 2 tasks assigned will not be eligible to receive the auto-assignment, even if they are the closest or have the shortest route.
2. Ignore linked tasks: This will auto-assign tasks to drivers without consideration for any linked task structure. Note: This may separate linked tasks across multiple drivers. Contact us if you're not sure if this option is right for you.

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Auto-assign via Bulk Task Import

Tasks can be auto-assigned to specific teams, drivers, or organizations, during the bulk task import process. Follow the steps to do this:

1. Simply create a column within your CSV or Excel import sheet called team, driver, or organization. Fill in those columns according to where you want those tasks to be auto-assigned.
2. While importing through the import wizard, select the appropriate column in the assign to field, as shown below.
3. Upon task import, the tasks will be auto-assigned to the designated team, driver, or organization.

Note: if the field is blank within your import sheet, the task will be imported as a universally unassigned task.