All case studiesThe overnight tracking desk, covered

Tracking status updates, overnight.

The overnight tracking desk runs on a schedule: every two hours it checks in, writes the update back to your apps, escalates only what’s off-track — and remembers every carrier so the next round picks up where the last left off.

24/7
the desk is covered — including the hours no one's on shift
~60 / night
driver check-ins handled without anyone lifting a finger
10+ caught
off-track loads flagged early — before the dock, not after
Does
Chases overnight load statuses & check-ins
Where
Logistics brokerage, ~40-person desk
Reaches people on
SMS, email, Slack
Works inside
Airtable, Gmail, Google Calendar
Runs
Every 2h · 20:00–06:00
The situation

The job nobody wants.

Someone always has to keep poking people for updates and copying the answers into a system. Carriers needed chasing for an ETA, shippers needed telling, and the tracking board only stayed current while a human sat there refreshing it.

After hours it simply stopped. The desk started each day rebuilding the board from voicemails and texts — and the off-track loads, the ones worth catching early, only surfaced when they were already late. Staffing an overnight just to re-type statuses was never going to pencil out.

Isometric night-shift tracking desk with a load board and route map
How it works

How it got handled.

Rather than staff an overnight, the team simply handed the job over. It set itself up to wake every couple of hours through the night, do the rounds, and pull in a person only when something was genuinely off-track — so the work kept happening with no one watching it.

TASK#182Overnight load trackingscheduled
schedule
First run 20:00, local to the lane
repeat
Every 2 hours · until 06:00
scope
Every open load on the board
runs as
A contained action per fire — instance 0, 1, 2…
memory
Per-carrier rolling summary, carried run to run

Created once, in plain language — “every two hours overnight, check each open load and update the board.” Unify turned that into a standing task: no cron expression, no glue code, no extra service to babysit.

Every couple of hours it wakes up and walks the same loop:

Ongoing handling

How it ran, night after night.

Here’s the night as it actually unfolded — run by run, down to how it reached for each app. Only the off-track loads ever made it to a human.

  1. 20:00run #1
    • SMS
    • Airtable

    First round of the night — every open load checked and the board brought current.

  2. 22:00run #2escalated
    • SMS
    • Google Calendar
    • Airtable
    • Gmail
    • Slack

    Caught the one exception of the night — a dock delay — and handled it end to end.

  3. 00:00run #3
    • SMS
    • Google Calendar
    • Airtable
    • Gmail

    All rolling — but two delivery windows had shifted, so it kept the shippers in sync.

  4. 02:00run #4
    • SMS
    • Airtable

    Quiet round — one load delivered and closed out, nothing else to do.

  5. 04:00run #5
    • SMS
    • Airtable

    Last full round before dawn — everything on track, no changes needed.

  6. 06:00window closes

    Recurring window ends. Night summary posted to #ops-night — every load tracked, one exception caught early, board clean before the day shift logged in.

See it in action

One night, message by message.

Driver replies and run events land on the left. Watch each one get worked end to end across the apps — turning to you only when a load's off-track.

We didn't automate a chatbot — we handed off a standing job. It wakes itself up every couple of hours, does the rounds, and only taps us when something's actually wrong. By the time the desk logs in, the board's already clean.
Dana R.VP Operations, logistics brokerage

An illustrative workflow based on real product mechanics. Tool names and cadence reflect how scheduled tasks and connected apps work together; operational figures are directional.

Try this workflow

Run this workflow yourself.

Copy the brief below and paste it into Unify. It’ll walk you through the prerequisites, connect what it needs, and stand the workflow up with you.

Workflow brief
I run the overnight tracking desk at a freight brokerage. Every night someone has to chase carriers for status updates and copy the answers into our load board; after hours it stops, so mornings start by rebuilding the board from voicemails — and slipping loads only surface once they're already late.

Own the overnight status-chase. Apps/channels: Airtable (load board — open loads, statuses, ETAs), Google Calendar (delivery windows), Gmail (shipper updates), SMS (texting drivers), Slack #ops-night (exceptions).

Schedule a recurring task every 2 hours, 20:00–06:00. Each run:
1. Pull the open loads from Airtable and read each delivery window.
2. Text each driver for a status + ETA, and read the reply.
3. Write the status and updated ETA back to Airtable.
4. If an ETA misses its window, mark the load at-risk, email the shipper the new ETA, and post it to #ops-night.
5. Keep on-track loads current and move on.

Carry context between runs (how each carrier prefers to be reached, their usual patterns) so each round picks up where the last left off. Only bring me in for off-track loads.

What would you take off your desk?

Tell us the job that never gets done before close. We'll wire it up on a call and you can watch it work.

Try now — freeBook a walkthrough