Whatsteam logistics

WhatsTeam for Logistics & Delivery

Coordinate the three parties of every delivery — dispatcher, driver, recipient — on WhatsApp. The recipes below assume the user has a TMS (Transport Management System), a route-planner, or at least a spreadsheet that lists today's deliveries with phone numbers.

When to use

• The user mentions logistics, delivery, courier, dispatch, fleet, last-mile, trucking, 3PL.
• They want tracking updates to recipients without building a customer portal.
• They need proof of delivery (POD) on phone with photo + signature + code.
• They handle failed deliveries and want to automate the reschedule conversation.

For pure customer support after a delivery problem, see whatsteam-customer-support. For e-commerce order tracking from the merchant side, see whatsteam-ecommerce.

Prerequisites

• whatsteam-setup complete.
• A list of deliveries with: recipient phone, address, time window, driver, tracking number.
• Pre-approved WABA templates for delivery_dispatched, delivery_out_for_delivery, delivery_eta_update, delivery_arrived, delivery_failed, reschedule_request.
• For internal driver coordination, use a separate tool (Telegram, Signal, your own driver app). WABA does not support WhatsApp groups, so it is not the right channel for dispatcher↔driver chatter. This skill stays focused on the dispatcher↔recipient leg.

Recipes

Recipe 1 — Dispatch notification to recipient

"When a parcel is dispatched, notify the recipient with the tracking link and ETA window."

on shipment.dispatched (from TMS / carrier API):
  send_whatsapp_message
    - action: template
    - template:
        name: "delivery_dispatched"
        body: [ {name:"1", value:recipientName}, {name:"2", value:trackingNumber}, {name:"3", value:etaWindow}, {name:"4", value:carrierName} ]
        button: [ {type:url, position:0, name:"1", value:trackingUrlSuffix} ]
    # "Cambiar dirección" / "Reprogramar" quick-reply buttons are part of the
    # APPROVED template; on reply, branch to the change-address / reschedule flow.
  label chat "shipment:{{trackingNumber}}"

Include the driver's first name if you know it ("Juan llegará entre las 10:00 y las 12:00") — humanizes the delivery and reduces complaints.

Recipe 2 — Out-for-delivery + live ETA

When the driver scans the parcel as "loaded on van" or starts the route:

on shipment.out_for_delivery:
  eta = computeETA(driver.currentLocation, stop.address, traffic)
  send template "delivery_out_for_delivery"
    variables: [recipientName, eta, driver.firstName]

# Update if ETA slips by >15 minutes:
every 5 min while driver enroute:
  new_eta = recomputeETA(...)
  if abs(new_eta - last_eta) > 15min:
    send template "delivery_eta_update"
      variables: [newEtaWindow]
    last_eta = new_eta

Don't spam. Only notify on material changes (>15 min slip). Constant updates train recipients to ignore.

Recipe 3 — At-the-door confirmation

When the driver arrives:

on driver.arrived_at_stop:
  send_whatsapp_message to recipient:
    "🛎️ {{driver.firstName}} acaba de llegar con tu pedido.
     ¿Estás disponible? Responde:
     SÍ — abro en un momento
     ESPERA 5 — necesito 5 minutos
     NO ESTOY — no estoy en casa"

  if reply "ESPERA 5": notify the driver via your internal channel
    (Telegram / Signal / driver app): "Stop #{{stopNumber}}: cliente pide 5 min de espera"

  if reply "NO ESTOY": trigger failed-delivery flow (Recipe 5)

Recipe 4 — Proof of delivery (POD)

on driver.marks_delivered:
  driver_uploads:
    - photo of parcel at door OR
    - signature image OR
    - 4-digit code recipient gave on door

  # Push POD to recipient as confirmation:
  send_whatsapp_message
    - media: { url: pod.photoUrl }
    - caption: |
        ✅ Entregado a las {{time}}
        Si no eres tú quien lo recibió, responde "NO RECIBIDO".

Save POD URL + timestamp + GPS coords against the shipment record for dispute resolution.

Recipe 5 — Failed delivery + reschedule

on shipment.failed (driver couldn't deliver):
  send_whatsapp_message
    - action: template
    - template:
        name: "delivery_failed"
        body: [ {name:"1", value:recipientName}, {name:"2", value:attemptCount}, {name:"3", value:nextAttempt} ]
    # Reprogramar / Punto de recogida / Cambiar dirección buttons are defined in
    # the APPROVED template; on reply, branch:
    #   "📅 Reprogramar"        → ask for new window
    #   "📍 Punto de recogida"  → send nearest pickup location
    #   "🔄 Cambiar dirección"  → start address-change flow

# On reply with new window:
  parse_new_date_time(reply)
  validate (must be > tomorrow, within service area)
  update_shipment(new_time)
  send template "reschedule_confirmed"

Cap reschedules at 2 per shipment. After that, escalate to a human dispatcher.

Recipe 6 — Recipient instructions (the "buzz code" problem)

A huge % of failed deliveries are missing buzz codes, gate codes, or specific instructions.

on shipment.dispatched:
  if !recipient.address_notes:
    ask: "¿Hay algo que el repartidor deba saber? (código portal, piso, instrucciones)"
    save reply on shipment.address_notes
    pass to the driver via your internal channel (Telegram / driver app) when the route is built

This one recipe alone reduces failed deliveries by 10-20% in urban areas.

Anti-patterns

• Notification flood. Every 5 minutes ≠ helpful. Notify only on dispatch, out-for-delivery, material ETA changes, arrival, and completion.
• No bidirectional channel. Sending tracking but not letting the recipient reply / reschedule = same as a useless email. Always include buttons or instructions to reply.
• Mixing dispatcher↔driver coordination into the recipient WABA. Drivers belong on a separate channel (Telegram / Signal / internal driver app). Using the same WABA device for both blurs reporting, eats quota, and produces a confused inbox.
• POD without timestamp + GPS. Disputes are won by metadata, not the photo. Save everything.
• Reusing the same template for dispatch / out-for-delivery / arrived. Each phase needs a distinct template. Recipients tune out repetitive messages.
• No human escalation for chronic failures. After 2 failed attempts, a human must call. Don't loop the bot.

See also

• whatsteam-messaging — templates with buttons, media for POD photos.
• whatsteam-webhooks — ingest TMS / carrier events to trigger these recipes.
• whatsteam-contacts — managing the recipient database.
• whatsteam-customer-support — for the post-failed-delivery support cases.
• whatsteam-ecommerce — the merchant-side counterpart (Recipe 3 in that skill).
• Reference implementation: https://github.com/whatsteam/whatsapp-chatgpt-bot