What happens when a driver goes offline
When a driver loses internet in Upper, live tracking pauses but the driver keeps working the route, and completed-stop data syncs once the phone reconnects.
Drivers can keep working a dispatched route even when their phone drops off the internet. They can keep navigating and marking stops, while the dispatcher's Live Tracking view pauses — the driver's location and ETA stop updating until the device reconnects. When the phone is back on signal, the queued stop updates and proof of delivery sync automatically.
Default labels in Upper are driver-mode — Share to Drivers, Proof of Delivery, Delivery Options. Your workspace may be configured to show Technician / Service instead (for example, "Share to Technician"). Both label sets refer to the same features.
Why this matters
Rural routes, basement deliveries, parking garages, and dense city blocks all drop drivers in and out of signal during the day. Knowing what dispatchers can and can't see during a connectivity gap helps you tell a normal dead spot apart from a real problem — and avoid false alarms.
What dispatchers see during an offline gap
On the Track → Live Tracking screen, each driver appears as a card with their location on the map, a status pill, a route-completion percentage, and an ETA and average-speed line. While a driver is offline:
- Their location stops updating on the map — the marker stays at the last reported position.
- Stop statuses don't refresh, so the Stops done/total count holds where it was.
- The ETA and Avg. Speed values stop refreshing.
ETAs in Upper are calculated from route data and historical traffic data, not live traffic, so a brief offline gap doesn't recalculate the whole route. Once the driver reconnects, tracking resumes from their current position.
When the driver reconnects
When the phone regains signal, Upper catches up on its own:
Stop updates sync
Stops the driver marked while offline (completed, failed, or skipped) update on the dispatcher's view once the device is back online.
Proof of delivery appears
Completed stops surface under Plan → Tasks → Completed with their proof of delivery, timestamps, and notes — the same place they land for any finished stop on a dispatched route.
Live Tracking resumes
The driver's marker, completion count, and ETA pick back up from their current position.
If a batch of completed stops and proof of delivery appears all at once near the end of a route, it usually means the driver had no connectivity for a stretch and everything synced together when they got back into coverage.
Checking on a driver who looks stuck
A frozen marker is often normal — a long delivery, a break, or a dead spot. Before treating it as an incident:
- Check whether the driver is in a known low-signal area (basement, garage, rural stretch).
- Look at how long the marker has been still and whether nearby stops are still pending.
- If you can't account for it, contact the driver directly. Cellular voice often works where data does not.
Troubleshooting
Related
Driver location update frequency
How often driver locations refresh on the Live Tracking map in Upper, what affects update timing, and how to keep position data flowing reliably.
Edit active routes
Change a route after it's dispatched in Upper: update or reassign stops, then re-share so drivers get the latest version on their phone. No need to rebuild.