Parcel milestones

A parcel milestone describes an event that occurred for a tracking number. Dispatcher records the scan time, package weight and event type against the correct load and operating organization. Pickup, Sortation, Out For Delivery, Delivered and Exception give the team a shared vocabulary for movement through the courier operation.

The milestone’s review status serves a separate purpose. Draft, Submitted, Approved and Completed describe preparation and acceptance of the scan record. An event labeled Delivered still needs the load’s recipient proof and actual delivery evidence before the full load can be closed. Keep that distinction visible when staff investigate a parcel query.

• Event capture. Dispatcher enters or receives a physical scan and checks its tracking number, time, weight and type. Keep the provider’s identity for the event through the agreed connection so repeated notifications remain traceable.
• Submission. Prepare the current revision for review only when the evidence supports its values. Freeze the submitted revision so Transport Supervisor can decide on the same facts that the dispatcher presented.
• Milestone history. Read scans by load and tracking number to follow movement. Repeated observations of package weight describe the same parcel at different events and must not become additional physical packages in a capacity total.

Choose the scan source and decide how its event identity is preserved and deduplicated. Agree how staff resolve a tracking number that appears against the wrong load or organization. Establish the evidence required for a manual correction and identify the person who can prepare that correction without overwriting an accepted event.

Set the operating time zone and clarify how provider timestamps are interpreted. Decide how package weight is obtained and checked when a scan arrives without usable supporting evidence. Keep the physical event time distinct from the time a reviewer makes a decision, especially when a provider delivers events after the courier has finished the route.

Use a parcel whose Pickup event arrives in the morning and whose Sortation event arrives later. Dispatcher checks that both belong to the same tracking number and load. The provider then repeats the Sortation notification. The receiving procedure should recognize its event identity and return the prior result without accepting a duplicate milestone.

Next, send an Out For Delivery scan with the correct tracking number but the wrong operating organization. Stop that submission and investigate the mapping. Finally, submit a Delivered scan while recipient proof for the load is still being collected. Review the scan on its own evidence while keeping the delivery completion decision dependent on the actual recipient handoff.

• Parcel milestone queue — Draft, Submitted and Approved scan records with their tracking number, event type and revision.
• Scan review inbox — Submitted scan evidence awaiting the independent reviewer.

Follow Accept a parcel scan, then Complete an evidenced delivery for the recipient handoff.