Trouble-Shooting When Things Don’t Go Quite According to Plan

Most shipments on CitizenShipper go smoothly and without any surprises. But occasionally things don’t go quite according to plan, This short trouble-shooting guide provides some information on what you can do when certain events pop up. We cover the cases of drivers not responding to calls, and drivers cancelling on you. 

My Driver is Not Responding to Calls

We understand that it can be frustrating when you’re trying to contact a driver, and they either don’t pick up, or respond to voice mails or text messages.

Before thinking the worst, keep in mind that drivers are on the road for extended periods of time, and need to focus on driving to keep themselves, and their cargo safe. Here are some reasons why drivers may be delayed in getting back to you:

1. Lack of cell coverage:

Given how easy it is to make calls and send messages these days, we often forget that there are still large parts of the country where cell coverage is poor. Larger parts of states like Wyoming, West Virginia and even Pennsylvania have been reported historically as having almost no coverage for miles even with the top cell phone carriers on some of the biggest transit interstate routes. And this issue is even bigger for local routes drivers at times need to take.

2. Driver will respond when safe:

While many drivers try to get back to calls quickly as a matter of professional courtesy, some are just busy and may be delayed with their responses by hours. Drivers need to sleep, interact with other customers, stop for lunch and dinner, take breaks, and most importantly focus on the road in busy or dangerous road conditions. Some drivers may even choose to sleep during daytime hours so that they can drive at night, when the roads are quieter. 

While a natural response to drivers not responding to you is to be concerned, it’s quite normal for drivers to be delayed in getting back with you. We recommend giving drivers 12 hours to respond before writing in to our customer support. 

If 12 hours have passed and you’ve still not heard back from your driver our customer support team will help. Please write in to support@citizenshipper.com and let us know about the problem. In certain circumstances, if the situation warrants, we will lock a drivers account until they re-open their lines of communication. 

These issues can also be mitigated by a few different options that can either be provided to you as a courtesy of your driver, or you may also ensure that you’re updated on the location of your loved one in real time: 

• Opt your driver into live location sharing

Most of the concerns you might have are in regards how is the trip progressing and where is the driver currently located. In situations where you might be craving for such an update, but a driver is unable to respond to your call, one of the possible solutions is to ask your driver if they could share their live location with you throughout the trip. To learn more about how they can enable you this service, visit our help center article. 

• Purchase a pet tracker device

Being out-of-touch with your pet during transport can be difficult. Fortunately, technology offers a peace-of-mind solution. GPS pet trackers can be safely and easily attached to a pet – either as a collar or an attachment to an existing collar. These devices allow a pet owner to track the location of a pet, in real-time, anywhere in the U.S., through a smartphone app. In addition, these devices provide location history data, making it easy to determine a pet’s entire journey. To learn more about some of the options available, check out this great summary. 

My Driver Cancelled the Shipment After Booking

We understand how frustrating it can be when someone changes their plans they’ve made with you. If a driver does cancel on you, then we’re here to help! We have dedicated support personnel who will assist you in finding a replacement driver. The sooner you let us know, the quicker we can get to work finding you someone new. Please contact us on support@citizenshipper.com to start the process.