(Guide accurate as of 06/04/2009)
Updating your Status
Updating your status helps controllers and other couriers on mtvan find a suitable courier to cover any of their excess work. Obviously the more accurate the data you provide is, the better. We provide a variety of different location and time options so you can paint an accurate picture of what you’ll be doing and when.
Empty at Home
You can use this option if you’re empty at home waiting for work to come in. When you tell us that you’re empty at home, we double the radius of your home town SMS and email alerts if you’ve chosen to receive them.
Check the ‘Empty at Home’ option and submit to update.
Submitting a Journey
By submitting a journey you’re letting everyone else know about your movements. As well as listing you on the ‘Courier Journeys’ page, we now will send you txt and email alerts of work that specifically matches where and when you’re going.
Journey Reference Details
Start by filling in a reference name or number. This is purely for your own use, and it doesn’t matter what you decide to use; however, something appropriate for the trip may make life easier later on! The journey date and time are pre-filled with the current date and time. These can be updated if necessary.
Journey Details
Now fill in your Journey Details. the ‘Leaving From’ address is pre-filled with your home address. The time and date you are leaving can be specified as ‘Now’ (default), ‘At’, ‘Before’, and ‘Between’. Depending on your selection you can alter the two times beside the drop down. These time details are clearly listed on the ‘Courier Journeys’ page and are important information for controllers.
The ‘Going To’ address must be filled in the same way as the ‘Leaving From’ address. The time and date you expect to be arriving can be specified as ‘ASAP’, ‘At’, ‘Before’, and ‘Between’. If you select the ASAP option, mtvan will accurately make a prediction based on the quickest route as to when you will arrive.
Multi Drop
If you’re going to be out delivering loads at multiple locations, mtvan will also work for you. Click the ‘add via’ button to add up to 10 stops along your route. The via addresses should be filled in the same way as the standard ones - if the time option is set to ASAP, mtvan will predict your arrival time in the normal way.
Empty Status & Returning Home
At any point along your route you can select ‘Empty’. This will alert other users to the fact that you’re anticipating having an empty van at this point.
On the ‘Going To’ address you can select ‘Returning Home’. This essentially adds an extra leg to your journey from the final address to your home address. The system predicts when you will arrive home and will also look for work that matches the return trip.
Additional Details
This is your opportunity to add any other useful information for other users who may consider contacting you. You can add general comments and an indication of what you think you’ll have room for. These are optional fields.
When you enter the various addresses to your journey mtvan automatically calculates your mileage. You can change that here if you wish and/or disagree.
Finally a ‘Vehicle Type’ is essential, so make sure what you chose is representative of what you’re driving.
Click submit to enter the details onto mtvan.