The HVAC Tech's Day in Route Order: Working the Call List Top to Bottom
A tech with a list of eight addresses and no order will drive the day the way they think is best. Sometimes that is fine. Often it means crossing town twice, showing up at the 1pm customer at 9am, or leaving the furthest tune-up for 4:30 on a Friday. Route order is the office's way of saying “here is the day” without a single phone call.
The List the Tech Sees
Right after logging in, as covered in Logging In to the HVAC Tech App: Company Login Plus a Personal PIN, the tech lands on their calls for the day.
In HVACBossPro, that list is in route order: call 1 at the top, the last call at the bottom. Each card shows the address and, under it, the equipment line, something like “Heat Pump · 2.5 ton · installed 2016 · filter 20x20x1.” The tech works top to bottom. Finish a call, look at the next card, close the van doors and go.
Only that tech's calls show. The repair tech does not scroll past the tune-up van's day, and the tune-up tech does not see the no-cool calls stacking up on Van 1.
Where the Order Comes From
The order is set on the dispatch board in the office. There are two ways to set it:
- By hand. The dispatcher drags calls into the order they want. Useful when a customer can only be home after 2pm, or a commercial building wants the tech before tenants arrive.
- Auto-route. HVACBossPro can order the day Closest First or Furthest First from the shop. Closest First starts near the shop and works outward. Furthest First drives out early and works back toward home.
Most dispatchers auto-route and then nudge a couple of calls by hand for time windows. Whatever order the board shows is the order the phone shows.
Tune-Up Days vs Repair Days
Route order behaves differently depending on the van.
A tune-up van has a mostly fixed day. The maintenance agreement visits that came due on the Waiting List were grouped by area and put in order the day before. The tech can see the whole day in the morning and pace it.
A repair van has a day that moves. A no-cool call at 11am might go in after the current call because it is two streets away. The tech sees the new card show up in the list. The difference between the two kinds of days is covered in Repair Van and Tune-Up Van: Two Kinds of Days in the HVAC Tech App.
When Dispatch Moves a Call
Calls move. A customer reschedules, an emergency comes in, a tech runs long on a blower motor. When the office moves a call on the board, the tech's list follows. A call moved to another van disappears from this tech's list and shows up on the other one. A call moved to tomorrow drops off today.
That replaces the old routine of a dispatcher texting “skip the Miller house, go to Oak St first, then come back.” The tech looks at the list, and the list is right.
It also takes pressure off the dispatcher. Instead of trying to reach a tech who is in a crawlspace with no free hand, the dispatcher makes the change once on the board and moves on to the next phone call.
One habit worth teaching: look at the next card before leaving the driveway. If the office moved something while you were in the attic, you will see it before you drive the wrong way.
Working the List
A simple rhythm on each call:
- Glance at the next card in the driveway.
- Tap the navigation button to get directions.
- On arrival, read the equipment line, unit location and past notes.
- Tap Start, do the work, take the photos.
- Tap Complete, then go back to step 1.
The Start and Complete taps are what move the customer texts along and what tell the office where the day stands. More on those in Start, Skip, Complete: The Three Buttons That Run an HVAC Service Day.
When the Tech Wants a Different Order
Techs know their territory. Sometimes they see a better way, like a cul-de-sac with two calls in it or a left turn that is impossible at rush hour. The right move is to tell dispatch, not to quietly go out of order. The customers on that route are getting on-the-way texts and watching the live map in the customer app, which shows “You're stop 12 of 20.” If the tech jumps around, those messages stop matching reality.
A quick text to the office, a drag on the board, and the order on the phone and on the customer's map line up again. For the rest of what lives on the tech's phone, see the HVAC technician app overview.
One Order, Board and Phone
HVACBossPro shows each tech their calls in the order set on the dispatch board, and the list follows when dispatch moves a call.
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