20-30 min

Dispatch-Only Onboarding

This is the fastest path to running optimized routes. You will import your fleet and jobs, run your first optimization, and have a publishable dispatch plan — all in under 30 minutes. No storefront setup, no customer portal, no payment configuration. Just dispatch.

Before You Start

  • You have a Klau account and can log in — if you received an invitation email, use those credentials.
  • You have logged in and can see the dispatch board (the main screen after login).
  • You have your fleet data ready: a list of drivers (name, phone number), trucks (truck number, container size), and your yard address.
  • You have your job data ready: a CSV export from your current dispatch system, or a list of today's and this week's jobs with customer names, addresses, job types, and container sizes.
  • You know your dump site addresses — every landfill, transfer station, and recycling facility your drivers use.

The Onboarding Checklist

1

Set up your yard

2

Add dump sites

3

Add drivers

4

Add trucks

5

Import jobs (or create manually)

6

Run optimization

7

Review the plan

8

Publish the dispatch

Step 1

Set Up Your Yard

Your yard address is the single most important piece of configuration in Klau. It is where every driver starts their day, where they return at end of shift, and where the optimizer calculates all drive times from. Getting this wrong means every route is wrong.

  1. Click the Settings gear icon in the left sidebar.
  2. Find the Yard Address section and enter your full street address.
  3. Klau will geocode the address automatically — verify the pin on the map is in the correct location. If your yard is behind an industrial park or off a service road, drag the pin to the actual entrance your trucks use.
  4. Click Save Changes.
  5. If you have multiple yards (e.g., a north yard and a south yard), add each one. The optimizer will consider which yard each driver departs from when building routes.

Pro Tip: Precision Matters Here

Double-check that the geocoded pin is on your actual yard, not the street in front of it. An off-by-a-block yard address can skew every single route by several minutes. For a 15-job day across 5 drivers, that compounds into over an hour of phantom drive time.

Step 2

Add Dump Sites

Dump sites are where your drivers take full containers — landfills, transfer stations, recycling facilities. The optimizer needs to know where they are so it can calculate realistic route times and build efficient chains.

  1. Navigate to Settings > Dump Sites, or open Klau Command (the top item in the sidebar) and type "add dump site" to use the conversational import.
  2. Click Add Dump Site and enter the facility name and full street address.
  3. Add every facility your drivers use regularly. If a driver might go there this week, add it now. You can always add more later, but the optimizer cannot route to a dump site it does not know about.
  4. For each site, note what materials it accepts if you know them — this becomes important later when Klau can auto-route based on load type.

Flow Control & Franchise Agreements

If certain zip codes must route all materials to a specific dump site (franchise agreements, county flow control ordinances), you can configure this in Settings > Jurisdictions. Create a jurisdiction for each zone, assign the required dump site, and Klau will enforce the rule automatically — the optimizer will never route a driver to the wrong facility, and violations are flagged before dispatch is published.

Step 3

Add Drivers

Every driver who will appear on your dispatch board needs to be added here. You have two options depending on how many drivers you are onboarding.

Manual Entry

  1. Go to Fleet > Drivers in the sidebar.
  2. Click Add Driver.
  3. Enter the driver's name and phone number (required).
  4. Set shift start and shift end times if known.
  5. If you have multiple yards, assign their home yard.
  6. Click Save. Repeat for each driver.

CSV Import via Klau Command

  1. Open Klau Command from the sidebar.
  2. Upload a CSV with columns for name and phone (at minimum).
  3. Klau auto-detects the columns and shows you a preview.
  4. Confirm the import — all drivers are created at once.

Best for 5+ drivers. A simple spreadsheet with Name and Phone columns is all you need.

Pro Tip: Shift Times Are Critical

Driver shift times directly affect route optimization. A driver with an 8-hour shift gets different routes than one with a 10-hour shift — the optimizer will not overload a short-shift driver. If you skip this, Klau defaults to a standard 10-hour window, which may not match your operation. Set these accurately now to avoid surprises on day one.

Step 4

Add Trucks

Trucks carry the containers, and container size is what makes chaining possible. The optimizer needs to know what equipment you have so it can build routes where a truck carrying a 20-yard container can do a same-size swap without returning to the yard.

Manual Entry

  1. Go to Fleet > Trucks in the sidebar.
  2. Click Add Truck.
  3. Enter the truck number (e.g., "T-101" or "Truck 7").
  4. Select the container size: 10, 15, 20, 30, or 40 yard.
  5. Click Save. Repeat for each truck.

CSV Import via Klau Command

  1. Open Klau Command from the sidebar.
  2. Upload a CSV with truck number and container size columns.
  3. Klau auto-detects columns and shows a preview.
  4. Confirm to create all trucks at once.

Container size must be one of: 10, 15, 20, 30, or 40 (in yards).

Pro Tip: Driver-Truck Pairing

Every driver needs a truck assigned to appear on the dispatch board. Go to the driver's profile and set their default truck. If drivers rotate trucks daily, assign whichever truck they are taking out that morning before you run optimization.

Step 5

Import Jobs

This is the big one. Everything before this was setup. This is where your actual work enters Klau.

You need to get today's (or tomorrow's) jobs into Klau so the optimizer has something to work with. The fastest way is a CSV import through Klau Command. If you only have a handful of jobs, manual entry on the dispatch board works too.

CSV Import (Recommended)

  1. Open Klau Command — it is the top item in the left sidebar, with a terminal icon.
  2. Click Upload and select your CSV file. Klau accepts exports from most dispatch systems. The file should have columns for customer name, address, job type, scheduled date, and container size. Column names do not need to match exactly — Klau auto-detects them.
  3. Review the import preview. Klau shows three categories:
    • Green rows — ready to import automatically, all fields matched.
    • Yellow rows — need a quick review. Usually an ambiguous address or missing container size. Click to resolve.
    • Red rows — need corrections. Typically a missing address or unrecognized job type. Fix and re-validate.
  4. Click Import to create all jobs. Customers and sites are auto-created from job data if they do not already exist in Klau — you do not need to add them separately first.

Understanding Job Types

Your CSV needs a job type for each row. Here is what each one means in roll-off terms:

DELIVERY

Drop off an empty container at a customer site. The truck leaves the yard loaded and returns empty.

PICKUP

Pick up a full container from a customer site. The truck leaves the yard empty and returns loaded.

SWAP

Exchange a full container for an empty one at the same site. The driver arrives with an empty, leaves with the full — same container size required.

DUMP & RETURN

Pick up a full container, haul it to the dump, empty it, and return the same container to the site. A round-trip service — the customer keeps their box.

Special Instructions Are Parsed Automatically

If your CSV has a notes or instructions column with time windows, gate codes, or specific dump requirements, Klau will parse them automatically. For example, "deliver before 10am, gate code 4455, must go to County Transfer Station" will be extracted into structured fields the optimizer and your drivers can use.

For the full CSV column reference, accepted date formats, and advanced import options, see the Data Import Guide.

Step 6

Run Optimization

This is where Klau earns its keep. The optimizer takes all your unassigned jobs and builds the most efficient routes it can — not just minimizing miles, but maximizing container chains that eliminate costly return-to-yard trips.

  1. Navigate to the Dispatch Board (the main view after login).
  2. Select the date you want to optimize using the date picker in the board header. Make sure it matches the scheduled dates on your imported jobs.
  3. Click "Optimize" in the board header. Klau builds chain-optimized routes in seconds.
  4. Watch as jobs move from the Unassigned Pool into driver columns, sequenced for maximum efficiency.

How Container Chaining Works

The optimizer prioritizes container size continuity. Instead of a driver returning to the yard after every job, Klau builds sequences like:

Yard → Deliver(20yd) → Pickup(20yd) → Dump → Deliver(20yd) → Yard

After the delivery, the truck is empty and the right size for the next pickup. After the pickup, it dumps and is empty again for the next delivery. No yard return needed between jobs. Each eliminated yard return saves 20-40 minutes of drive time.

Step 7

Review the Plan

After optimization, the dispatch board shows each driver's route as a column of sequenced job cards. Before you publish, review the plan with these checks:

What to Look For

  • Reasonable drive times between stops. If two consecutive jobs show a 45-minute drive time, check whether there is a closer sequencing option.
  • Shift compliance. No driver should be scheduled past their shift end time. Klau respects shift windows, but double-check if you did not set shift times earlier.
  • Balanced workload. If one driver has 8 jobs and another has 2, consider whether that reflects reality or if manual balancing would help.
  • Chain Scorecard. Look for the score (0-100) in the optimization results. Higher is better — 80+ is excellent. This tells you how effectively Klau was able to chain containers.

Making Adjustments

Klau's optimization is a recommendation, not a mandate. You know your operation better than any algorithm.

  • Drag a job from one driver's column to another to reassign it.
  • Reorder jobs within a column by dragging them up or down in the sequence.
  • Return to unassigned by dragging a job back to the Unassigned Pool on the left.
  • Klau recalculates drive times and chain scores instantly after every drag. You will see the impact of your change before you commit to it.

Pro Tip: Good Enough Beats Perfect

Do not chase a score of 100. A plan with a chain score of 75-85 and practical routes your drivers know beats a "perfect" score with fragile chains that fall apart when one job runs long. Get comfortable publishing plans that are good and getting better, not theoretically optimal.

Step 8

Publish the Dispatch

When you are satisfied with the plan, it is time to make it real.

  1. Click the "Publish" button in the board header.
  2. The dispatch status changes from Draft to Published. Published dispatches are locked — drivers can see their assigned routes and job sequence.
  3. Drivers receive SMS notifications with their schedule for the day, including stop sequence and customer details.
  4. You can still make adjustments to unpublished future dates. If you need to change a published dispatch, you can unpublish, adjust, and republish.

You Did It

You just went from a blank slate to a published, chain-optimized dispatch. Your drivers have their routes. Tomorrow, you will do it again — and it will take 5 minutes instead of 30.

Your Daily Workflow

After the initial setup, the daily cycle is fast. Most dispatchers have this down to a 5-10 minute morning routine within a week.

  1. Jobs arrive. Import tomorrow's jobs via CSV upload in Klau Command, add them manually on the dispatch board, or let them sync automatically if you have an API integration configured.
  2. Run optimization. Select tomorrow's date on the board and click Optimize. If you are doing same-day dispatch, optimize for today — the optimizer handles both.
  3. Review and adjust. Glance at the board. Move anything that does not look right. Check that no driver is overloaded.
  4. Publish. Hit the button. Drivers get their SMS. Trucks leave the yard.
  5. Monitor. Throughout the day, the dispatch board updates in real time as drivers complete jobs. Klau recalculates ETAs automatically if a driver is running ahead or behind.

As you get comfortable with the daily routine, explore these features to get even more value:

  • Intelligence — capacity heatmap showing projected workload across the week, revenue per truck-hour metrics, and container dwell time analytics.
  • Coaching Scorecard — daily dispatch grading (0-100) with per-driver performance breakdowns. See who is running efficient routes and who might need training.
  • Inventory tracking — real-time yard stock counts so you never promise a delivery you cannot fulfill.

Troubleshooting

Common issues you may hit during your first week, and how to fix them fast.

"No jobs to optimize"

Check the date filter on the dispatch board — it must match the scheduled date on your imported jobs. If you imported jobs for March 15 but the board is showing March 14, the optimizer will not find them. Also confirm the jobs are in UNASSIGNED status. Jobs that are already assigned or completed will not appear in the optimization pool.

"Driver has no truck"

The optimizer needs a truck assigned to each driver before it can route them. Go to Fleet > Drivers, open the driver's profile, and assign a default truck. Drivers without an assigned truck will not receive jobs during optimization.

"Jobs not importing"

Check your CSV for these common issues: dates must be in YYYY-MM-DD or MM/DD/YYYY format. Job type must be recognizable — "DEL", "Delivery", "D" all work, but abbreviations from other systems may not. Addresses need to be complete enough to geocode (street + city + state at minimum). If a column is not being detected, try renaming it to match the expected field: customer_name, address, job_type, scheduled_date, container_size.

"Routes look wrong"

Start with the yard address — if it geocoded to the wrong location, every route will be off. Next, check dump site addresses — a misplaced dump site can pull routes in the wrong direction. Finally, verify that container sizes on jobs match what your trucks actually carry. A 20-yard job cannot chain with a truck loaded with a 30-yard container.

"Chain score is low"

Low chain scores (below 50) usually mean there are not enough matching container sizes to form chains. If all your jobs today are 30-yard deliveries with no 30-yard pickups, there is nothing to chain — the drivers have to return to the yard between each job. This is normal for some job mixes. The score will improve on days with a better delivery/pickup balance.

What's Next?

You are up and running with dispatch. Here are the guides to deepen your knowledge as you get more comfortable.

Recommended

Dispatcher Guide

Advanced board features — what-if simulation, job pinning, real-time collaboration, map view, and driver communication.

Deep Dive

Optimization Guide

Understanding chain scores, optimization strategies, and how to tune the optimizer for your specific operation.

Performance

Coaching Scorecard

Daily dispatch grading with per-driver performance scores. Identify your most efficient drivers and where training can help.

Reference

Data Import Guide

Full CSV column reference, accepted formats, bulk import options, and API integration details for automated job sync.

Need Help?

We Are Here to Support You

Getting your first dispatch published is a big milestone. If you run into any issues or have questions about your specific operation, reach out. We will get you running.

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