Turn shipment changes into a useful next step
Repeatedly opening a tracker is a poor way to coordinate a busy shipment desk. The same update may need to reach a customer service colleague, a warehouse planner and a transport coordinator, with different context for each person. Shipment automation connects the available tracking information to those operational handoffs.
With Panvaya, your team can arrange a notification workflow through support. We agree the shipment scope, event conditions, recipients and delivery channel before enabling it. The service is available through this managed setup; you do not need to find a separate self-service rule builder in your dashboard.
Available through support: Contact the Panvaya support team to enable event-based alerts or request a customised notification. Share the event you want to monitor and where the notification should go. Our team confirms the supported scope and configuration with you.
Which events should your team monitor?
Start with a change that creates a real task. A notification for every unchanged tracking response adds noise. A message that tells your receiving team about a material ETA change can give them a reason to review their plan. Event availability depends on the carrier, shipment reference and information reported for that journey.
- Departure milestones: Notify the relevant team when a supported source reports an actual vessel departure. Keep a planned departure separate from a completed movement.
- Arrival and discharge: Route a reported destination arrival or container discharge to the team preparing collection. These events are distinct and should have clear notification labels.
- ETA changes: Agree a meaningful change threshold, such as a shift of more than 24 hours, so small revisions do not repeatedly interrupt the same recipients.
- Transhipment changes: Ask support about notifications for available intermediate-port milestones or vessel changes relevant to your shipment.
- Your own operational conditions: Describe the combination of events, shipment references or reporting needs that should prompt a review. The team confirms the available configuration before activation.
Choose who needs each notification
An operations alert and a customer update serve different purposes. Your operations team may need the previous ETA, the revised ETA and the affected reference. A customer may need a shorter explanation and the next expected milestone. Agree the message content and recipients instead of sending every available field to everyone.
Email is a practical starting point for teams that work across several systems. If you need another notification medium, a particular message format or routing into your own application, tell support what you use. Custom channels and delivery requirements are scoped with the team; an enquiry does not assume a native connector to every messaging or logistics product.
Send authorised recipients and business requirements through the support conversation. Avoid putting API keys, passwords or complete customer shipment files in public examples. For an initial discussion, a redacted message example and a description of the event are usually more useful than a large raw payload.
An example: an ETA moves by more than a day
Suppose your receiving plan uses a container's destination ETA. You want your import desk to review the plan whenever a newly available ETA moves by more than 24 hours. Your team asks support to configure that condition for the agreed shipment scope and route the notification to the import desk.
- Define the baseline: Agree which previously observed ETA the new estimate is compared with.
- Choose the threshold: Specify whether an earlier date, a later date or either direction requires a notification.
- Set the audience: Identify the operations recipients and whether a separate customer-facing message is appropriate.
- Agree repeated-change behaviour: Decide how corrections, subsequent revisions and repeated observations should be handled.
- Keep a person responsible: Use the message to prompt a review of receiving or transport plans. An ETA alert does not itself change a warehouse booking or dispatch a truck.
This is an example configuration to discuss with support, not a fixed default applied to every account. Your workflow may need a different threshold, working-hour arrangement or notification format.
Understand when an event becomes visible
A physical movement, the carrier's record of it and a notification are separate moments. An alert can use an event only after the relevant information becomes available to Panvaya. Carrier reporting, refresh timing, cached data and delivery conditions can affect when a change is detected and received.
Agree the monitoring cadence and expected delivery behaviour during setup. Event-based does not mean that every carrier pushes an instant message at the moment a container moves. Missing information remains missing, and an estimated date must not be described as proof that a movement has happened.
How this relates to APIs, webhooks and email reports
These options suit different workflows. A synchronous tracking API returns a result when your backend requests it. Panvaya's documented scheduled webhooks deliver complete Ocean tracking responses according to the subscription schedule. An event-based notification draws attention to an agreed change or condition. A daily email report provides a broader periodic review.
Support-configured event alerts are a separate service arrangement from the scheduled webhook API contract. Do not assume that creating a scheduled subscription also enables a custom notification rule. If your TMS needs a particular event message, authentication requirement or delivery format, share those requirements with our team.
Enable the service on your account
Contact support with enough detail to make the setup specific. You do not need to write a full technical specification before starting the conversation. A short explanation of the decision your team needs to make is a useful first step.
- Your account and shipment scope: Identify the organisation and supported shipment references or groups that need monitoring.
- The event or condition: Explain the milestone, ETA threshold or other change that should prompt a message.
- Recipients and delivery medium: Specify email recipients or describe the alternative channel and receiving application.
- Timing and message content: Include timezone, preferred reporting windows, required reference fields and a redacted example if you have one.
- Activation and validation: Confirm the agreed scope, applicable account access and charges, then review a representative notification with the team before relying on the workflow.
Keep alerts useful after activation
Review your recipient list when colleagues or customers change. If a rule produces too many messages, revisit the threshold or shipment scope with support. If a message is missing information, confirm whether the carrier reports that field before changing your operational process around it.
Arrival and discharge notifications support planning; they do not confirm customs release, terminal availability or permission to collect cargo. Similarly, Last Free Day and D&D exposure are separate estimates where available. Ask about those requirements explicitly rather than assuming that every notification contains a confirmed collection deadline.
Put the next action within reach
A useful shipment alert connects a reported change, the right recipient and a clear next step. Panvaya's support team can help you enable shipment automation and arrange notifications around your workflow. Contact us to discuss account access, customised emails or another delivery medium, and the events your team needs to monitor.