Major platform update coming January 3rd

We're excited to announce a major update coming to the Tonquin platform to kick off the new year. On January 3rd, both Vendors and Independent Delivery Providers will notice some changes to their dashboard and app. Along with multiple additional features and enhancements on both sides, we're adding two new major capabilities that we're calling Charters and Preferred Providers. These new capabilities are a part of a continued effort to bring more ways for Vendors and Delivery Providers to work together on the platform.

Vendors:

Charters will allow Vendors to request a delivery provider to work for their location for a block of time. We created a seamless scheduling process for the Vendor that allows their request to be sourced out to all of the independent delivery providers in their area. Need a Delivery Provider today at 2pm for 4 hours? Make the request in minutes, see when it's filled, and deliveries placed on the Tonquin platform will go to your Charter Delivery Provider during that block of time. And don't worry, you'll still be able to seamlessly schedule on-demand deliveries before or even during an active Charter.

The Preferred Provider capability will allow Vendors to send on-demand deliveries directly to a Delivery Provider that has opted in to their request. In the instance that you have made a good relationship with a Provider or you know of someone that services you really well, send them a request using the new Providers Tab in the dashboard and when that Provider is online, you will be able to assign your delivery directly to them instead of sending it out to the Tonquin on-demand network.

These two new capabilities will offer a truly controlled and more stable experience for the Vendor as they begin to augment more of their last-mile operations through the Tonquin platform.

Delivery Providers:

Charters will be a new way to earn on the platform. Instead of the typical on-demand delivery, a Charter will allow you to do deliveries for a single Vendor location for a block of time. This block of time will earn you a fixed hourly rate and will be a great way to earn predictable income.

The home screen will now display location pins for all Tonquin Vendors on the platform. If a pin is red, that means the Vendor has an available Charter or Shuttle. Since Charters and Shuttles can now be scheduled in advance by the Vendor, they will appear within the location pin that has one available. Because on-demand deliveries are... on-demand, we left those in the "on-demand delivery request tab" at the top of the app so when you're switched to on-duty, you'll still have easy access to do these deliveries whenever you choose. You will be able to filter and sort through scheduled gigs on the home screen based on your desired availability for the week (this doesn't affect seeing on-demand deliveries). Lastly, Vendor location pins will also act as a stats screen! Click on a Vendor location pin and swipe up to see that Vendors info, activity stats and your stats for the specific Vendor.

If you find yourself servicing a Vendor frequently or you're looking for an edge to get more opportunities to earn, become a Preferred Provider for a Vendor and allow them to directly assign you on-demand shipments! Either get requested by a Vendor or send a request to a Vendor that you like or would want to do more business with to trigger this status. Once accepted by both parties, the Vendor will be able to directly assign you one of their on-demand deliveries when your status is on-duty. If you're a Provider that is looking to grow their business with a customer, giving them this option and piece of mind that you are there to service them will dramatically increase their use of your service and therefor your total earnings potential.

We'll be sending out more detailed breakdowns of the update and improvements to look forward to over the next two weeks so keep a lookout for more!