Setting up roles and stages the right way

Your levels are the ladder of your company – built like an org chart: at the very top stands the level with the most rights, below it every smaller level, at the bottom the trial driver as the entry, and at the very bottom “Inactive”. The automation moves members up this ladder as soon as they meet the conditions of a higher level. If you set up the ladder in the right order, this runs by itself – and nobody ends up on a level you did not want.

You set all of this in the menu VTC › Roles & rights. I explain rights, the log and inactivity in Roles and rights.

In short#

1. Level = the rank (trial driver, driver, experienced driver …). Every member has exactly one level.
2. Further roles (tasks) = in addition to the level (deputy, dispatcher, human resources, accounting, media team …). You can give one member several – the rights add up, and the automation never gives them.
3. The highest level stands at the top, the trial driver at the bottom – “Inactive” at the very bottom.
4. The automation only moves up – never down.
5. Leadership tasks belong in a function – or in a level with “Assigned by hand only”.

Two kinds of roles: level and further roles (tasks)#

There are exactly two kinds of roles. Every member has:

• exactly one level – their rank on the ladder, for example trial driver, driver or experienced driver. Only a level can carry a wage, parking ("Parking: … trucks, … trailers, … extra") and automatic promotion ("From … days, … jobs, … km"). The automation moves members up the ladder.
• plus any number of further roles (tasks) – in addition to the level, for example deputy, human resources, dispatcher, accounting, fleet management, convoy planning, sub driver or media team. A member can have none, one or several of them ("Without a role" means: none). In the choice “Kind of role” this kind is called “Function”.

The rights add up: a member may do everything their level allows and on top everything each of their further roles allows. A further role never takes a right away.

The automation never gives a further role – and it never takes one away either. If someone climbs to a higher level, they keep all their further roles. The only exception is one you set yourself: if you tick “Sub drivers get this automatically” on a further role, a sub driver gets it as soon as they leave probation.

Two examples#

• Driver + dispatcher + accounting: Max has the level “Driver” plus the further roles “Dispatcher” and “Accounting”. He drives as a driver, dispatches the company's orders and sees the company account. If he later climbs to “Experienced driver”, he stays dispatcher and accounting.
• Media team: Lisa is still “Trial driver” and makes pictures and videos for the company. The further role “Media team” gives her, for example, the right “Edit company profile” – no matter which level she is on right now.

Small overview#

Sorting each block with the mouse#

On the page VTC › Roles & rights both blocks stand one below the other, each in one column: at the top the ladder of levels, below it the block “Further roles (tasks) – in addition to the stage”. Every card you may move has the handle “⠿ Move” – in both blocks.

• With the mouse: grab the handle, keep the button pressed, drag up or down, let go – done, the new order is saved.
• On a phone: tap “Move” and then “Here” at the place where the role should go.
• The arrows ↑ ↓ move it step by step. Made a mistake? Tap “Undo” right afterwards.
• Sorting works only inside one block: you cannot drag a level into the block of further roles, and you cannot drag a further role onto the ladder. For levels the place sets the rank (top = higher). For further roles the place only sets the order in which they are shown.

Choosing or changing the kind of a role#

You choose the kind when you create the role: “New role” › “Kind of role” › “Level” or “Function” (= further role). You can change it later too: open the role (“Edit role”) › “More settings of the role” › “Kind of role” › “Level” or “Further role (task)”, then save. Before anything changes I ask you once more and tell you in words what happens to the members. The rights of the role stay the same.

This is how the switch works: if a level becomes a further role, all members keep it as a task. As every member needs exactly one level, I give them the entry level (for example “trial driver”). If a further role becomes a level, it goes to the bottom of the ladder, right above the entry level – whoever has it then has it as their level. If one of them already has another level, that doesn't work yet: take this role from them first. A tick that only fits the old kind (“a probation driver gets this role after passing the test” or “Sub drivers get this automatically”) I take off at the same time. The owner's role, “Inactive” and the entry level always keep their kind – there the choice is grey, with the reason next to it. Only someone who may “approve payouts” can turn a further role into a level.

The order of the levels#

The levels stand in a fixed rank order – from the top (highest level, most rights) to the bottom (entry):

• The top level is the highest – it is the last one you climb to.
• Every level below it is one step smaller.
• The lowest level is the one for new members, usually the trial driver. If your company has at least two levels, it is the probation level – more in Probation and driving test.
• At the very bottom stands “Inactive”: whoever does not drive for a long time goes there – with the next job he gets his last role back.

On the page Roles & rights you see the ladder exactly like this, in one column: the highest level at the top, the trial driver at the bottom, “Inactive” greyed out as the last line. The further roles stand separately below in their own block – the block “Further roles (tasks) – in addition to the stage”.

How to move a level with the mouse: every level card has the handle “⠿ Move”. Grab it with the mouse, keep the button pressed and drag the card up or down to its new place – drag it up and the level becomes higher, down makes it smaller. Let go, and the new order is saved.

On a phone you tap “Move” and then “Here” at the place where the level should go. The arrows ↑ ↓ also move it step by step. If you made a mistake, tap “Undo” right afterwards – the old order is back. Levels and further roles are sorted separately – a level only swaps places with another level.

A new company starts with one level, “trial driver”, and no functions (plus “Inactive”). You create more levels and all functions yourself under “New role” and choose the kind of role (“Level” or “Function” = further role).

How automatic promotion works#

For every level you can enter conditions in the role under “More settings of the role” at “Promotion to this level”:

• From days in the company
• From jobs
• From kilometres

An empty field means: no condition. If you enter several, all of them must be met. If you want “either … or”, create two levels.

The automation checks all members regularly. If someone meets the conditions of a higher level (further up), it lifts him to the highest level whose conditions he meets. It never moves anyone down (only whoever does not drive for a long time goes to “Inactive” – that is a rule of its own), and whoever already stands higher stays where he is.

A level with the tick “Assigned by hand only” is never given by the automation. Whoever stands on such a level is not moved away by the automation either.

Set by hand stays set#

When you (or someone with the right “Assign roles”) give a member a level with “Grant role”, that is your decision: the automation no longer moves this member afterwards – not even when he meets the conditions of a higher level. From then on this member moves up or back by hand only.

So it can no longer happen that you make someone your deputy, for example, and a few minutes later the automation puts him back on “driver”.

If you want to keep promotion in your own hands for the whole company, set “Promotion: automatic or by hand” under Company office › Company settings to by hand. Then only the owner promotes.

Example: small company (up to about 10 drivers)#

This is the ladder from top to bottom:

Your deputy simply drives on his driver level – you give him the function “Deputy” on top.

Example: big company#

This is the ladder from top to bottom:

If you need a leadership level (with its own wage), tick “Assigned by hand only” on it and best put it at the very top.

What happens when …#

… I put a leadership level below an automatic level? Without “Assigned by hand only” the automation would lift members from there to the higher level – and their rights go with the level. The page then warns you at that level with a ⚠️ note. So: tick the box on leadership levels, drag them up or use a function.

… I set someone back to a lower level by hand? He stays there. The automation does not lift him again – up only by hand.

… a member meets the conditions of two levels at once? He goes straight to the higher of the two.

… I change the conditions of a level? From the next check on the new conditions apply – but only upwards. Nobody is moved down because of it.

… I delete a level? Whoever holds it moves down to the next level below.

… someone does not drive for a long time? He can move into the role “Inactive” and gets his last role back as soon as he drives again – see Roles and rights.

… I am the owner? The owner stands above all levels, may do everything and is never moved by the automation.

More#

• Rights, log, inactivity: Roles and rights
• Probation and driving test: Probation and driving test
• Wage per level: Subcontractors and employees