Wait and return & escort trips

Wait and return means the driver stays at the destination during the appointment and then brings the member home. The same driver does both legs of the round trip.

Use it when a member should not be left alone, when an escort travels with them, or when the appointment is short and it makes no sense to send the driver away.

Turning on Wait and return for a trip

1. Open New Trip and fill in the outbound trip as usual (see Creating a trip).
2. Click Add return trip and fill in the return.
3. In the return trip section, turn on Wait and return.
4. Save the trip.

The switch only shows on round trips, because it belongs to the return trip. Many wait-and-return returns are booked as Will Call, since you don't know when the appointment will end (see Will-call trips).

You can also turn it on later. Open the trip, choose Edit Trip, turn on Wait and return in the return trip section, and save.

Adding a return from Edit Trip. If a trip has no return yet, open Edit Trip and click Add return trip. A new return keeps the Wait and return switch you set, and your company's trip form default and the escort setting below apply to it too.

How the wait is billed

The wait time, from the drop-off at the appointment to the return pickup, is billed as one line on the return trip. This happens only when the payer has a wait rate (Wait time — per minute in the payer's rates). With no wait rate, nothing extra is billed. You can review, adjust or waive the wait line in Ready to Bill (see Ready to Bill overview).

How it looks on the boards

• The return trip shows an orange Wait & return label on the Dispatch board and the Run board.
• The outbound trip's "Return …" line starts with the same label, so you can see it from either leg.
• While the driver waits, their lane shows Waiting for return with the member and the return pickup time (see Idle drivers on the board).

The return stays with the waiting driver

A wait-and-return return belongs to the driver who takes the member to the appointment. ZeitRide keeps the two legs together:

• Assigning the outbound trip also assigns the return to the same driver. This works from the Dispatch board, the Run board, the Live map and when you confirm an auto-assign plan.
• Reassigning the outbound trip moves the return too. It does this even if your company is set to move only the leg you picked.
• Unassigning the outbound trip unassigns the return too. You can still unassign only the return if you need to.
• Turning on Wait and return for a trip whose outbound already has a driver moves the return to that driver.

Giving the return to another driver

Sometimes another driver has to bring the member home. You can still do it, but ZeitRide asks first:

1. Assign or dispatch the return to the other driver as usual.
2. A message titled Driver is waiting appears: "{driver} is waiting with this member. Give the return to someone else?"
3. Click Give to someone else to continue, or Keep with {driver} to leave the return with the waiting driver.

Dispatching a held will-call return

When the return is a will-call, it waits in the Will call section with the waiting driver's name on it:

• Dispatch board: the row reads Held by {driver}. Click Dispatch to {driver} when the member is ready. To send someone else, click Other ▾ and pick a driver (you will see the confirm above).
• Run board: the will-call card reads Held by {driver}. In the Dispatch will-call dialog the waiting driver is already picked.

Suggest and To Unassigned / Send to Unassigned are hidden for these trips, because the member already has a driver.

The driver can start it from the app

If your company has the Will Call module turned on, the waiting driver can start the return themselves when the member is ready:

1. In ZeitRide, go to Settings → Driver app.
2. Open the App & marketplace tab.
3. In Driver app modules, turn on Will Call and save.

The driver then opens Will Call in the driver app and taps They called — I'm going on the member's trip. With the module off, the office dispatches the return from the board as described above.

Always wait and return for escort trips

Your company can make every escort trip a wait-and-return trip. It is off unless an admin turns it on.

1. Go to Settings → Scheduling Settings.
2. Open the Runs & multi-loading tab.
3. In Dispatch preferences, under Escort trips, turn on Always wait and return when a member has an escort.
4. Click Save.
5. Read the message about what will change, then click Save change.

What counts as an escort trip: a round trip with one or more Additional passengers or Attendants needed. On trips your office books, these numbers fill in from the member's profile when you pick the member. The setting also applies to round trips your broker sends.

What changes:

• On New Trip and Edit Trip, Wait and return is switched on and locked for these trips. A note under it explains why.
• The return stays with the waiting driver, as described above.
• Trips already booked are not changed. Only trips booked or paired after you save follow the setting.

Tip: On the same tab, set Reassigning a round trip to Always move both legs. Then moving either leg of any round trip moves the other one too.

Making Wait and return the default on the trip form

You can choose how the Wait and return switch starts on the New Trip form:

1. Go to Settings → Company.
2. Open the Trips & dispatch tab.
3. In the Trip form card, find Wait and return.
4. Choose how it is Shown as, and set its Default:
   • Optional with the default on: the switch starts on, and staff can turn it off.
   • Required: the switch is always on and locked for every round trip.
   • Hidden: the switch does not show on the form, unless the escort setting above locks it on.
5. Click Save trip form.

Important: Required makes every new round trip a wait-and-return trip. Each return will stay with the driver who takes the outbound trip, and wait time will be billed wherever the payer has a wait rate. Choose Required only if your company always waits with its members.

The trip form setting applies to trips your office books on the New Trip form, and to a new return added from Edit Trip. An existing return keeps its own switch.

Related articles

• Creating a trip
• Will-call trips
• The Dispatch board
• The Run board
• Company settings tour