LaneTally Chat Page Explained (Video + Steps)

1. See the big picture first (0:00)

A driver texts you, the owner calls you, and nobody can find which message was about which load. LaneTally keeps the whole job in one place: your loads, the chat, freight invoices, driver pay and the books. By the end of the video you can message a driver or the owner, send a photo, tie a message to a load, and know who sees each chat. The free demo needs no sign-up and no card and uses fake data.

2. Find Chat in the menu and read its badge (0:46)

Chat is the third item in the left menu. The number on it counts the messages you have not read yet. It goes down by one each time you open a chat that had new messages.

3. Read the rule of the page (1:00)

Under the title is the rule of the page: a group chat with everyone, and private chats. Each chat shows who is in it. Drivers never see each other's private chats.

4. Understand the chat list (1:15)

On the left is the list of your chats for this carrier. It follows the carrier picker at the top.

• Group chat: the first one, named after the carrier. The line under the name says who is in it: you, the owner and all drivers of this carrier.
• Private chats: one with the owner of the carrier and one with each driver. Only you and that person are in it: not the owner, and not the other drivers, in a driver's chat.
• A number on a chat means new messages in it.

5. Read the open chat (1:52)

When you open Chat, the first private chat with new messages opens by itself. An orange border shows which chat is open, and the menu badge goes down because you have now seen it. On the right is the chat itself: its name, who is in it, and the reminder that only the people in this chat can see it. Messages from others sit on the left in gray, with the sender on top and the day and time under it. Your own messages are on the right in orange, and only your own messages have Delete. When a chat gets long, the messages scroll inside the box and it always opens on the newest message, at the bottom.

6. Compare the group chat and private chats (2:46)

In the group chat the reminder says everyone in the group sees it. Use it for news for the whole company, and everyone answers in the same place. Open a driver's chat, like Marcus, and his new message is read, so the number on that chat and the menu badge go away. A message can have a load tag on top (like LB-1041) that shows which load it is about. A private chat, like the one with Elena, stays between you and her. A chat with nothing written yet, like Derek's, says No messages yet. Say hello.

7. Write a message: text, photo, load and Send (3:38)

At the bottom of every chat are the same four things:

• The message box: type your message. Enter sends it too.
• The photo box: click it to pick a photo, or drag a photo onto it, for example a photo of a bill of lading. A line under the form says the photo is ready to send.
• The load list: it starts on not about a particular load. Open it to see the loads of this carrier that are not delivered yet, and pick one.
• Send: your message appears on the right with the load tag on top and the photo inside. The box is empty again and the load list goes back to not about a particular load.

A photo alone can be sent, but an empty box with no photo sends nothing.

8. Click a load tag to open the load (4:51)

Click the load tag on any message and that load opens, for example LB-1041 on the road. Close it with the X.

9. Delete a message (5:03)

Under your own message, click Delete. It asks first, and it cannot be undone: everyone in the chat sees Message deleted instead. No, keep it closes the question and keeps the message. Yes, delete deletes it, and a short note at the bottom confirms it.

10. Start a new private chat (5:32)

Top right, New private chat lists the people you can chat with privately. Each person shows a role (owner or driver) and the carrier. Open goes straight to that chat: if it already exists you land in it, and if not it is started.

11. Chat with all carriers together (5:58)

If you dispatch for more than one carrier, open the carrier picker and pick All carriers. Every carrier is now in one list, with one group chat for each carrier. Under Private chats, each carrier has its own heading, with its owner and its drivers below it. A carrier with no drivers yet lists only its owner. Open a driver of another carrier, like Tom at Blue Line Freight, and his chat opens without switching carriers; the load list then shows that carrier's loads. New private chat lists people of every carrier, with the carrier name next to each role.

12. What you only see in your real account (7:11)

Two things show up only in a real account. Before you add your first carrier, the page says No chats yet. Add a carrier and a driver. And when a driver moves to another carrier, his messages from the earlier carrier stay as history: you can read them, but not delete them.

13. Use Chat on a phone (7:31)

On a phone, Chat is in the bottom bar with the same count of new messages. The title and the rule are on top, with New private chat under them. The chat list becomes one row of cards that slides sideways: swipe to see every chat and tap one to open it. The chat opens below the row and the screen slides down to it by itself. The message box, the photo box (tap it to choose a file or take a photo), Send and the load list all work the same as on a computer.