This article explains the automated frequency at which techTRACK's Tracking Monitor queries Carriers for shipment status updates.

techTRACK uses smart polling logic designed to optimize tracking updates based on shipment activity. The system automatically adjusts how often it checks for new events depending on the stage of the shipment lifecycle.

Standard Polling Logic

To ensure efficient monitoring, techTRACK uses a dynamic time scale to check for updates. The frequency of checks depends on the time elapsed since the last successfully captured event:

• Initial Interval: The system checks for updates every 3 hours.

• Incremental Backoff: If no new tracking events are received, the time between checks increases incrementally from 3 hours, to 6 hours, to 12 hours, and finally to 24 hours.

• Activity Reset: Once a new event is successfully received from the Carrier, the frequency automatically returns to the initial 3-hour interval.

Lifecycle-Specific Frequencies

Specific stages of a shipment's lifecycle trigger different monitoring behaviors to prioritize relevant data capture.

New Shipments in the First 24 Hours

During the first 24 hours after a tracking number is created, techTRACK checks for updates every 3 hours until an induction scan, confirming receipt by the Carrier, is detected.

Terminal Shipments

When techTRACK records a Carrier-reported event that results in a shipment status of Completed, Cancelled, or Returned to Sender, it establishes a five-day terminal monitoring window. A shipment with a Returning to Sender status is still in progress and does not enter the completed-return terminal window until it reaches Returned to Sender.

The five-day window is calculated from when the relevant terminal event was recorded in techTRACK, not from the delivery or event timestamp reported by the Carrier.

While the terminal monitoring window remains active, techTRACK schedules checks at intervals of up to 24 hours. Subsequent checks do not restart or extend an already established cutoff. The final interval can be shorter than 24 hours so monitoring can stop at the cutoff, and the schedule does not guarantee that a Carrier query will occur at an exact time.

Monitoring Expiration

As a general rule, techTRACK stops checking for new events 30 days after the tracking number was created.

A recently recorded terminal event can take precedence over the general 30-day expiration rule. In this case, an older tracking record can remain eligible for monitoring until its applicable five-day terminal monitoring window expires.