📬 Manage Automated Trip Emails and the Scheduled Email Queue in Fleetwire!

Want to remind customers about pickup, nudge them before return, or follow up after the trip—without sending every email by hand? Fleetwire’s automated trip emails send messages on a schedule tied to each reservation’s pickup and return dates. You choose the templates, set the timing, and Fleetwire queues each message so you can preview, edit, reschedule, skip, or send it early before it goes out. Let’s set up automated trip emails and manage them from your company-wide queue!

🎯 Why Use Automated Trip Emails?

Automated trip emails in Fleetwire help you:

• Save Time: Send pre-arrival, return, and post-trip messages automatically for every reservation.
• Reduce No-Shows: Remind customers about pickup details, lockbox codes, and return deadlines.
• Stay in Control: Review the queue before anything sends—edit content or skip a message for a specific order.
• Keep Communication On-Brand: Customize templates with your tone, logo, and email variables.

🛠 How to Set Up Automated Trip Emails

Follow these steps to add templates, configure timing, enable automations, and manage the queue.

Step 1: Open Automated Trip Email Settings

Start in your email settings to see available templates and active automations.

1. In your Fleetwire dashboard, go to Settings > Emails.
2. Scroll to the Automated Trip Emails section.
3. Review the info banner and click View queue to jump to the company-wide scheduled email list (or go to Orders > Scheduled emails later).

Step 2: Add a Popular Template

Fleetwire includes ready-made templates you can add to your account. They are not enabled until you add and turn them on.

1. In Popular templates, choose a template that fits your workflow, such as:

• Pickup reminder: Remind customers about their upcoming pickup with trip details and access info.
• Return reminder (2 days): Give customers a heads-up that their return is approaching in 2 days.
• Return reminder (1 day): Send a final reminder the day before the vehicle is due back.
• Post-trip review: Follow up after the trip to ask for feedback or a review.

2. Click Add template on the card you want.
3. The template moves to Active automations, where you can configure it.

Step 3: Configure When Each Email Sends

Each automation sends relative to an order’s pickup or return date at a specific hour.

1. In Active automations, find the template you added.
2. Set the schedule fields:

• Anchor: Pickup (trip start) or Return (trip end)—the reservation date the timing is based on.
• Days: How many days before or after that anchor date to send (e.g., 1).
• Timing: Before or After the anchor (e.g., 1 day before pickup).
• Send hour: The hour of day the email goes out (e.g., 9:00 AM).

3. Click Save schedule.

Example: 1 day before pickup at 9:00 AM sends a pickup reminder the morning before the trip starts.

Step 4: Enable the Automation

Templates are added in a disabled state until you turn them on.

1. In Active automations, use the Enabled / Disabled toggle on the template card.
2. When enabled, Fleetwire starts queuing emails for matching upcoming reservations.
3. Click Edit content to customize the subject line and message body (see Step 5).

Step 5: Customize Email Content

Personalize the subject and body with your brand and dynamic order details.

1. Click Edit content on an active automation (or open the template from Settings > Emails).
2. Update the Subject (e.g., Your trip starts tomorrow – {{company_name}}).
3. Edit the Message using the email editor—add headers, paragraphs, and widgets.
4. Insert variables so each email fills in the right customer and order details, such as:

• {{renter_first_name}}, {{company_name}}
• {{order_start_stop_widget}}, {{order_status_button}}
• {{vehicle_lockbox_location}}, {{vehicle_lockbox_code}}

5. Click Save.

Learn more in Using Email Variables in Fleetwire Templates.

Step 6: Open the Scheduled Email Queue

The Scheduled emails page shows every queued message across all reservations—pending, sent, skipped, and cancelled.

1. Go to Orders in your dashboard.
2. Click the Scheduled emails tab in the orders sub-navigation (a badge shows how many emails are pending).
3. Use filters to narrow the list:

• Status: Pending, Sent, Skipped, Cancelled, or All.
• Email template: Filter by a specific automation (e.g., Pickup reminder).
• Scheduled for: Any time, Next 7 days, Next 30 days, or Past due.

4. Click a row to preview the email with live variable resolution for that reservation.

Step 7: Manage Scheduled Emails on a Single Order

You can also manage automations from the order page without leaving the reservation.

1. Open an order in Orders.
2. Find the Scheduled Emails card on the order.
3. Review pending emails scheduled for that reservation.
4. Use the action buttons on each email:

• Preview: See the rendered subject and body with real order data.
• Edit: Change the subject or message for this reservation only.
• Reschedule: Pick a new date and time to send.
• Send now: Deliver the email immediately.
• Skip: Cancel this send for this order (you can restore it later if it is still valid).

Step 8: Preview, Skip, Restore, and Send Early

Use the queue or order card to stay in control before anything goes out.

Preview an email

• Click a row in the queue or Preview on the order card.
• Review the resolved subject, recipient, and HTML body with live variables.

Skip an email

• Choose Skip from the actions menu (queue) or the order card.
• Confirm—the email moves to Skipped and will not send unless you restore it.

Restore a skipped email

• Skipped emails appear in a Skipped section on the order page and in the queue when filtered by Skipped.
• Click Restore if the send time is still in the future and the trip timing still makes sense (e.g., a pre-arrival reminder before pickup has started).

Send now or reschedule

• Send now delivers the email immediately and marks it as sent.
• Reschedule lets you pick a new date and time—useful if a customer asks to delay a reminder.

Step 9: Understand Queue Statuses

Each scheduled email has one of these statuses:

Sent and cancelled emails appear in the History section on the order page. Use the queue filters to audit what went out across all orders.

Step 10: Test Your Automations

Verify everything works before relying on automations for live customers.

1. Create or use a test order with upcoming pickup and return dates in Orders.
2. Enable one automation (e.g., Pickup reminder) in Settings > Emails.
3. Open Orders > Scheduled emails and confirm a pending row appears for the test order.
4. Click the row to preview—check that variables like {{renter_first_name}} and {{vehicle_name}} resolve correctly.
5. Optionally click Send now to deliver a test to yourself.
6. Check your inbox and confirm the email is from your custom domain (if configured).

🌟 Automated Trip Emails Set, Queue Under Control!

You’ve set up automated trip emails and learned how to manage them from the company-wide queue and individual orders. Enable the templates that fit your workflow, preview messages before they go out, and skip or reschedule when a customer needs special handling. Visit Settings > Emails to adjust timing, or Orders > Scheduled emails to see what’s coming up next.

🚀 Next Steps

Enhance your email workflow with these guides:

• Use Variables: Personalize templates with Using Email Variables in Fleetwire Templates.
• Set Up Templates: Learn the basics in Set Up Email Templates in Fleetwire.
• Custom Sending Domain: Send from your domain with Set Up a Custom Email Domain in Fleetwire.
• Track Orders: Understand reservation stages in Fleetwire Order Workflow.
• Need Help? Contact us at hi@fleetwire.io or via the in-app chat.

Happy automating! 🌟

Updated on: 01/07/2026