Articles on: What's new

How Timing Logic Works for AfterShip Tracking Notifications

Plans: Time delay (All plans), Trigger status unchanged (Premium and above)Platforms: All platforms


Overview 


The Timing Logic for AfterShip Tracking flows control when notifications are delivered by delaying flow actions or triggering flow actions if the trigger status remains unchanged for a defined period of time.


Feature overview 


The Timing Logic offers two criteria for managing the delivery time of notifications or when they will be triggered in a flow.


  1. Time delay: Set the waiting period between the previous step and the next step in the flow.



  1. Trigger status unchanged: Set the duration for which the trigger status remains unchanged as a condition to move on to the next step.



a. Both Time delay and Trigger status unchanged support the following configuration options.


  • Minutes
  • Hours
  • Days


b. Count business days only


Option

Description

Yes

The flow waits only on the business days defined in your business schedule. The countdown automatically pauses on non-business days. The delay can be calculated based on either the organization’s timezone or the recipient’s timezone.

No

The delay counts all calendar days consecutively, including weekends, without skipping any days.


c. Select time of day


Option

Description

Yes

The flow resumes at a specific time on the target day. The time can be based on the organization’s timezone or the recipient’s timezone.

Example: Delay 2 days, time set to 10:00 AM. If the previous step completes on Jan 1 at 3:00 PM, the next step resumes on Jan 3 at 10:00 AM.

No

The delay is calculated using full 24-hour periods.

Example: Delay 2 days. If the previous step completes on Jan 1 at 3:00 PM, the next step resumes on Jan 3 at 3:00 PM.




⚠️ Important: AfterShip counts trigger days based on when the event occurs.

A. 1-day delay: Notification sends 24 hours after the trigger event, or at a chosen time the next day.

Example:

If a shipment is delivered on Jan 1, Monday at 3:00 PM:

- 1-day delay - Notification will be sent on Jan 2, Tuesday at 3:00 PM
- 1-day delay + specific time (10:00 AM) - Notification will send on Jan 2, Tuesday at 10:00 AM

To send notifications the next day, always set a 1-day delay.

B. If Count business days option is enabled and Tuesday is marked as a non-business day, based on the above example, the notification will skip Jan 2 and go out on the next business day, i.e., 

- 1-day delay - Jan 3, Wednesday at 3:00 PM if it’s marked as a business day 
- 1-day delay + specific time (10:00 AM) - Jan 3, Wednesday at 10:00 AM if it’s marked as a business day 


How to use the timing logic?


Use Time delay or Trigger status unchanged to control when a flow action runs.


  1. Go to Notifications > Flows > Flow editor in your AfterShip Tracking admin.
  2. Add a new step (Action) and select Time delay or Trigger status unchanged before or after the step, depending on the requirement.
  3. Choose the delay/status unchanged unit (minutes, hours, or days).
  4. Input the time value of the delay or trigger status unchanged.
  5. (Optional) Configure the additional conditions to personalize flows based on your business requirements like,


  • Business days only: The action within the flow will be triggered only on the selected business days.
  • Time of day: The action within the flow will be triggered at the specified time of the day.
  • Timezone (based on organization or recipient's)


  1. Save and publish the flow.


Use case


You want to notify customers only if their shipment stays “In transit” for too long, so you can proactively manage delivery delays, but avoid sending unnecessary messages if the shipment progresses normally.


Flow setup overview


Trigger: Shipment status = In transit

Goal: Send a delay email only if the shipment remains “In transit” for 3 days after entering that status.


Step-by-step flow logic


  1. Trigger event


When this happens:

  • A shipment’s status changes to In transit
  • This trigger is triggered only once, at the exact moment the status changes to In transit.


Example timestamp:

  • Shipment becomes In transit on March 1, Monday at 2:00 PM
  • The email (if configured) is sent immediately to customers on March 1, Monday at 2:00 PM


  1. Trigger status unchanged


Configuration:

  • Trigger status unchanged for: 3 days
  • Status checked: In transit


What this does (this is the key part):

  • The system verifies whether the shipment has remained in the same trigger status (In transit) for the entire 3-day duration after the email notification.
  • If the status changed even once, the customer exits the flow.


Two possible outcomes


Outcome 1: Status remained unchanged (notification is sent)


Shipment timeline:


  • March 1, 2:00 PM → In transit (Email sent)
  • March 2, 2:00 PM → Still In transit
  • March 3, 2:00 PM→ Still In transit
  • March 4, 2:00 PM → Still In transit (status verification ends)


Result:

  • Condition passes 
  • The shipment stayed In transit continuously for 3 days after the email notification
  • Email/SMS is sent (e.g., “We’re checking on your delayed shipment”)


This ensures the message is sent only when a delay is real, not temporary.


Outcome 2: Status changed (notification will not be triggered)


Shipment timeline:

  • March 1, 2:00 PM → In transit
  • March 2, 11:00 AM → Out for delivery


What happens:

  • The Trigger status unchanged check fails since the shipment status changed from In transit to Out for delivery.


Result:

  • No email/SMS notification will be sent


This prevents customers from receiving a delay message when their package is already progressing.



Status remained unchanged timing logic



Updated on: 10/02/2026