---
title: "Live Tracking & Expected Arrival (ETA)"
description: "How live tracking and the expected arrival (ETA) work, why the ETA moves, when it isn't shown, and how it differs from the planned TimingGuide window."
url: "https://support.pr-4.orbit.do/en/core-features/live-tracking-expected-arrival-eta"
locale: "en"
lastReviewed: "2026-07-10"
---

# Live Tracking & Expected Arrival (ETA)

How live tracking and the expected arrival (ETA) work, why the ETA moves, when it isn't shown, and how it differs from the planned TimingGuide window.

> **Note:** While a tour is running, Orbit shows where the vehicle is and when it is expected at each stop. Both are live estimates that update as the tour progresses — not fixed promises.

## Live tracking

Live tracking shows the vehicle's position on a map. It comes from the driver's device location in Orbit Cockpit, the driver app. As the driver moves, their device sends its position, and the tour's **Tracking** view updates to match.

Because the position comes from a phone or tablet, it depends on that device being on, in coverage, and permitted to share its location. When it isn't, there is simply no live position for a while — which is normal, and covered below.

## Expected arrival (ETA)

The expected arrival — the ETA — is Orbit's estimate of when the vehicle will reach each stop, shown as **Expected Arrival** against the stop. Orbit works it out in one of two ways:

* From a **live GPS position**, when the driver's device is sharing its location — the more precise estimate.
* From **status updates and logged times**, when there is no live position — still a useful estimate, just based on progress rather than a live fix.

An ETA is an estimate that moves. It is recalculated as the position, the tour's progress, and traffic change, so a stop shown as arriving at 14:20 might read 14:35 ten minutes later. Nothing has broken — the estimate has simply updated. For stops already visited, the tracking view shows the driver's actual logged time instead of an estimate.

## When no ETA is shown — this is normal

An ETA isn't always available, and its absence usually means "nothing to estimate yet" rather than a fault:

* **Before the tour starts** — there is no journey under way to estimate, so no live ETA or position exists yet.
* **After the tour is completed** — the run is over; what remains are the actual logged times, not an estimate.
* **No live signal** — if the driver's device is offline or not sharing its location, live tracking pauses and the ETA falls back to a status-based estimate.
* **Visibility settings** — whether a shipper is shown live tracking and the ETA is controlled by a setting, so a customer may see less than an operator does.

## ETA versus the planned window

It is easy to confuse the live ETA with the planned time window from the TimingGuide, but they answer different questions:

* The **planned window** (TimingGuide) is worked out *before* the tour runs. It is the corridor of times a stop can be served within so the tour stays feasible — a plan, not a prediction.
* The **ETA** is a *live* estimate of the actual arrival, produced while the tour is running.
* The **logged arrival** is the fact — recorded once the driver actually arrives.

One stop can carry all three, and they can legitimately differ. For what the planned window means and how it is calculated, see [Understanding the TimingGuide](https://support.pr-4.orbit.do/en/getting-started/understanding-the-timingguide).

## Controlling what shippers see

Live GPS tracking and the ETA can each be shown to or hidden from shippers. There is a tenant-wide default under **Settings → Tracking** — "Enable GPS tracking for shippers" and "Enable ETA display for shippers" — and individual tours can override it. This is why the same tour can show an ETA to your team but not to the customer.

## FAQ

**Q: Why is there no ETA on this tour?**

Most often because the tour hasn't started yet or has already finished — there is nothing live to estimate. It can also be hidden from shippers by a visibility setting. None of these is an error.

**Q: Why did the expected arrival time change?**

An ETA is a live estimate that updates with the vehicle's position, the tour's progress, and traffic. A changing time is the estimate doing its job, not a fault.

**Q: The map isn't showing the vehicle. Is tracking broken?**

Usually not. Live position comes from the driver's device in Orbit Cockpit; if it is offline, out of coverage, or not sharing location, there is no live position for a while and the ETA falls back to a status-based estimate.

**Q: Is the planned window the same as the ETA?**

No. The planned window (TimingGuide) is set before the tour runs and marks when a stop *can* be served; the ETA is a live estimate of when it *will* be. See Understanding the TimingGuide.