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GPS and Crew Location

Where DrillerDB gets a crew's location, who can see it, and how to delete it

DrillerDB uses crew location in one place: the route map on the schedule. It starts the route at the crew's freshest known position. This page covers where that position comes from, who can see it, how long it is kept, and how to delete it sooner.

Quick Start: See Where a Crew Is

  1. Open Scheduling & Dispatch
  2. Open the Route map for a crew
  3. Read the label and age beside the crew's starting point

Where a crew's location comes from

The route map picks the newest of three sources and labels it.

Label on the mapSource
field app GPSPositions the field app records from a phone while the person is checked in or on an active work order
job check-inThe location saved when a crew taps Tower Up or Tower Down. See Tower Up/Down
rig telematicsThe last position of a rig assigned to the crew. See GPS Tracking

Each position shows how old it is, for example "field app GPS - 12 min ago". If nothing in the last 24 hours is available, the map says there is no crew location in the last 24 hours and shows when the crew was last seen.

The location in a Tower Up or Tower Down is best effort. If the phone has no fix or no permission, the Tower Up still records with the time, and the app shows that the location was not recorded.

Step-by-Step: See a crew's route

  1. Open Scheduling & Dispatch
  2. On the crew's lane (Gantt view) or the crew's card (List view), open the Route map
  3. The map shows the crew's jobs in run order, routed from the crew's current location
  4. Open the points in Google Maps if you want turn-by-turn directions

See Scheduling and Crews for the schedule itself.

Who can see a location

A named person's live and past position is visible only to owners, admins, and dispatchers. Technicians cannot see a coworker's position.

The policy crew members see

Every crew member sees the location policy at check-in, and DrillerDB records their acknowledgement with a date. The policy says:

  • A position is recorded only while the person is checked in or on an active work order. It stops at check-out.
  • Only owners, admins, and dispatchers can see a named person's position.
  • Positions are deleted after 90 days by a scheduled purge. An admin can delete them sooner.

Delete position history

An admin can delete stored positions at any time.

  1. Go to Settings > Crew Location
  2. Under Delete position history, choose a Person, a date range (From and To), or both
  3. Add a Reason (optional) if you want one recorded with the deletion
  4. Select Count matching positions to see how many will go
  5. Select Delete these positions and confirm. The button stays off until the count is more than zero

Deleting is permanent. Check the count before you confirm.

The Deletion record on the same page lists every admin delete and every retention purge, newest first, with when, who ran it, the scope, the target, the number of rows, and the reason.

Troubleshooting

No crew location on the route map?

  • The crew has no field app position in the last 24 hours. Ask them to open the app and check that it has location access
  • Check that the person is checked in or on an active work order. Positions are not recorded otherwise

Location not capturing on the phone?

  • Turn on location services and allow DrillerDB to use location
  • Check for GPS signal. Indoor locations may fail

Wrong location on a Tower Up?

  • Wait for the phone to find its position before you tap
  • Check that the date and time on the phone are right

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