When does an alternative exist?
The first question on Re-checking orders already with a carrier only cancels a slow carrier if there is a genuine alternative ready to take over.
That check has two independent halves — whether your own fleet could take it, and whether another Third-Party carrier could take it. They differ a lot in depth. Either one being true is enough.
Own fleet — one simple check
| Check | What it verifies | Where it's configured |
|---|---|---|
| Free capacity slot | At least one own-fleet driver (in-house or own-fleet contractor) currently has room for one more order | Maximum orders per driver — see Where each setting lives |
This is intentionally a quick, optimistic check. It only asks "does any driver have a free slot" — not whether that driver is close enough, idle, or actually able to take this order. It exists purely to answer "is it even worth cancelling the carrier's order?" The real evaluation happens afterwards, once the order rejoins the normal assignment process.
Third-Party — several checks, and only carriers further down the list
An important scoping rule first: this only looks at carriers that come after the currently-assigned one in that zone's configured carrier order. Carriers earlier in the list are never considered here, even if they would otherwise qualify. The search stops at the first carrier that passes every check below — it does not look for the "best" one.
For each candidate carrier, in order, all of the following must pass:
| Check | What it verifies |
|---|---|
| Enabled & order-type match | The carrier's master switch is on, and it applies to this order's type and sales channel |
| Payment compatibility | Cash orders don't exceed the carrier's cash-on-delivery limit; card orders are only offered if the carrier accepts cards |
| Product restrictions | None of the order's products fall into a category this carrier is excluded from |
| Capacity at this store | The carrier still has a free slot in its shared per-store capacity pool |
| Distance | The store-to-customer distance is within the carrier's allowed range |
| Operating schedule | The current time falls within the carrier's configured working hours for this store |
The first candidate to pass all six counts as "an alternative exists", and the search stops there.
Deliberately not checked here: the normal delivery-time-window check is skipped. At this point the system is only confirming that a carrier could structurally take the order — enabled, payment, products, capacity, distance, hours. Whether it could deliver it on time is evaluated later, if and when the order is actually offered to that carrier.
All of these settings live on the carrier's general or per-store configuration — see Where each setting lives.