These options control different levels of project visibility and access. Choosing the right option helps your team track customers, share project information, and give partners the correct level of access.
Quick comparison
| Access type | Best for | What they can do |
|---|---|---|
| Customer | Tracking a customer on projects and tickets | Appears on projects and tickets for back-office tracking |
| Restricted Customer | Giving a customer read-only visibility | Can view assigned projects and tickets, but cannot make changes or dispatch |
| Granted Access | Giving another paid TruckIT company full project access | Can use the project like their own, including adding payloads and dispatching |
What is a Customer?
When you assign a customer to a project, that customer can appear on related tickets and help your back-office team organize project and ticket records. A standard customer does not automatically receive portal access.
Customers are added from:
Settings > Customers > Add Customer
Use a standard Customer when you only need to track the customer name on projects, tickets, reporting, or internal back-office workflows.
When to use a Customer
Use a standard Customer when:
- You need the customer name attached to projects or tickets
- The customer does not need to log in
- The customer does not need project visibility
- Your back-office team needs customer tracking for records, billing, or reporting
- You want a simple way to associate work with a customer
This is the lowest-access option because it is mainly a tracking label.
What is a Restricted Customer?
A Restricted Customer is a customer with view-only access.
Restricted Customers can log in and view only the projects they are assigned to. They can see project activity and tickets for those assigned projects, but they cannot change project information or dispatch work.
Use a Restricted Customer when a customer needs visibility but should not be able to edit, dispatch, or manage project setup.
What a Restricted Customer can and cannot do
A Restricted Customer can:
- Log in to TruckIT
- View assigned projects
- View tickets for assigned projects
- Monitor project information they have access to
A Restricted Customer cannot:
- Dispatch jobs
- Add payloads
- Edit project details
- Change your company’s TruckIT data
- View projects they have not been assigned to
How Restricted Customer setup works
Restricted Customers are created from the customer settings area.
At a high level, the workflow is:
- Go to Settings.
- Open Customers.
- Add or select the customer.
- Choose Make Restricted.
- Open the Restricted Customers tab.
- Use the login icon under Other Actions to log in as the restricted customer.
- Add a team member for that restricted customer account.
- Share the username and password with the restricted customer.
- Assign the restricted customer to the appropriate project.
After setup, the restricted customer can log in and view the project they were assigned to.
What is Granted Access?
Granted Access gives another TruckIT company access to your project.
Granted Access is only available when the company receiving access has a paid TruckIT account. In the current article, TruckIT notes that a company can get a paid account by contacting the sales department at (404) 900-7750.
When Granted Access is used, the project appears inside the receiving company’s project folder. That company can work with the project as if it were their own, including adding payloads and dispatching.
What Granted Access allows
A company with Granted Access can:
- View the granted project
- Add payloads
- Dispatch jobs
- Use full project functionality
- Work with the project similarly to a project they created themselves
This is the highest-access option, so use it only when the receiving company needs to actively manage work on the project.
How to identify a granted project
A project with Granted Access will show Granted By: followed by the parent company name.
Other than that label, the project may look and function like a normal project for the company receiving access.
When to use Granted Access
Use Granted Access when another paid TruckIT company needs to actively work on the project.
Common examples include:
- A customer needs to order additional materials
- A contractor needs to dispatch work themselves
- A partner company needs full project functionality
- Another TruckIT company needs to add payloads
- The receiving company should manage activity inside the project
Do not use Granted Access when the customer only needs to view project activity. In that case, use a Restricted Customer instead.
How to choose the right access type
Use this guide:
| If the user needs to... | Use this |
|---|---|
| Be listed on projects and tickets for tracking | Customer |
| View assigned project activity only | Restricted Customer |
| View assigned project tickets only | Restricted Customer |
| Add payloads to the project | Granted Access |
| Dispatch work on the project | Granted Access |
| Manage the project like their own | Granted Access |
Best practices
Use the least amount of access needed for the workflow.
Recommended best practices:
- Use Customer for tracking only.
- Use Restricted Customer for view-only customer visibility.
- Use Granted Access only when another TruckIT company needs to take action on the project.
- Confirm the receiving company and project before granting access.
- Review customer and access settings when a project ends.
- Avoid giving full access when read-only visibility is enough.
- Train users on the difference between customer tracking and project access.
Troubleshooting
A customer cannot log in
A standard Customer is only used for tracking and does not automatically receive login access. If the customer needs view-only access, set them up as a Restricted Customer.
A Restricted Customer cannot see a project
Confirm that the restricted customer has been assigned to the correct project.
A Restricted Customer wants to dispatch
Restricted Customers have view-only privileges. If they need to dispatch, they may need Granted Access through a paid TruckIT company account.
The receiving company cannot add payloads or dispatch
Confirm that the company has Granted Access and that they are using a paid TruckIT account.
I am not sure which access type to use
Use Customer for tracking, Restricted Customer for view-only access, and Granted Access for full project functionality.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between a Customer and a Restricted Customer?
A Customer is used for tracking on projects and tickets. A Restricted Customer has view-only access to assigned projects.
Can a standard Customer log in?
No. A standard Customer is mainly used for tracking. To give a customer login visibility, use Restricted Customer access.
Can a Restricted Customer dispatch jobs?
No. Restricted Customers have view-only access and cannot dispatch or make changes.
What can a company do with Granted Access?
A company with Granted Access can use the project like their own, including adding payloads and dispatching.
Does Granted Access require a paid TruckIT account?
Yes. The current article states that Granted Access is only available if the company receiving access has a paid TruckIT account.
How can I tell if a project was granted to another company?
A granted project shows Granted By: followed by the parent company name.