Locus started as a route-tracking app back in 2015 and grew into a full logistics platform. Its API gives businesses visibility into deliveries as they move, tied into route planning and dispatch. You get this through an authenticated connection set up after Locus onboards you.

Once you're authenticated, you pull shipment status through the relevant API endpoints and hook that into your own notification system. Locus itself focuses on the tracking and dispatch data. The actual customer notification logic, like sending an SMS or email, usually lives on your end or through a layer built for that.

Locus is built to plug into existing ERP, WMS, and TMS systems through an API-first setup, so it can slot into a warehouse or fleet management stack without replacing what's already there. This is aimed more at businesses running their own delivery fleets than typical ecommerce carrier tracking.

Locus's public docs don't spell out webhook setup in detail, since API access and configuration get handled directly with a Locus rep after you request a demo. If webhooks for status updates matter to your setup, that's a good question to raise during onboarding rather than something you'd configure blind from documentation alone.

Never hardcode API keys into your app's client-side code, since mobile apps can be decompiled. Route calls through your own backend instead, so the key stays server-side. Rotate keys periodically and restrict what each key can access, so a leaked key doesn't expose your entire account.

Generally, a timeout just means that specific request failed, not that the underlying tracking data was lost. The safe approach is building retry logic on your end, so a failed call gets attempted again shortly after instead of leaving a gap in the customer's tracking view. Peak hours are exactly when this matters most, since load and timeout risk both go up.

GPS fleet tracking just shows you where a vehicle is right now, plotted on a map in real time. That's the whole job. Locus's dispatch management does more upfront work. It decides which vehicle takes which order based on things like capacity and delivery windows, then keeps adjusting routes as the day unfolds. Tracking is part of the package, but it's really a byproduct of a system built to make delivery decisions, not just watch them happen.

They sit at different layers, so there's some overlap to be aware of. ClickPost picks which carrier should handle a shipment based on past performance and cost. Locus, once a shipment is with a fleet, decides how that vehicle gets there. If a business uses both, the two typically handle separate parts of the journey rather than competing for the same decision.

Not really, no. ClickPost is built around multi-carrier tracking, NDR management, and post-purchase visibility rather than deciding vehicle routes or dispatch. Route optimization at that level is more Locus's territory, since it's built specifically around dispatch and fleet planning.