What “Mechanic Scheduling” means
Mechanic scheduling is the system the calendar uses to decide:
When each mechanic can be booked (working hours)
How much work each mechanic can take on per day (daily bookable capacity)
Whether a day/time should appear available or fully booked
If this isn’t configured correctly, the calendar can look misleading (too much availability, not enough availability, or unexpected overbooking).
Before You Start (What you need)
You should know each mechanic’s normal working pattern (start/end times, breaks, days off).
You should know how you want to control workload:
Strict “bookable hours per day” (recommended)
A more flexible setup if you regularly overrun and don’t want hard limits (not recommended for most workshops)
Step-by-Step: Setting up a Mechanic's Schedule
1) Open the mechanic scheduling screen
Use the Configure button from the calendar (or the mechanic schedule/availability area) to open schedule settings.
2) Set working hours (when they’re allowed to be scheduled)
Working hours control the time range the calendar treats as “valid” for that mechanic.
Recommended approach:
Set working hours that match reality as closely as possible.
If someone regularly starts later/finishes earlier on a specific day, configure that day specifically (don’t rely on a generic week pattern).
Common examples:
Mon–Fri: 09:00–17:30
Saturday: 09:00–13:00
Sunday: off
3) Set daily bookable capacity (how much work can be assigned per day)
Daily capacity is the “limit” the calendar should respect. It’s what prevents overbooking.
How to pick a good capacity value:
Start with actual productive time, not total hours.
If a mechanic is on-site 8 hours but realistically only 6.5 hours are bookable after breaks, admin, and buffer, set capacity closer to 6–7 hours.
Recommended rule of thumb:
Full day: 6.5–7.5 bookable hours (depending on your workshop)
Half day: 3–4 bookable hours
4) Save and sanity-check the calendar
After saving:
Check a normal day: does the calendar show the right “available” window?
Check a busy day: does it stop you (or warn you) when you’ve hit capacity?
Check edge cases: opening/closing times, early slots, late slots.
How This Affects Scheduling (Practical examples)
EXAMPLE A: A mechanic looks “available” all day
Likely cause:
Working hours aren’t set (or are set too wide).
Fix:
Tighten working hours to the real schedule.
EXAMPLE B: You can schedule jobs but the day becomes overloaded
Likely cause:
Daily capacity is too high or not set.
Fix:
Reduce daily capacity to match what can realistically be completed.
EXAMPLE C: You can’t schedule a job at a time you expect
Likely causes:
The time is outside working hours
The mechanic has already hit daily capacity
Fix:
Adjust working hours if wrong, or move workload / increase capacity if appropriate.
Time off, short days, and exceptions
Use time off / exceptions for anything that isn’t a “normal” weekly pattern:
Holidays
Sick days
Training
Partial days (e.g., leaving early)
Best practice:
Keep working hours as the normal baseline.
Use time off / exceptions to reflect reality week-to-week.
Best Practices (What works well in real workshops)
Treat daily capacity as your protection against chaos. If it’s accurate, scheduling becomes reliable.
Add a small buffer. Setting capacity slightly under the “perfect” number reduces last-minute reshuffling.
Review schedules after onboarding:
If you’re consistently hitting capacity too early, adjust capacity or staffing assumptions.
If you’re never hitting capacity, capacity might be too high (or work isn’t being scheduled accurately).
Common Setup Mistakes (and how to fix them)
Setting capacity equal to total hours on-site:
Usually leads to overbooking and constant rescheduling.
Forgetting shorter days:
Causes “phantom” availability on those days.
Not updating time off:
Calendar will show availability that doesn’t exist.
Troubleshooting Checklist
If scheduling doesn’t behave how you expect, check in this order:
Are the mechanic’s working hours correct?
Is daily capacity set to a realistic number?
Is there time off or an exception affecting that day?
Is the job duration correct (so capacity calculations aren’t inflated/deflated)?
Is the view correct (timeline views make workload comparisons easier)?
Any issues please feel free to reach out to support and they will be happy to help you.