Managing your availability & schedule – Alto

Submitting your availability in the Driver Portal is the only way our system can automatically assign you weekly shifts. If you do not submit any availability, the system will assume you are on a pickup-shift-only schedule and will not assign shifts to you.

Schedules are built weekly and are typically posted by the end of the day on Thursday for the upcoming Monday–Sunday workweek. You can view your assigned shifts at any time in the My Schedule section of the Driver Portal.

Tips for Managing Your Schedule

Each week, we match open shifts with your availability to create your schedule. Follow these tips to ensure your schedule is built around your needs:

Expect shifts to vary: Your schedule may change every week, but you’ll never be scheduled outside of your approved availability. Being scheduled in a prior week does not guarantee the same schedule or number of shifts the following week.
Boost your hours: Pick up open shifts in the Driver Portal to maximize your hours and earnings.
Go wide for more shifts: Longer availability blocks of at least 10 consecutive hours per day make it much easier for the system to get you scheduled. Short or narrow windows make it difficult to build workable shifts and may result in fewer or no scheduled hours.
Capture peak times: Include nights and weekends in your availability for a better chance of hitting your target number of shifts, plus more trips and higher tips during busy times.
Stay accurate: Keep your availability completely up to date in the Driver Portal so it always reflects the days and times you are actually able to work.

How to Submit Your Availability

Follow these steps to log your availability windows correctly in the portal:

Open the Navigation Menu: Log into the Driver Portal and tap the hamburger menu icon (three horizontal lines) in the top-left corner of your dashboard.
Go to Availability: Select Availability from the left-side menu.
Start a New Request: Scroll to the bottom of the page and click the Add Your Availability button.
Open the Time Block Tool: Below the weekly calendar grid, click the + Add Availability Block button in the bottom-left corner.
Enter Your Time Details: In the Update Availability Block pop-up window, fill out the following fields:
- Select Type: Keep this set to "Available - Can work if needed" (this represents the complete block of time in which we may schedule you).
- Start: Select the day of the week, hour, and minute your availability begins.
- End: Select the day of the week, hour, and minute your availability ends. For shifts that cross past midnight into the next morning, select the next day's date for your end day (e.g., Start: Monday 4:00 PM -> End: Tuesday 2:00 AM).
- Click Okay to save the block to your grid.
Build Your Week: Repeat this process to add blocks for all the days you are available to work. Only your most recent submission is saved, so ensure all your desired days are visible on the grid before moving on.
Select Depot & Submit: Scroll to the bottom below your completed weekly grid. Set your home depot location, select the start date for when this availability should begin, and click Submit for Approval.

Processing Timeline: You can update your availability at any time. However, please plan ahead! It can take up to 14 days for new availability requests to be fully reviewed and approved by the team.

How to Enter Overnight Shifts

Entering an overnight shift is simple, but requires a manual workaround if your shift crosses the weekend-to-weekday transition.

Standard Weeknights: Simply enter your desired start and end times across the calendar line as normal. For example, if you can work Tuesday night into Wednesday morning, set your start time as Tuesday 10:00 PM and your end time as Wednesday 4:00 AM.
The Sunday Night Exception: Because Alto’s workweek officially resets from Sunday to Monday, the system cannot process a single overnight block across Sunday night. You must split your entry into two distinct parts:
1. Add availability on Sunday from your desired start time until 11:45 PM, then select OK.
2. Add a second block on Monday starting at 12:00 AM until your desired morning end time.

What to Do If Your Schedule Doesn't Match Your Availability

In the rare event you are assigned a shift that doesn’t seem to match the availability you have on record, follow this 3-step verification protocol immediately. (Please note: This protocol does not apply to open shifts that you manually picked up yourself.)

Step 1: Confirm Your Availability on Record

Before taking action, double-check that your availability requests were actually approved for that specific timeframe. Log into the Driver Portal, go to Availability, and review your official records on file.

Step 2: If the Shift is Truly Outside Your Approved Availability

If the system genuinely scheduled you outside of your approved window:

Go to My Schedule in the Driver Portal.
Select the incorrect shift.
Drop the shift and select the exact reason: “Scheduled outside of my availability.”
Submit an Attendance Point Review request so our team can ensure your record remains clean.

Step 3: If the Shift Does Match Your Approved Availability

If you check your records and realize the shift actually falls within hours you marked as available, you are fully responsible for working it.

If you still cannot work it, you must drop it manually.
The 48-Hour Rule: If you drop a valid shift within 48 hours of its start time, standard attendance points will be applied to your account.

What to do if you aren’t scheduled

If you opened the app and don't see any assigned shifts for the current or upcoming week, don't panic! Walk through these steps to see what might be happening:

1. Confirm That Schedules Have Been Posted

Schedules and open shifts are posted weekly by the end of the day on Thursday. If it’s before Thursday evening, or if there is a slight delay in posting, you won't see assigned shifts or open shifts on your screen just yet.

2. Check for Availability "Gaps"

Your availability must fully cover both the exact start and end times of a shift in order for the system to roster you. Even a tiny gap—like 15 minutes—will prevent a shift from being assigned to you.

For example: If a shift runs from 8:00 AM to 4:15 PM, but your availability grid says you are only available until 4:00 PM, the system cannot give you that shift. The same rule applies if your availability starts even a few minutes after a shift is scheduled to begin.

3. Widen Your Availability Windows

To give yourself the absolute best chance of being rostered, we highly recommend providing availability blocks that offer at least 10 consecutive hours per day on the days you want to work. Short, narrow, or fragmented availability windows make it incredibly difficult for the system to build workable shifts around your timeline, which frequently results in fewer or no scheduled hours.

Behind the Scenes: How Our Scheduling Works

We believe in full transparency when it comes to your hours. It helps to understand exactly how shifts are generated and assigned at Alto:

An Automated Process: Weekly scheduling is handled entirely by an automated system. The algorithm simply matches open operational slots with the approved availability grids submitted by drivers.
Performance & Policy Have No Impact: Because the system is completely automated, your attendance history, policy infractions, or other performance factors have absolutely zero impact on the system's ability to schedule you. The algorithm does not "look" at performance data when distributing shifts.
Our Commitment to Fairness: Alto strictly prohibits retaliation. We do not alter, reduce, or manipulate driver schedules in response to any feedback, concerns, or complaints you share with us. Your voice matters, and you can always speak up safely.

The Only Exceptions to Scheduling

The automated system will only bypass you and hold back shifts if you fall into one of these specific categories:

You are currently on an active suspension.
You have an approved time-off or formal leave-of-absence request active for that timeframe.
You are no longer employed with Alto.

If none of those exceptions apply to you, any lack of shifts is purely down to a mismatch between your logged availability and available operational hours!

Still Have Questions?

If schedules have been posted, your availability is wide open, and you still believe there is an issue with your schedule, the Employee Experience team is here to check under the hood.

Get help with your schedule