Rules engines are the backbone of logistics automation. They encode business logic—"if X happens, do Y"—in a way that operations teams can understand and modify without engineering help.

What Makes a Good Rule

Effective rules share these characteristics:

• Single responsibility — One rule does one thing
• Clear conditions — When does this rule fire?
• Observable actions — What happens is visible and auditable
• Graceful failure — What happens when conditions can't be met?

Common Patterns

The Escalation Ladder

Start with automated handling, escalate to humans when needed. Example: auto-reply to tracking requests, escalate if no ELD data available within 15 minutes.

The Time Window

Rules that fire based on time: "If no POD received 4 hours after delivery appointment, send request to carrier." Essential for SLA compliance.

The Threshold Trigger

Fire when a metric crosses a threshold: "If shipment is more than 2 hours behind schedule, notify customer." Prevents alert fatigue by filtering noise.

Anti-Patterns to Avoid

The Tangled Web

Rules that depend on other rules' side effects create debugging nightmares. Keep rules independent when possible.

The Silent Failure

Rules that fail without notification hide problems. Always have fallback handling and alerting.

The Over-Trigger

Rules that fire too often create noise and get ignored. Add appropriate guards and cooldown periods.