Overview
Depots and deadheads describe where your vehicles start, rest, and travel when they're not carrying passengers. You create depots (garages and layover locations) and then generate a schedule — at which point Spare automatically creates the deadheads (non-revenue movements) that connect everything together.
Depots live on the Network Map → Depots tab, and deadheads live on the Network Map → Deadheads tab and inside your generated schedules.
Key Concepts
A depot is a single type of location with two independent roles you can turn on:
Operations Base (garage) — can be used for the start and end of blocks. This is checked by default when you create a depot.
Layover Point (layover location) — can be used for mid-day layovers.
A depot can be both, but at least one role must be selected. A deadhead is a non-revenue movement — pulling out of a depot, driving between trips, or pulling back in.
Creating a Depot
Open the Network Map and switch to the Depots tab, then:
Select Add Depot.
Set the location by clicking the map to place a marker, or by entering Latitude and Longitude.
Enter a Name (required) and an optional Description.
Choose the depot's role — check Operations Base, Layover Point, or both. (At least one is required; Operations Base is on by default.)
If you checked Layover Point, an Assigned Routes selector appears. Add the routes that should use this depot for their layovers.
Optionally select Draw Geofence and click the map to outline the depot area, then close the polygon by clicking your first point.
Select Create New Depot.
Finding a depot: Use the map search box ("Search routes, stops, depots, deadheads, or a location") to search by name or description, or click a blue diamond marker on the map. Hover a list row to highlight its depot.
Editing or deleting a depot
Open a depot to see its details, then use Edit Depot to change any field. Note that turning off Layover Point when you save will unassign all routes previously linked to that depot. To remove a depot, select Delete Depot and confirm — this is permanent.
Layover Locations and Routes
A layover location is simply a depot with Layover Point checked. You can connect a route and its layover depot from either side:
From the route: When creating or editing a route, use the Layover Depot dropdown. It lists your layover-point depots plus Any (which lets block generation pick the nearest layover depot). You'll find the current setting on the route's Route Info tab.
From the depot: On a layover-point depot's form, use the Assigned Routes selector. The two sides stay in sync when you save.
Fine-tuning layover behavior (Work Rules)
Work Rules control how layovers use depots during block generation (they don't create depot records). Open Work Rules from the sidebar to adjust settings such as:
Depot Layover Threshold — a layover longer than this sends the vehicle back to a depot (default 30 min).
Min Depot Layover Duration — the minimum time spent at the depot during a depot layover (default 15 min).
Max Layovers Per Block and Max Layover Duration — cap how many depot layovers a block can have and how long a single one can last.
Min Layover Time (Block Building tab) — the minimum gap between the end of a deadhead and the next trip (default 3 min).
Each field also supports per-day-of-week overrides.
Deadhead Templates
A deadhead template is a reusable definition of a non-revenue movement (its start, end, path, and duration). Templates are created automatically by Spare during schedule and block generation — there's no manual "create template" step. You can browse and refine the ones that exist.
On the Network Map → Deadheads tab you can:
Find a template — scroll the list or use the map search box, which also matches deadhead template names.
Open a template — click a list row or search result.
Edit its details — update the Name and optional Description. Start and end locations and distance are read-only.
Customize the duration — override the routing estimate; a "Duration customized" badge appears, and Reset to estimate clears the override.
Reshape the path — hover the route line to add a waypoint, drag a waypoint to adjust, or click one to remove it.
Save your changes, or use the ••• menu to Delete the template. Deleting resets the routing for every deadhead that uses it.
Deadheads in a Generated Schedule
When you Generate Blocks (or Optimize), Spare automatically builds deadheads into each block — pulling out of a depot, moving between trips, and pulling back in. You review these indirectly: rather than editing a deadhead segment directly, you adjust the trips and layovers around it, or edit the linked template.
Viewing deadheads
On the schedule timeline — deadheads appear as grey outlined bars (very short ones as a thin line); hover for a tooltip. Use the Show → Deadheads toggle to turn them on or off.
Out-of-service impact — the Out of Service Hours and Out of Service Miles stats reflect deadhead movement.
On the Live Map — deadheads show as "Deadhead to {destination}" cards with start and end times; click one to zoom to its path.
From a deadhead segment (View mode) — click it for a popover offering View on Live Map or Edit Deadhead Template.
Changes that rebuild deadheads
Because deadheads sit between trips and layovers, changing those rebuilds the surrounding deadheads automatically. This happens when you:
Add a trip — if it doesn't fit, an inline message explains the travel time needed and may suggest an earlier or later time.
Move a trip — set a new departure time and, optionally, a target block; surrounding deadheads are rebuilt as needed.
Remove a trip or remove a layover — surrounding deadheads are rebuilt automatically.
Confirming new deadheads
When a change requires brand-new deadheads, a yellow "New Deadheads Required" banner lists what will be created and reminds you to review them for real-world navigation. Select Confirm & create deadheads to proceed, or Cancel to go back. (This confirmation appears for single add, move, or remove actions; bulk operations create the templates automatically.)
Good to know
There's no way to add a standalone deadhead or change a single deadhead's start, end, or timing on a block directly. To change routing, edit the linked deadhead template (adjusting its waypoints or duration) or make trip and layover changes that trigger a rebuild. Also note that a block can only be deleted with Delete Block when it has no trips, deadheads, or layovers.
Questions about any of these steps? Reach out to our support team and we'll be happy to help.