Commercial kitchen service companies need scheduling that handles overnight routes, narrow before-opening windows, two- and three-person crews for hood jobs, and a mix of weekly, monthly and quarterly cycles. Crewtide builds each week from your account list with route optimization, keeps night routes that cross midnight on the same board as day routes, and keeps a change log and To notify list so nothing gets lost when a restaurant asks to move.
Why kitchen service routes are hard to schedule
- The kitchen sets the clock. Fryer oil and filter service before the lunch rush, hood cleaning after close or overnight, grease traps when the dish line is quiet.
- Night routes cross midnight. A route that starts at 10:30 PM and finishes at 4:00 AM belongs to one shift, not two days.
- Crew size changes the job. A hood system might take 90 minutes with two people and 65 with three, and stadium or hospital kitchens may need several technicians at once.
- Mixed cycles. Weekly oil service, monthly drain treatment and quarterly or semiannual hood cleaning for the same customer.
- Venues and events. Arenas, convention centers and campuses have event calendars that block some days and require service on others.
- Shared equipment. Vans, pressure washers and oil tanks are shared, and a truck in the shop changes the week.
How to plan a week in Crewtide
- Import accounts with their rules.Service, cycle, usual days, window (for example 5:30–9:00 AM, or after 11:00 PM), no-go times, and time on site for each crew size.
- Set day and night shifts.Add technicians, vehicles and equipment, with time off and equipment out of service.
- Build the week.Crewtide places every due visit on a day or night route with real drive times and orders the stops.
- Check and fix.Live checks flag a visit outside its window, a crew too small for a hood job, or a route that runs past clock-out. Find a spot ranks other options and shows what each one bumps.
- Publish.Print or export route sheets, and use the To notify list to call the kitchens whose visit moved.
Typical customer rules
| Account | Service and cycle | Window | Time on site |
|---|---|---|---|
| Northside Medical | Hood cleaning, quarterly | 5:30–9:00 AM | 2 crew 90 min · 3 crew 65 min |
| Bayview Clinic cafeteria | Grease trap, monthly | 7:00–10:00 AM | 45 min |
| Copper Kettle | Fryer oil, weekly | 10:00 AM–12:30 PM, no-go during lunch | 25 min |
| Pier 9 Seafood | Hood cleaning, semiannual | After 11:00 PM (night route) | 2 crew 2 h |
| Riverfront Arena | Fryer oil, weekly in season | Non-event days only | 3 crew 3 h |
What Crewtide doesn’t do for kitchen services
Crewtide plans the week. Keep your current system for service reports and photos, oil volumes and pickup records, compliance certificates and stickers, quotes and invoicing.
Coming with Pro: texting kitchen managers when a visit moves, a technician phone app with access notes, and call-off help that shows who can cover a sick technician’s stops.
What it costs
A kitchen service team with 17 technicians across day and night shifts pays $833 a month on Core billed annually, or $1,003 month to month. Office users are free, there’s no setup fee, and the trial is 14 days with no card. Running several franchise units or branches? The Network plan keeps each unit’s data separate with reports across all of them.
Questions
Can Crewtide schedule overnight hood cleaning routes?
Yes. Night routes that cross midnight are part of the board, with their own shifts, so a 10:30 PM to 4:00 AM route stays one route.
How does Crewtide handle two- and three-person hood crews?
Each account has a time on site per crew size, and the plan uses the crew assigned to the route, so a three-person crew gets the shorter time.
Can I mix weekly fryer oil and quarterly hood cleaning for one customer?
Yes. Each service can have its own cycle and window, and Crewtide puts each one in the right week.
What if an arena has an event on the usual day?
Add the event dates as no-go days for that account. Crewtide plans around them and flags anything that no longer fits.
Is there a plan for franchise systems?
Yes. Network covers several branches or franchise units under one account, with each unit’s data kept separate and reports across all units. Pricing is custom.