Web app + iOS app (iPhone and iPad)

Every Part on Order, Tied to the Bike Waiting for It

The special order is the part of the shop that lives in a notebook, a text thread, or a spreadsheet somebody built themselves. Trail Hits^® Hub gives it a home next to the work order and the customer it belongs to.

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What a Special Order Carries

Enough to answer "where is my part?" without calling the vendor, and enough to answer it on the phone from the shop floor.

What and from whom

Description, part number, vendor, and the vendor's order reference, with labels that stay visible while you edit.

When

Ordered date and expected arrival. Late orders are flagged so the ones that slipped stand out from the ones that are simply in transit.

Where it is

Save the carrier's tracking link on the order and open it from the special order on iPhone, iPad, or the web.

Who it is for

Attach the order to a work order, to a customer, or to both. It shows from either side, so nobody has to remember whose part that was.

Arrived, and told

Confirm arrival, record that the customer was contacted, and see at a glance which parts have landed but have not been announced yet.

Notes

The color they actually wanted, the backorder call, the substitute the vendor offered. On the order, not in someone's head.

Visible From the Work Order and the Customer

A part on order is a reason a bike is not moving. Hub treats it that way instead of hiding it in a separate list.

On the work order: a special-orders panel shows what the job is waiting on and when it is expected
On the customer: everything on order for them, across their bikes
In the Special Orders tab: the shop-wide list, filtered by vendor and status, with late and arrived-but-not-notified orders called out
On every device: the same order on the iPad at the bench, the iPhone at the counter, and the web at the desk

Why we built it

On a shop visit in 2026 we met a Lightspeed^® shop that had written their own tool purely to track special orders, because nothing they paid for did it. A POS ties a special order to a sale and a customer. It does not tie it to the work order on the stand, the tech waiting on it, or the text thread with the customer.

That is the gap. The order lives with the job and the customer, so the schedule, the board, and the phone call all agree on why the bike is not done yet.

Common Questions

Can a special order be attached to a work order and a customer?

Yes, to either or both. Open the work order and see that it is waiting on a special-ordered part. Open the customer and see what is on order for them. A special order can also stand alone, as a stock order or for a walk-in who just wants the part.

Does Trail Hits^® Hub place the order with the vendor?

No. You order from your vendor the way you already do. Hub is the tracker: what was ordered, from whom, the vendor order reference, when it is expected, whether it has arrived, and whether the customer has been told.

Can a special order be created automatically from an estimate?

Optionally. A shop can turn on automatic special orders so an inspection estimate that includes an out-of-stock part opens the special order for you. It is off by default, so nothing is created until you choose to switch it on.

Keep Reading

Work Orders Customer CRM Customer Texting All-in-One Shop Platform

Retire the Special-Order Notebook

Included in Hub at no extra cost, with the work orders and customer records it belongs next to.