Carrier Information and Trip Optimizer windows

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Carrier Information window

How do I generate an e-mail notification of a Carrier assignment negotiation record and send it to the proposed Carrier?

  1. Open the Carrier Assign window from the Dispatch program.

  2. Select the 'Contract' button.

  3. Choose the Contract Crystal Report you wish to generate (usually 'IPCONTRACT.RPT'). When the report displays, select the 'Export' button () from the top-left corner of the form.

  4. The Export window will appear. Choose the 'Format' you wish to have the report exported to, and then select the 'MAPI' option from the 'Destination' menu. Select 'OK'.

  5. Select a 'Print Range' and then select 'OK'.

  6. On the Send Mail window, select the 'Address' button to access your Address Book.

    On the Address Book window, under the 'Address Book' menu, you will see two sections:

    The entries under the 'Outlook Address Book' heading are 'Local' Address Books on your own machine’s copy of Outlook

    The entries under the 'Global Address List' heading are Address Books on your Exchange Server.

    If the 'Local' Address Book you wish to use does not show under the 'Outlook Address Book' heading, you need to open Outlook and add them to the Local list:

    1. Open Outlook.

    2. In the left-side Contacts pane, right-click on the Contact List you wish to use.

    3. On the Properties window for that Contact List, select the 'Outlook Address Book' Tab and ensure that the 'Show this folder as an e-mail Address Book' flag is checked.

    4. Select the Local Address Book you wish to send the Carrier Assign Contract report to, and then hit the 'Send' button.

The Carrier will be notified by e-mail of the Contract.

  1. Open the Codes Maintenance program (CODES.EXE).

How do I pre-plan Carrier trips?

  1. Access the Site Tab.

  2. For the TruckMate Site ID that you wish to pre-plan Carrier Trips in, select both the 'Auto Assign to Trip' and 'Build Carrier Legs' option. This will configure the pre-planned Carrier Trips to be created and built out automatically.

    If you wish to do this manually, you can leave these two flags unchecked, and add the Freight Bill to a Trip normally (in the Dispatch program) and then use the right-click 'Build Carrier Legs' option from the Trip Grid.

  3. Open the Customer Service program (CSERV.EXE).

    You must first a create a Freight Bill that represents the "outline" of the whole Trip. The main Freight Bill’s 'Start Zone' and 'End Zone' should be that of the originating and final zone of the Trip. The user then accesses the I/P Tab and adds multiple Interliner stop records (attaching one or more Interliner Vendors to the individual stops).

    The user should use the I/P Tab to setup all of the Trip stops. If, however, a "gap" exists between the sequence of Zones (i.e. the user setup an 'End Zone' stop at Seatlle, WA, and then a subsequent 'Start Zone' of Portland, OR,) the logic will create a record to bridge the gap (which will in turn create an 'Waypoint' record in an optimized Trip).

    When the user selects the 'Post' button, the 'Build Carrier Legs' logic will be applied to the Freight Bill, if they have set it up to do so automatically in Codes Maintenance (step 3 above). The Freight Bill will also be automatically attached to a new Trip record in Dispatch (if so specified).

Trip Optimizer window

How do I Manually Optimize a Trip?

Manual optimization is completed on the left pane of the Load Optimizer window, where trips are displayed and each freight bill that is being picked up or dropped is grouped under the pertinent zone. Manual optimization can include creating, deleting splitting and moving legs as well as moving freight bills from one leg to another. The Trip Leg panel indicates whether the move is loaded or empty and a 'Building' icon displays beside the leg # when the leg is a Terminal Zone. This panel is the "working area" where you can continue to optimize the trip until you are satisfied with the trip configuration, then select OK to update Dispatch with the optimized configuration.

Freight bills that have already been picked up are shown with a strike-through over the bill numbers. Completed trip legs are shown with diagonal strike-outs over the legs.

  1. In the Trip Legs section place the mouse pointer over the leg’s zone to access the Context Menu. The menu items availability may vary depending on the position of the mouse pointer when the context menu is invoked.

  2. Complete one or more of the following optimization functions:

    • Adding and Deleting Trip Legs: The position of the mouse pointer determines which leg is being manipulated. The leg number and the Leg From Zone are displayed in relief text at the top of the menu items. After adding new trip legs using the Split or Append function, you must assign freight bill picks or drops to the new leg, or use the Optimize button (see below) to have the system automatically assign freight bill picks and drops.

    • Split: will create a new leg above the current leg. You will be prompted to enter a zone code that will become the Leg From Zone (ie, the trip leg’s origin zone) on the new leg.

    • Append: will create a new leg below the current leg. This option is only available on the last leg of the trip. You will be prompted to enter a zone code that will become the Leg To Zone (ie, the trip leg’s destination zone, and the final destination of the trip).

    • Remove: will delete the current leg. This option is only available if no freight bill picks or drops have been assigned to the leg.

    • Moving Legs: to change the sequence of a leg within a trip, click the left mouse button when the mouse pointer is positioned over the desired leg’s Zone or Zone Description and drag the leg to the blank space between legs, or to the space above the first leg or after the last leg. If two legs have the same zone, you can drag one leg on to the other to combine them. Freight bills that are being picked up or dropped on the leg will be moved with the leg. If there are too many legs on the trip to display in the form, move the mouse pointer over the arrows above and below the scroll bar to re-position the display. It is not necessary to release the left mouse button (and thus cancel the leg movement) to re-position the display.

    • Moving Freight Bills: to move a freight bill pickup or drop to another leg, click the left mouse button when the mouse pointer is positioned over the freight bill number, then drag the freight bill to the Zone or Zone description of the desired leg. If you position a freight bill delivery on a leg that occurs prior to the freight bill’s pickup, the freight bill number and movement type ("Pickup" or "Deliver") will display in reverse red video. You will not be allowed to move a freight bill delivery to the trip’s first leg, or a freight bill pickup to the trip’s last leg. If there are too many legs on the trip to display in the form, move the mouse pointer over the arrows above and below the scroll bar to re-position the display. It is not necessary to release the left mouse button (and thus cancel the leg movement) to re-position the display.

How do I Setup Semi-Automated Optimization?

  1. In the Optimization Mode section, select the appropriate Optimization Style radio button for the Trip.

  2. Select the required Optimization Rule checkboxes for the Trip.

    Note: Your most commonly used optimization rule can be set as the default in the Application Configuration program.

  3. Specify the Trip Start zone. The Current Zone of the first freight bill assigned to the trip defaults in this field. To change, select the search button and select the starting zone of the trip, this represents the first leg of the trip.

    Note: If you have selected the Terminal > Delivery or Terminal > Terminal Optimization styles, you must enter a Terminal Zone as the start zone.

  4. Specify the Trip End zone. The End Zone of the first freight bill assigned to the trip defaults in this field. To change, select the search button and select the trip end zone, this represents the last leg of the trip.

    Note: If you have selected the Pick > Terminal or the Terminal > Terminal Optimization styles, you must enter a Terminal Zone as the end zone.

  5. Select the Calculate Legs button. The trip legs are created based on the freight bill pickup,drop locations, the Optimization Style and Optimization Rules selected. The results display in the Trip Legs section for review.

    Warning: The Calculate Legs function will create legs for each freight bill pickup and delivery, but will not attempt to order the legs in a logical sequence beyond creating the pickup legs before the drop legs. Use Automated Optimize procedure to have the system determine the logical order of legs, or manually order the legs in the Trip Leg section of the screen.

  6. Once the optimization is complete, select OK. The leg configuration is copied to the trip in the Dispatch. The trip legs will be automatically created, and freight bills assigned, in the order shown in the Trip Leg panel of the Optimization screen.

    OR

    Use the 'Save Route' button to save the route for future use.

How do I Setup Fully Automated Optimization?

Automated Optimization

Automated optimization is completed in the Optimization Mode section of the Load Optimization window. There are 2 types of automated optimization, as follows:

  • Semi-automated Optimization: Provides the ability to define the style and rules for the automatic trip optimization required, then calculate the new trip configuration.

  • Automated Optimization: uses the 3rd party mileage software to order the legs according to the most efficient route. In order to use this function, the Mileage Server program must be running and you must be using mileage software.

Automated Optimization Procedure

The Automated Optimization option uses the 3rd party mileage software interface to order the legs according to the most efficient route. In order to use these features, the Mileage Server program must be running, and you must be using mileage software. By comparing the distances between leg zones, the Optimize function will create legs in the most distance-efficient order.

  1. Select the Optimize button to calculate the trip configuration. The results display in the Trip Leg panel for review.

    Warning: The Optimize function does not take into account the fact that pickups must occur before deliveries. Therefore, after using this function, you must check the results in the Trip Leg panel of the screen, and make manual adjustments as necessary.

  2. Select the 'Show Map' button to display the Dispatch Filter Map.

  3. Select OK. The leg configuration is copied to the trip in the Dispatch. The trip legs will be automatically created, and freight bills assigned, in the order shown in the Trip Legs section of the Optimization screen.