Key terms and concepts
As with any business, your company has its own "language". New employees need to learn the terms and business practices that are unique to your company.
TMWSuite can be customized to use many of the terms your company uses. However, TMWSuite comes with a few of its own unique terms. To understand how the system works, you need to know how we use these terms:
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Stop
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Event
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Order
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Movement
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Trip segment
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Freight transfer (cross dock)
What is a stop?
A stop occurs at a particular place during a driver’s route. A stop is defined by:
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A physical location.
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An activity, called an "event" in TMWSuite.
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The date and time of the event.
Some stops are determined by a customer’s order; others are not. For example, suppose a customer wants cargo moved from company B to company C. To complete the order, the driver makes a trip that consists of these four stops:
Stop 1: Driver deadheads from his current location at company A.
Stop 2: Driver arrives at company B, the pickup location recorded on the customer’s order.
Stop 3: Driver refuels at Fuel Stop 1, as directed by his dispatcher.
Stop 4: Driver arrives at company C, the order destination.
Since Stops 1 and 3 were not specified by the customer, they are not associated with the order. As a result, the customer will not be billed for them. Stops 2 and 4 are billable because the customer requested the pickup and delivery.
| In the trip described above, not all stops are associated with the order; however, all of them are part of the same movement. |
What is an event?
An event is an activity that occurs at a stop location. Multiple events may occur at the same stop.
There are two types of events:
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A primary event must occur for a trip to be completed. For example, if cargo must be moved from point A to point B, the trip consists of at least two primary events: a pickup and a delivery. In TMWSuite, a pickup is called a "load"; a delivery is called an "unload".
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A secondary event is an ancillary activity that is to be performed in addition to the primary event. A driver check call and a post unload are examples of secondary events.
An event code is used to identify a type of activity that is to occur at a stop location. Event codes are recorded in the Order Entry and/or Dispatch applications. These codes are used by the system to determine:
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Whether miles between the current stop and the previous stop are to be considered loaded miles or empty miles.
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Whether the stop is billable to the customer and/or payable to the driver.
Event codes are listed here alphabetically:
| Event Code | Event Name/Description | Type | Billable | Payable |
|---|---|---|---|---|
BBT |
Begin Bobtail This event occurs at the beginning of a movement. The tractor makes an empty move with no trailer attached. |
Primary |
No |
Yes |
BMT |
Begin Empty This event occurs at the beginning of a movement. The tractor makes a move with an empty trailer attached. |
Primary |
No |
Yes |
IBBT |
Billable Begin Bobtail This event occurs at the beginning of a movement. The tractor makes an empty move with no trailer attached. |
Primary |
Yes |
Yes |
IBMT |
Billable Begin Empty This event occurs at the beginning of a movement. The tractor makes an empty move with an empty trailer attached. |
Primary |
Yes |
Yes |
BCST |
Billable Customs This event identifies a stop at a customs location. |
Primary |
Yes |
Yes |
IEBT |
Billable End Bobtail This event occurs at the end of a trip. The driver makes an empty move with no trailer attached. |
Primary |
Yes |
Yes |
IEMT |
Billable End Empty This event occurs at the end of a trip. The driver makes a move with an empty trailer attached. |
Primary |
Yes |
Yes |
CTR |
Change Trailer The trailer used to haul a load became disabled. As a result, a different trailer must be assigned to finish the trip. |
Primary |
Yes |
Yes |
CHK |
Check Call Upon arrival at the stop, the driver is to contact the dispatcher. |
Secondary |
No |
No |
HCT |
Chg Trl at Hook Loc The tractor is hooked to a different trailer at the stop location. Note: This event pertains to split trips. The [Split]AllowChangeTrailer setting in your TTS50.INI file determines whether this event code will be offered as an option when you split a trip via the Split Trip: Park and Hook command under the Dispatch menu. The INI setting determines if the system will automatically add an HLT - Hook Loaded Trailer event (the default), or give the user the opportunity to select either HLT or HCT as the event code. The INI setting options are:
|
Primary |
No |
Yes |
DEP |
Departure The driver is to leave the stop at a predetermined time. |
Secondary |
No |
No |
DRL |
Drop Loaded The driver is to drop a loaded trailer. |
Primary |
Yes |
Yes |
DLT |
Drop Loaded Trailer The driver is to drop a loaded trailer at the stop location. This event is used in conjunction with a Hook Loaded Trailer (HLT) event. DLT and HLT events are inserted by the system when you use the Park and Hook option from the Dispatch menu in Dispatch to split a trip. |
Primary |
No |
Yes |
DMT |
Drop Empty Trailer The driver is to drop an empty trailer at the stop location. |
Primary |
No |
Yes |
DTW |
Drop Trailer for Wash The driver is to drop an empty trailer at a wash site. |
Primary |
Yes |
Yes |
DLD |
Driver Load The driver is to load the trailer at a pickup point. |
Primary |
Yes |
Yes |
DUL |
Driver Unload The driver is to unload the trailer at a delivery point. |
Primary |
Yes |
Yes |
EBT |
End Bobtail This event occurs at the end of a trip. The driver makes an empty move with no trailer attached. |
Primary |
No |
Yes |
EMT |
End Empty This event occurs at the end of a trip. The driver makes a move with an empty trailer attached. |
Primary |
No |
Yes |
EXC |
Exchange Currently not functional |
Primary |
No |
Yes |
FUL |
Fuel Stop Stop where the driver refueled. |
Primary or secondary |
No |
No |
HPL |
Hook Preload The tractor is hooked to a trailer that was brought to the stop location and loaded prior to the tractor’s arrival. |
Primary |
Yes |
Yes |
HLT |
Hook Loaded Trailer The tractor is hooked to a loaded trailer at the stop location. |
Primary |
No |
Yes |
HMT |
Hook Empty Trailer The tractor was hooked to an empty trailer at the stop location. |
Primary |
No |
Yes |
LLD |
Live Load The freight is to be loaded at the location while the tractor is present. Loading is done by someone other than the driver. |
Primary |
Yes |
Yes |
LUL |
Live Unload The freight is to be unloaded at the location while the tractor is present. Unloading is done by someone other than the driver. |
Primary |
Yes |
Yes |
NBS |
Non-Billable Stop A Non-Billable Stop is not an actual stop. It is used to indicate a location through which the driver should pass on his route. Note: The system may calculate route points as loaded or empty miles, depending on the status of the trailer. |
Primary |
No |
Yes |
NBCST |
Non-Billable Customs This event identifies a stop at a customs location. |
Primary |
Yes |
Yes |
INSERV |
Placed In Service This event is used to:
|
Primary |
No |
No |
PUL |
Post Unload Freight is to be unloaded from the trailer after the driver and tractor have departed. Using this event with the primary Drop Loaded (DRL) event frees up the driver and tractor at the time of the Drop Loaded event. However, it leaves the trailer as unavailable until the Post Unload event is marked as complete. |
Secondary |
Yes |
No |
PLD |
Pre Load Freight is to be loaded onto the trailer before the tractor has arrived. |
Secondary |
Yes |
No |
RTP |
Route Point A route point is not an actual stop. It is used to indicate a location through which the driver should pass on his route. Note: The system may calculate route points as loaded or empty miles, depending on the status of the trailer. |
Primary or secondary |
N |
Y |
SAP |
Schedule Appt Contact must be made with the customer before the driver arrives at this stop. |
Secondary |
No |
No |
TRP |
Track Point Unlike a route point, a track point is an actual stop made by the driver. It is used to indicate a location through which the driver passed on his travel route. Note: The system may calculate track points as loaded or empty miles, depending on the status of the trailer. |
Primary or secondary |
No |
No |
WSH |
Trailer Wash The driver is to pull the trailer to a wash site and wait while the trailer is washed. |
Primary |
Yes |
Yes |
XDL |
Trnsfr Load XDL The freight is to be loaded on the trailer at a cross dock facility. |
Primary |
No |
Yes |
XDU |
Trnsfr Unload XDU The freight is to be unloaded from the trailer at a cross dock facility. |
Primary |
No |
Yes |
UNA |
Unauthorized The driver made an unauthorized stop. |
Primary or secondary |
No |
No |
IVR |
Voice Call Upon arrival at the stop, the driver is to telephone the dispatcher. |
Secondary |
No |
No |
What is an order?
An order is a customer request for the movement of goods or materials. Such a request must be recorded in TMWSuite’s Order Entry application before resources (i.e., driver(s), tractor/trailer/ carrier) can be dispatched to move the load. Each order is assigned a unique ID number.
The primary information recorded for an order includes:
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Names of the shipper and consignee involved in the move
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Dates and times of the scheduled pickup and delivery
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Quantity, weight and description of the goods to be moved
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Any special needs or information relating to the order, such as trailer requirements, temperature, hazardous materials, special permits, etc.
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Information used to determine how the order is to be billed
What is a movement?
A movement is the record of all the activities performed by the resources (driver, tractor, trailer, carrier) assigned to execute a trip. The Dispatch application is used to record the details regarding the stops and events that occur during a movement. A unique, system-assigned ID number is associated automatically with a movement at the time it is recorded in TMWSuite. This number can be considered the "blanket ID" for all activities that occur during a trip.
TMWSuite tracks two types of movements:
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Loaded
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Empty
Loaded movements
A loaded movement is the transport of goods from one location to another. Such a movement occurs when a driver hooks his tractor to a loaded trailer and hauls it to the load’s final destination. For this type of movement, TMWSuite "follows" the loaded trailer. In other words, the movement is a record that documents the activity of the load from its pickup point to its destination. A loaded movement may consist of a single order or multiple orders.
| If the driver, trailer and/or tractor must first make an empty move to the pickup location, the empty leg of the trip is also part of the movement. If an empty leg occurs at the end of the trip, it too is part of the movement. |
What is a trip segment?
A trip segment is the portion of a movement that is executed by the same driver and tractor. Each time a new driver and/or tractor is assigned to a movement, a new segment is created. A system-assigned ID is associated automatically with each trip segment. When a driver’s settlement for a trip is prepared, he will be paid for the activities that he performed during his segment of the trip.
| In TMWSuite, a movement that consists of multiple trip segments is called a split trip. |
What is a freight transfer (also known as cross dock)?
Many trucking companies only handle truckload orders, which means that the trailer is completely filled with cargo from a single order. However, some companies combine multiple orders onto a single truck. By using the LTL (less-than-truckload) style of operation, trucking companies maximize equipment utilization while handling smaller shipments.
For a truckload carrier, there is a single order on a movement. However, for a trip made by an LTL carrier, one trailer can carry freight associated with multiple orders. Cargo from these multiple orders can be:
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Temporarily dropped off at midpoint sites, such as warehouse locations or terminals.
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Transferred from trailer to trailer at sites located between the initial pickup and final delivery points.
TMWSuite’s LTL freight transfer (also known as cross dock) feature allows the freight initially carried on one trailer to be split onto different trailers later for delivery to separate locations.
Here is the primary difference in how TMWSuite handles truckload orders and LTL orders:
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For a truckload order, a single movement details the activities of the loaded trailer. Only one trailer is used for such an order. On a truckload trip, a single order is associated with a single movement.
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For an LTL trip, an order is handled via multiple trailers on multiple movements. (Often, because an individual order does not take up an entire trailer, multiple orders are first combined onto a single trailer. However, a freight transfer may involve only a single order.)
As the trip progresses, cargo is either a) temporarily unloaded at a physical location, or b) transferred to another trailer. Each time a freight transfer (or cross dock) occurs, a new movement is created. Ultimately, this allows the dispatcher to assign different trailers to handle the continuation of the load(s) so that the order(s) eventually get to the final destination(s). On an LTL trip, a single order is associated with multiple movements.
For details about the freight transfer feature, see the Trip Folder documentation.
| There is a variation to the typical LTL-style movement. Sometimes a trucking company has an order that does not require the full-fledged freight transfer feature. In such a situation, the trucking company wants the cargo to stay on a single movement. However, the original trailer must be swapped out with another trailer. To allow this change in resources, the dispatcher can split the trip into multiple trip segments. To signify that a change in trailers is needed, the dispatcher uses the Hook Change Trailer event for the "hook" portion of the park and hook. This means that one trailer handles the first trip segment, while a different trailer handles the second trip segment. |
The [Split]AllowChangeTrailer setting in your TTS50.ini file determines whether the Hook Change Trailer event code is offered as an option when you split a trip via the Split Trip: Park and Hook command under the Dispatch menu. The INI setting determines if the system will automatically add an HLT - Hook Loaded Trailer event (the default), or give the user the opportunity to select either HLT or HCT as the event code. To make use of the Hook Change Trailer event, the [Split]AllowChangeTrailer=Yes setting must exist in the TTS50.ini file.