Entering readings

If your login allows it, you can enter readings for the tanks at your store using the Enter Readings page. Your entries will help the hosting company track your inventory and determine when you need product deliveries.

Whether you are entering a single reading for one store or several readings for multiple stores, the columns in the grid contain the same type of information.

The following columns appear on the Enter Readings page:

Field	Definition
Company ID	Company ID assigned by the hosting company
Tanks	Number of tanks at the store
Name	Name of the store
Address	Address of the store
City	City where the store is located
State	State where the store is located
Zip	Zip code for the store’s location
Last Reading Date	Date and time of the tank’s most recently entered reading
Reading Date	Defaults to the current date and time
Tank ID	ID assigned to the tank by the hosting company
Bucket	Store’s ID number for the inventoried tank, as recorded by the hosting company
Commodity	Name of the product in the tank
Tank Reading	Enter the current tank reading Note: If your store has multiple tanks, it is recommended that all tanks be read together and the readings entered as a set. Likewise, if you need to update one tank reading, you should update all readings for that date and time.
Last Tank Reading	Most recent reading entered for a tank Note: "-1" indicates a reading was never entered.
Last Tank Reading Date	Date and time of the tank’s most recently entered reading
Reading Now	Current reading on the tank
Max Delivery	Maximum delivery amount allowed for a tank
Max Delivery Now	Maximum delivery amount allowed for a tank at the present time
TOH Max Delivery
Prior 3 Days Forecast Sales	Forecasted sales for the prior 3 days; this amount is used for comparison purposes
Prior 3 Weeks Forecast Sales	Forecasted sales for the prior 3 weeks; this amount is used for comparison purposes
Tank Size	Capacity of the tank, in gallons
Ullage	Empty volume of the tank
Daily Sales Today	Today’s sales recorded for the tank
Target On Hand	Desired level for when the product is delivered

Field

Definition

Company ID

Company ID assigned by the hosting company

Tanks

Number of tanks at the store

Name

Name of the store

Address

Address of the store

City

City where the store is located

State

State where the store is located

Zip

Zip code for the store’s location

Last Reading Date

Date and time of the tank’s most recently entered reading

Reading Date

Defaults to the current date and time

Tank ID

ID assigned to the tank by the hosting company

Bucket

Store’s ID number for the inventoried tank, as recorded by the hosting company

Commodity

Name of the product in the tank

Tank Reading

Enter the current tank reading

Note: If your store has multiple tanks, it is recommended that all tanks be read together and the readings entered as a set. Likewise, if you need to update one tank reading, you should update all readings for that date and time.

Last Tank Reading

Most recent reading entered for a tank

Note: "-1" indicates a reading was never entered.

Last Tank Reading Date

Date and time of the tank’s most recently entered reading

Reading Now

Current reading on the tank

Max Delivery

Maximum delivery amount allowed for a tank

Max Delivery Now

Maximum delivery amount allowed for a tank at the present time

TOH Max Delivery

Prior 3 Days Forecast Sales

Forecasted sales for the prior 3 days; this amount is used for comparison purposes

Prior 3 Weeks Forecast Sales

Forecasted sales for the prior 3 weeks; this amount is used for comparison purposes

Tank Size

Capacity of the tank, in gallons

Ullage

Empty volume of the tank

Daily Sales Today

Today’s sales recorded for the tank

Target On Hand

Desired level for when the product is delivered

Entering a reading for a single store

Follow these steps to enter a reading for a single store:

Go to Menu > Customer > Inventory Services > Enter Readings.
The Enter Readings page opens.
From the Company drop-down list, select a company.

Note: The list is not limited to companies flagged as stores (consignees). Stores set up by the hosting company are the only facilities that can accept tank readings. If you pick a company that does not accept tank readings, the "No records to display" message appears below the drop-down field.

Available tank data for the selected store appears.
In the Reading Date field, enter the reading date and time.

Note: Your entry must be later than the date in the Last Reading Date field. If it is not, the reading entries will not be recorded when you save the page.
In the Tank Reading field for each tank, enter the number of units for the reading.
Click Save Tank Readings.

Your entries are moved to the Last Tank Reading and Last Tank Reading Date fields. The Tank Reading field(s) will return to zero (0).

Entering readings for multiple stores

To enter readings for multiple stores, follow these steps:

Go to Menu > Customer > Inventory Services > Enter Multiple Store Readings.
The Enter Multiple Store Readings page opens.
From the stores listed, hold the CTRL key and select multiple companies.
Click Edit Selected Stores.

Note: The list is not limited to companies flagged as stores (consignees). Stores set up by the hosting company are the only facilities that can accept tank readings. If you pick a company that does not accept tank readings, the "No records to display." message appears below the drop-down field.

Available tank data for the selected store appears.
On the Enter Readings page, enter the information for each store.
1. In the Reading Date field, enter the reading date and time.
  
  Note: Your entry must be later than the date in the Last Reading Date field. If it is not, the reading entries will not be recorded when you save the page.
2. In the Tank Reading field for each tank, enter the number of units for the reading.
Click Save Tank Readings.

Your entries are moved to the Last Tank Reading and Last Tank Reading Date fields. The Tank Reading field(s) will return to zero (0).

Validating readings

The Reading Validation page is used to a review a tank’s last reading and the reading prior to that reading.

The tank validation feature does not compare a tank reading against another value. Readings are for reference only.

To review readings, follow these steps:

Select Menu > Customer > Inventory Services> Inventory Readings Validation.
The Inventory Readings Validation page opens.

From the Company drop-down list, select a company.
The page displays the company’s tank data.

Note: The list is not limited to companies flagged as stores (consignees). Stores set up by the hosting company are the only facilities that can accept tank readings. If you pick a company that does not have tank readings, the "…no inventoried readings…" message appears beneath the drop-down field.

Note: All fields are read-only.

Field	Definition
Bucket	Store’s ID number for the inventoried tank, as recorded by the hosting company
Commodity	ID the hosting company has assigned to the commodity
Last Reading	Most recent reading entered for a tank Note: "-1" indicates a reading was never entered.
Last Reading Date	Date and time of the reading most recently entered for the tank
Hours Ago	Number of hours since the reading in the Last Reading field was entered, up to a maximum of 999 hours Note: An entry of 999 indicates no reading was ever entered, or the last reading is 999 or more hours old (approximately 42 days).
Prior Reading	Tank reading before the Last Reading
Threshold Date	Date and time the tank can take product, that is, the retain date
Zero Date	Date and time the tank will reach the run-out level

Field

Definition

Bucket

Store’s ID number for the inventoried tank, as recorded by the hosting company

Commodity

ID the hosting company has assigned to the commodity

Last Reading

Most recent reading entered for a tank

Note: "-1" indicates a reading was never entered.

Last Reading Date

Date and time of the reading most recently entered for the tank

Hours Ago

Number of hours since the reading in the Last Reading field was entered, up to a maximum of 999 hours

Note: An entry of 999 indicates no reading was ever entered, or the last reading is 999 or more hours old (approximately 42 days).

Prior Reading

Tank reading before the Last Reading

Threshold Date

Date and time the tank can take product, that is, the retain date

Zero Date

Date and time the tank will reach the run-out level

Review and verify the Last Reading fields.

If a tank reading appears questionable, first try to determine the cause and whether the reading is correct.

The most common reasons for a questionable reading value are:
- The tank was read incorrectly.
- The tank was read correctly, but the reading was relayed or recorded incorrectly.
- The tank was correctly read and recorded. Unanticipated factors affected demand, resulting in a reading much different than expected.
Next, contact the hosting company about the reading. Under some circumstances, a hosting company might be able to correct a reading. You might also be instructed to enter or report a new set of tank readings as you normally would.

Note: If a store has multiple tanks, it is recommended that all tanks be read together and the readings entered as a set.