Processing Inbound 204 load tender messages

First Available in Fuel Dispatch V.2024.7

You can accept, decline, or view details for an order in the Planning Worksheet or Card Planner’s EDI grid. If you are licensed for the EDI 204/990 Load Tender SmartLink add-on, the system generates 990s automatically based on the decision you make for each load tender.

Understanding the Planning Worksheet’s EDI grid

Fuel Dispatch imports load tenders from the Data Exchange application. The load tenders display as new orders in the Planning Worksheet or Card Planner’s EDI grid.

To display the grid, click the image1 EDI tab at the right side of the Planning Worksheet or Card Planner depending on which window you are in.

To display the available load tenders, select your Trips view at the top of the grid and click Refresh.

image2

The following columns are available only in the EDI tab grid.

Field Definition

Expires

Identifies the Respond By Date from the 204 flat file

This is the date/time the load tender must be acknowledged by either accepting or rejecting it.

This date/time is used as a basis for activating the Warning and Critical indicators in the L column.

Note: If the 204 flat file does not contain the Respond By Date, the date/time defaults to a generic date/time, and the Warning and Critical indicators will not function.

Purpose

Defines which type of tender has been imported.

Options are:

  • N
    The tender is a new (original) order.

  • U
    The tender is an update to an order that has already been imported.

    To view the changes from the original order, follow the steps in Viewing EDI details.

  • C
    The tender is a cancellation of the original order.

A / D

Select the appropriate radio button to accept or decline the load.

  • A
    Accept the load tender to have it become a Fuel Dispatch order. The order will become an Available order after you run the Process EDI A/D’s.

  • D
    Reject a load tender to prevent it from becoming an order.

EDI Order State

Current EDI status of the load tender

If the EDI status includes the word PENDING, the order has been imported, but no decision has been made to accept or decline it. If the EDI status includes the word SUBMITTED, a decision has been made and a Fuel Dispatch order is now available.

  • TNDR PENDING
    All original (new) 204s imported into Fuel Dispatch have the Tender Pending status. No decision has been made to accept or decline the order.

  • TENDER ACCEPT PENDING
    The 204 has been marked as Accepted. The status remains as Pending until the 990 service is run, at which time the 204 is removed from the EDI grid.

  • TENDER DECLINE PENDING
    The 204 has been marked as Declined. The status remains as Pending until the 990 service is run, at which time the 204 is removed from the EDI grid.

  • ACCEPT SUBMITTED
    A 204 acceptance has been submitted and the order status has changed to Available. The system creates a 990 record in the database table if the trading partner has been set up to require 990s for accepted 204s.

  • DECLINE SUBMITTED
    A 204 decline has been submitted and the order status is changed to Cancelled. The system creates a 990 record in the database if the trading partner has been set up to require 990s for rejected 204s.

  • TNDR ACCEPTED AND SENT
    The DX 990 Service created the 990 flat file for the trading partner from the 990 database table.

  • TNDR DECLINED AND SENT
    The DX 990 Service created the 990 flat file for the trading partner from the 990 database table.

  • TNDR UPD PENDING
    An update 204 has been imported and Fuel Dispatch updated the order automatically. The status remains as Pending until the 990 service is run, at which time the 204 is removed from the EDI grid.

EDI Order State

  • USER UPD PENDING
    An update 204 has been imported but the order has not been updated automatically. You must manually accept/decline the update.

    The system verifies the order status before it performs any updates. The following conditions prevent an order from being updated automatically:

    • The original 204 was not imported from the Data Exchange application.

    • Changes from an update 204 cannot be made automatically on loads imported from LTSL 1.0 and updated in version 2.0.

    • Updates cannot be made automatically for orders that have been invoiced, consolidated, or cross docked.

      Notes:

      1. Load tender updates to an Available or Planned order occur automatically. In the Global Settings tab of the LTSL 2 Configuration Utility, the AllowDispatchUpdates and AllowStartedUpdates settings determine if updates to Dispatched or Started orders are made automatically.

      2. If an order has been completed, you can make the changes on the order manually to ensure the accuracy of the data sent on the 990.

  • CANCELLATION RECEIVED
    All cancellation 204s have been imported into Fuel Dispatch.

  • DATE CHANGE PENDING
    The date has changed and must be verified and accepted by the user. The status remains as Pending until the 990 service is run, at which time the 204 is removed from the EDI grid.

  • ORDER COULD NOT BE COPIED
    The master order could not be copied because its mapping is incorrect.

Status

Order status

Setting up views for the EDI grid

When the Data Exchange application imports loads into Fuel Dispatch, they become orders with the Pending status in the Fuel Dispatch database. To view pending orders in the EDI grid, you need to modify the view(s) used with it.

  1. To modify the view for the current session in the Planning Worksheet, click the Restrict button next to the Trips views list.

    image3

    The Outbound/Load Board Definition window opens.

  2. In the Dispatch Status field, add PND.

    image4

  3. Click OK to save your changes.

    Note: When orders have the Pending status, you cannot drag and drop resources to them in the EDI grid.

Controlling the orders shown on the EDI grid

You can use the LTSLWrkshtOverrides General Info Table setting to specify which loads appear in the EDI grid. For example, to display only loads that must be accepted or declined, set String1 to Y and String2 to N. Processed loads with the EDI status of ACCEPT SUBMITTED or DECLINE SUBMITTED are removed from the grid.

Accepting and declining load tenders

In the Planning Worksheet’s EDI grid, original load tenders display the TNDR PENDING EDI status until you make a decision. In the EDI grid, you can Accept or Reject a load as an order. Similarly, you can also accept or reject a load in the Card Planner.

Accepting or declining load tenders in the Planning Worksheet

You can accept and decline loads with the EDI status of TNDR PENDING directly from the Planning Worksheet’s EDI grid. You then process those loads from the EDI grid. If you are licensed for the EDI 204/990 Load Tender SmartLink add-on, that application returns a 990 to the customer, indicating whether the order was accepted or declined.

Accepting load tenders

You can use the following methods to accept one or more loads with the TNDR PENDING status.

  • To accept a single load, select the A radio button in the A column. You can also Right-click in the grid and select Accept EDI Order from the shortcut menu.

  • To accept multiple loads, hold CTRL and click in the left column for each load. Right-click in the grid and select Accept EDI Order from the shortcut menu.

    image5

The system updates the load tender status to TENDER ACCEPT PENDING.

To undo your decision for an order and return the status to TNDR PENDING, select the A radio button.

Declining load tenders

Use the following methods to decline one or more loads with the TNDR PENDING status.

  • To decline a single load, select the D radio button in the D column. You can also Right-click in the grid and select Decline EDI Order from the shortcut menu.

  • To decline multiple loads, hold CTRL and click in the left column for each load. Right-click in the grid and select Decline EDI Order from the shortcut menu.

    image8

The system updates the load tender status to TENDER DECLINE PENDING.

To undo your decision and return the status to TNDR PENDING, select the D radio button.

Processing loads in the Planning Worksheet’s EDI grid

When you process loads in the Planning Worksheet’s EDI grid, the Load Tender SmartLink application returns a 990 to the customer. The 990 indicates whether each order was accepted or declined.

To process loads in the EDI grid, follow these steps:

  1. Select A or D for each TENDER ACCEPT PENDING and TENDER DECLINE PENDING load you want to process.

    image9

  2. Right-click in one of the selected rows.

  3. From the shortcut menu, select this option:

    • Process EDI A/Ds
      If you were not the user who accepted/declined, you must select this option for processing to occur. Selecting this option will process the loads regardless of who accepted or declined the loads.

The system processes each load.

  • For loads that you accept, the EDI Order State changes to ACCEPT SUBMITTED.

  • For loads that you decline, the EDI Order State changes to DECLINE SUBMITTED.

  1. Processed loads are removed from the grid if you have String2 set to N for the LTSLWrkshtOverrides General Info Table setting.

  2. If a company on the 204 is not in the EDI companies table or your Fuel Dispatch database, you are prompted to create a new company. For details, see Creating new companies and matches.

Updating an order with a load tender

When the Data Exchange application imports orders into Fuel Dispatch, the SID identifier determines if the load is a new order or an update. If the SID number exists, the system adds the number to the order’s Reference # field and imports the load as an update.

The EDI status for the load changes to either TENDER UPDATE PENDING or USER UPDATE PENDING, depending on whether the order can be updated automatically.

  1. Automatic update settings are defined in the LTSL 2 Configuration Utility. For details, see:

    Guide: EDI Load Tender SmartLink 2.0 | Using the LTSL 2 Configuration Utility | Section: Configuring LTSL 2.0 to automatically accept 204s

  2. To view the changes from the original order, you can use the View EDI Details feature.

Creating new companies and matches

When the system processes an accepted load, it looks at all companies on the 204. If a company in the 204 does not exist in the EDI companies table or your Fuel Dispatch database, the Select Company window opens. The Company section at the top of the window displays information about the company found in the 204 flat file.

image13

You can use the information in the window to do one of the following:

  • Match the information to a company in your Fuel Dispatch database

  • Create a new Fuel Dispatch company

If you click Cancel in the Select Company window, you will cancel the accept process for that order.

The window displays for each company on a load tender that does not exist in your EDI table or Fuel Dispatch database. This means that you may need to repeat the process of matching companies or creating new companies for other companies on a load tender.

Matching companies by company name

If the EDI company is new, you can use the Select Company window to match it to a company in your Fuel Dispatch database.

To match the company to a company in your database, follow these steps:

  1. To display a list of companies that closely match the EDI company, click New Search.

  2. Click Retrieve.

  3. Select the matching Fuel Dispatch company from the list at the bottom of the window.

    image14

  4. To confirm the match, click OK.

    The EDI Company Match Validation window asks you to confirm your selection.

    image15

  5. To validate the match, click OK.

    If the company is incorrect, click Cancel.

  6. Repeat Steps 1-5 for each new company.

Matching companies by alternate ID or address

By default, the Select Company window matches by company name. You can also search by one or more of the following:

  • Alternate ID

  • Address1

  • Address2

  • City

  • State

  • ZIP Code/postal code

The application copies this information from the 204 file to the Company section at the top of the window, with each populated field displaying as a hyperlink. You click a hyperlink to transfer that information to the corresponding search field.

In this example, we clicked the hyperlink in the Zip field to search by the company’s ZIP Code.

image16

All search criteria uses the Like restriction to find values that contain a specified string. The Equal to restriction, which requires that the two values match exactly, is not used.

Creating a new company

If a company name cannot be matched to a company in your Fuel Dispatch database, you can add it as a new company profile.

To create a new company, follow these steps:

  1. When the Select Company window opens with the 204 company data displayed, click Save As New.

    image17

  2. The system completes the company data fields based on the information in the 204. Update the data as necessary.

    image18

  3. By default, the system generates a six-character ID code when creating a new company ID. If necessary, you can add a unique identification code in the Primary ID field.

  4. Click OK to save the company as a new Fuel Dispatch company profile. A message indicates that the system has created a new company.

Viewing EDI details

The Details window lets you view the history and details of each 204 and 990 flat file associated with an order. The Details window lets you:

  • View who was responsible for all EDI 204 and 990 related activities in the history log.

  • Review all inbound 204s received for the selected order.

  • View updates and changes to the order using the Overlay document feature.

  • Review all outbound 990s exported for the selected order.

To access the Details window, follow these steps:

  1. Select an order in the Planning Worksheet or Card Planner’s EDI grid.

  2. Right-click and select View EDI Details from the shortcut menu.

    The window is divided into two sections: a history log at the top, and the EDI flat file at the bottom. The following illustrations show samples of 204 and 990 flat files for the same order.

    Sample 204:

    image19

    Sample 990:

    image20

Viewing 204 updates

The Details window lets you view the changes made to an order from an update 204. Red highlighting lets you examine each update.

To view 204 updates, follow these steps:

  1. In the Planning Worksheet or Card Planner’s EDI grid, right-click on a 204 load tender.

  2. In the shortcut menu, click View EDI Details.

  3. In the Overlay Document field, select a document different from the one listed in the Current Document field.

    image21

    The following illustration shows changes made to freight quantity, weight, and volume.

    image22

    The colors indicate how the two versions differ.

    • Red
      Values changed. Click the drop-down arrow to see the original value.

    • Green
      Fields or records that have been added in the Current Document, and do not exist in the Overlay Document.

    • White
      Fields or records that have been removed in the Current Document, and do exist in the Overlay Document. The text appears with a strikeout line over it.

  4. To view a summary of only the changes made, click Changes Only.

    image23