Additional functions

The Client Information / Specifications window will appear when the user clicks the 'Rolodex' button from within the header section of the Customer Service program. It displays some additional information regarding the highlighted Customer or Vendor.

The information displayed on this window is all populated from the Customer & Vendor Profiles program. The large text field will display the notes entered into the Customer Profiles > Notes Tab 'Specifications' text field.

Click the Local Directions button to add Directions to the current Customer or Vendor.

The Local Directions window allows you to enter free format Notes detailing the Directions to a Customer or Vendor’s site of operation. Enter the Directions as you would in any other 'Note' window.

The Detention window will appear when the user clicks the 'Detention' window on the Status Tab (or uses the <ALT><J> hot key). This window will automatically populate with the 'Pickup' and 'Delivery' information from the Freight Bill and any Detention Charges that have accrued against the Bill.

The 'Find Customer' window will display when the 'Find' button is clicked from within the header section of the Customer Service program. It displays a list of the Customers configured on your system from within the Customer & Vendor Profiles program.

The Find Customer window implements a 'Partial Information Logic' feature to make your searches easier. What this means is that if you enter any text into the 'Caller', 'Shipper' or 'Consignee' fields before clicking the 'Find' button, that text will be used to filter the available records in your system. If you leave the text field blank, all records will be included in the 'Customer Search' window.

The Freight Bill History functionality is unknown to most users of Customer Service. To access these windows, simply click on the word 'Original', 'Credit', 'Rebill' or 'Inter Company' (depending on which type of Freight Bill you are viewing). If multiple versions (Credits / Rebills) exist for the current Freight Bill, these windows will let you view a listing of the previous iterations of the Bill. All of the fields within the Freight Bill History module are read-only and for informational purposes.

Right-clicking any grey area in the Customer Service program will allow you to access Freight Bill Imaging, provided you have Imaging software configured in the Codes Maintenance program (and a contract with a supported Imaging software Vendor).

View Images Via <Vendor>

Hover your mouse over this option to see the available Image Types for supported Image types. When you select an Image, it will be displayed via the Imaging Vendor’s software. In TruckMate 20xx, if working with a Consolidated 'Master' Freight Bill, you can view the Images attached to the original Freight Bill as well. If you are on a Consolidated 'Master' Bill, the right-click Context Menu will show you separate lists for the Master and the Original bills. Each will have sub-menu of showing different type of available Images.

The Freight Board Interface (FBI) is an application that runs in the system tray. It accepts requests (via TCP strings) from various TruckMate applications to post or cancel a Freight Bill load or equipment to various load matching websites. See the following list to see which load matching websites are supported.

Right-clicking any grey area in the Customer Service program will allow you to access FBI functionality, provided you have installed the TMW FBI application, and have one of the six required licenses installed via the License Registration program. Once installed, just run the TMW FBI application (which will load into your system tray) and then access the right-click options in Customer Service:

Post Load

Selecting this option launches the FBI application, and attempts to create a posting for the Freight Bill data you right-clicked from. The first time you the FBI, you will need to fill out some setup info ('FTP site', etc.).

Cancel Load

Whenever loads have been posted to one of the six available load handling websites, the user can select this option to cancel the load (or truck,) removing the posting from the load boards.

For setup instructions for the Freight Board Interface, see How do I install the Freight Board Interface utility?

The Less than Truck Load Options window allows you to specify any additional information regarding LTL deliveries. If your LTL Shipment is being delivered to an office building, for example, you can input the 'Suite', 'Floor', and/or 'Dock Number' in the upper section of the window.

The lower section of the window allows you to specify some general characteristics of the Delivery site. Use the pull down menus to specify if there are 'Stairs' present at the site, or if an 'Elevator' is available.

If the Driver can make the Delivery via a 'Dock' specify this here, as well as if 'Site Surveys' or 'Vehicle Restrictions' are required.

There are nine Tabs available on the Notes form: 'Billing', 'Container', 'Driver', 'OSD', 'Other', 'Write Off', and 'User 1' - 'User 3'. Freight Bill Notes can also be entered and viewed in the Dispatch program, the Local Dispatch program, the Driver Call In program, the Trip Tracer program, and the AR Inquiry program. You can apply special formatting characteristics (such as bolding or colored text) to the Freight Bill notes. Right click in the Notes form for a menu of formatting options. After entering notes, be sure to click the Post button at the bottom right corner of the notes form.

You can also display the Notes window by using the '<CTRL><N>' Hot Key combination.

The 9 Notes Tabs correspond to various areas of the TLORDER Table. You can configure any of the Tab labels by changing their values in the Application Configurator program > NOTES section. The correspond configuration options are labelled 'TLORDER Tab 1 - 9'.

One example would be to change the labels of the custom 'User 1 - 3' Tables to something like 'Shipper', 'Consignee' and 'Bill-To' and enter specific Notes depending on the Freight Bill for each of the attached Clients.

The User can change also the Notes window’s format to either 'Normal' or 'Journal-Style' (which stamps each entry with the User name and Date/Time stamp) by changing a set of options in the Application Configurator program > NOTES section. Each of the 9 Tabs above pulls from the TLORDER Table, so use the NOTES.EXE options 'TLORDER Journal-Style 1 - 9' to change the style.

Using the Application Configurator program > NOTES > 'Rate Logging' option, you can configure one of the 9 Notes Tabs to display how the Rating logic for the attached Freight Bill was determined.

If the Bill-To customer (indicated by the radio button selected in the Bill-To section of the screen) has any Quotes issued to it, the number of Quotes will be displayed in the area below the Freight Bill number field (i.e. '3 Quotes'). You can view Quotes issued to the customer who is the Caller on the Freight Bill by double-clicking on the Quote text. Quotes can also be viewed on the Quotes Tab, or by clicking the Find Quotes button. Quotes are created clicking the Quote button after entering the Freight Bill on the Quotes window.

Filter

You can enter text strings to Filter the available Quotes.

Refresh

Click the Refresh button to apply any Filter values you have entered onto the records within the Quotes Grid.

Quotes Grid

The Quote window Grid contains hundreds of different fields detailing all aspects of the Quote in question. All of these fields are read-only and contain information relating to the quote. To easily search for records you need to work with, you can Filter the Grid at any time by double clicking the field name you would like to Filter by.

Quote Notes

Enter any free format textual Notes pertaining to the current Quote.

Under certain conditions when using Zone-based Service Levels (or the Service Level Matrix), the Service Level Warning Notice window will appear, stating that the Freight Bill’s route (defined by the selected Start / End Zone combination) is not serviced at the selected 'Service Level' (seen at the bottom of the Details Tab). If there are alternate Service Levels when the selected Route is serviced, they will appear for selection in the grid on this window. Selecting an alternative Service Level will alter the selected Service Level for the Freight Bill. If there are no Service Levels available, you can configure one in the LTL Service Level Maintenance program.

Change Bill

If a Freight Bill’s chosen route (Start Zone to End Zone) appears in the Zone Tree of one of the Service Levels in the TruckMate database, that Service Level will appear in the grid of this window. The user can then select the Service Level and click the 'Change Bill' button to change the Service Level on the Freight Bill, which will automatically be saved.

Ignore

Selecting this button will ignore the Service Level warning and save the Freight Bill with its chosen Service Level.

Cancel

Selecting this button will cancel out of this window and leave the Freight Bill in edit mode.

Use the Hot Key combination '<CTRL><K>' from the Details Tab to open the Skid Dimensions window to access the Skid Dimension Entry form. This form will allow you to enter a Shipment’s Density by telling the program the measurements of the Skids involved in transport. A shipment’s density is one of the factors that determines the freight rate. Shippers need to know how to calculate a shipment’s density so they can properly describe their goods on the Freight Bill. The total weight of the shipment is divided by the total cubic feet to determine the density.

Unlike the Skid Dimensions window in older versions of TruckMate, which were limited to 30 entries, the new form is table based, which means there is no limit to the number of entries to be made.

Pieces

Enter the number of pieces.

Length

Enter the length.

Width

Enter the width.

Height

Enter the height.

Apply Dimensions

Selecting this button will use the entered numbers to calculate 'Dim Weight' of the Skid according to a formula. The values you enter should be in inches.

The Terminal Plan window displays the current Freight Bill’s LTL Terminal Plan. A Terminal Plan, stored in the TLORDER_TERM_PLAN Table, provides visibility on the planned Terminal sequence for a Freight Bill before it arrives at a dock facility. A Terminal Plan allows users in the Crossdock program to plan for Freight Bills before they are en route to that CrossDock facility. This feature replaces the 'Next Terminal Zone' field throughout TruckMate.

The Freight Bill Terminal Plan window displays some general information about the current Freight Bill in the header section, as well as the Terminal information defined on the Customer Service > LTL Tab. In the Terminal Plan window grid, you will see various records, each with a specific 'Type':

Some data can be directly manipulated on the Terminal Plan window via right-click Context Menu.