Dispatch

The Driver Check In function is used to create a 'daily' trip for drivers assigned to the selected terminal.

For example, if a driver works out of a terminal in an LTL situation, he is only assigned to one trip per day. The Leg From Zone, Leg To Zone, Current Zone and ETA Zone of the trip is the terminal zone. Multiple freight bills will be assigned to that trip, and the pickup and delivery of the freight bills is processed through the Drill Down function in the Trip grid. The Driver Check In window is used to create the driver’s daily trip.

If you need to apply status changes to individual Freight Bills as the Driver completes pickups and deliveries, use the Trip Details option.

The Trip Details Drill Down function is used for LTL Dispatch operations management on the Pickup/Delivery Details window.

The Trip Details Drill Down function is used for LTL Dispatch operations management on the Pickup / Delivery Details window.

The process begins with the driver and equipment assigned to a single trip per day using the Driver Check In function, multiple freight bills are assigned to the trip and the trip is Optimized to create legs in the appropriate order. The trip is activated using a status code of the Dispatch code behavior. Then using Trip Details, status changes are applied individually to freight bills. At the end of the day, when the driver returns to the terminal, the trip is completed in the Trip grid.

The Unapproved Driver Pay window is accessed from the Driver Pay option in the Dispatch Trips Grid Context Menu.

You can edit the automatically generated driver’s pay. On save you will be prompted to maintain these changes to the automatically generated pay values, select Yes to keep the changes, select to No to allow the changes to be recalculated on post.

Driver Pay is approved in the Driver Pay Audit program. The parameters for automatic driver pay are configured in the Driver Pay Contracts program and Pay contracts are assigned to drivers in the Driver Profile program.

The Load Offer function is used to send a "Load Offer" message from to the Driver for review. The message is sent though the Mobile Dispatch system to the mobile device installed on the power unit that is assigned to the trip.

The Load Offer window is accessed in Dispatch from the Trips grid context menu.

You can also send a different macro than the Load Offer macro, or a free form message. To do this, select the Skip button, then click the Macro button to select a different macro, or enter free format text. Also, you can change the Priority with which the message is sent. See the Communications Manager program for information about message priority.

A macro will be generated for each freight bill assigned to a trip on each unfinished leg. Check the boxes beside the freight bill numbers to de-select one or more freight bills.

The Load Offer macro is configured in the Communication Macro Setup program with the specific information required for your Load Offer communication.

You can configure the system to automatically change the status of the freight bills assigned to the trip when the load offer is sent (and also when the load offer is read by the driver, when the load offer is accepted, or when the load offer is declined.) To do so, see the General Tab in the Configuration options of the Communications Manager program.

Load Offer Status (Trip Grid field)

Displays the load offer status to provide dispatchers easy reference on driver availability. Statuses include 'Offered', 'Read', 'Accepted', 'Declined', 'Active', and 'Completed'. For example, if a driver reads a load offer, the status will be changed to 'Read', and only if the current load offer status is 'Offered'. If a load offer is declined, the load offer status will be set to 'Declined'.

A free-form message will be generated by the system to inform the Dispatcher(s) of this Status Change update. When a load acceptance arrives, the load offer status will change as appropriate. No status changes will occur at this time, except that if the driver has no current assignment, the usual logic will apply (i.e., to dispatch the trip). If the driver has a current assignment, nothing will be done at this time. When the driver completes his current assignment (through mobile communications), the system will scan for any trips, to which he is assigned, that have a load offer status of 'Accepted'. The one with the lowest sequence will be activated (by dispatching). His previous trip’s load offer status will be set to 'Completed', while the new trip’s load offer status becomes 'Active'.

Whenever a trip is activated through this interface, a free-form message will be generated indicating to the driver which assignment he should be working on. Any trip activated in this way will cause the load offer status to be set to "active". A new dialog will be created that will allow load offers to be managed for a particular driver. Specifically, it will allow the ability to re-order trips with a load offer status of "offered" or "read", will allow a load offer to be revoked (and send appropriate message to the driver), will re-offer a load (presumably with changed details), etc.

The Carrier History option provides a search for historical payment information for carriers who have been previously assigned to trips. The Payables grid displays a summary of the interliner charge. Complete details about the charge can be viewed in the Customer Service program. The Freight Bills grid displays a summary of the freight bills that were included in the interliner charge that is selected in the Payables grid.