TruckMate 2023.1 New Features: Operations

TruckMate allows for two core types of table spaces:

As part of your company’s best practices, you should purge unnecessary table data on a regular basis. This helps with database performance.

Once a table reaches the maximum amount of data, you must purge unnecessary data to free up space and continue working.

In SQL Execute, a new Tools menu option, Show DB Table Space Used, displays a list of your database tables in the Grid tab.

If the DATA_PCNT or INDX_PCNT column values for a table are close to 100, you should consider taking preventive action to purge unnecessary data. You can also contact Trimble Support for assistance.

If you want, you can set this up as a DAWG that can run in the background automatically. The query used to run this can be taken and the output sent to an administrator. You can even add a check to only display results that are exceeding the high (e.g., 90%) threshold.

When setting up terminals, you can add user conditions to determine when certain rules are activated.

If a user condition fails, the error message that appears provides detailed information that helps you identify and fix problems more quickly.

This feature is now available in:

Hostler functions allow dock users to manage the hostler list and monitor and control container movement from door to door.

Because TruckMate no longer uses these functions, they have been removed in version 2023.1.

As of this version of TruckMate, the standalone Bulk Codes Maintenance (BULKCODES.EXE) application is no longer available.

All Bulk Codes Maintenance functionality now exists in a Dangerous Goods tab in Codes Maintenance.

On this tab, two sub-tabs exist:

When on either sub-tab, these options are available under the Tools menu:

Now, TruckMate reports when the Mileage service was last run with a mileage job. The information is stored in the LAST_RUN column of the TM_SERVICE table. Upgrading to TruckMate 2023.1 automatically creates this information in the table.

With this feature, you can set up tracking so that you can detect and correct any potential service issues, such as unexpected crashes or downtime. Also, Trimble Transportation Support can use the TM_SERVICE table to locate where a particular service is present in your network.

Once a freight bill is picked on a D2Link device, a driver may attempt to unmatch or cancel the pick. When the return macro is received, the Mobile Communications Service sends an updated trip load automatically. This functionality has been improved to provide better performance.

Previously, performance issues occurred when processing a large number of reefer units through Mobile Communications.This has been resolved with this release.

When set to True, the CODES.EXE Track on Trip Application Configurator option caused TruckMate to enter POSITION records against freight bills when the mobile device received a ping update.

However, if multiple mobile devices were present against a resource or trip, setting this option to True caused performance issues due to the number of records entered.

This Application Configurator option has been removed and its functionality moved to Mobile Device Maintenance.

Now, if you want, you can decide which mobile network(s) are responsible for recording POSITION updates against freight bills. In addition, a new USE_TRACK_ON_TRIP column has been added to the MOBILE_NETWORK table.

When you upgrade to TruckMate 2023.1, the following takes place:

Now, TruckMate can "match" a newly created or imported freight bill against predefined rules to determine if a trip template trip can be created automatically from it.

Trips are created using a new Trip Template Auto Generation service that must be set up in TruckMate Service Host prior to use.

Previously, the Trip Envelope Processing LTL Miles grid only sorted records by stop number. This did not account for cases in which multiple actions (picks, drops, attempts) occurred at the same stop.

Now, the default sort order is determined by four types of data:

In TruckMate 2022.4, the Application Configurator option Pickup Entry: Pickup Entry Date Mode was moved from CITYDISP.EXE to MMDISP.EXE.

Now, the Short Form Pickup Entry window in Multi Mode Dispatch respects the value of this option as indicated:

In Customer Service, you can plan dock locations at terminals using the LTL tab’s Terminal Plan grid.

In Multi Mode Dispatch, you can also insert non-terminal zones into the plan. TruckMate does not support loading/unloading items via dock activities at non-terminal locations.

Because of this, the Plan Bill (Terminal Location) shortcut menu option is now unavailable if a non-terminal zone is in the plan.

The MMDISP.EXE Deassignment Resources Group Application Configurator option lets you specify groups of resource types that can be deassigned from a trip in a single step. Each resource type is identified by a single letter.

Letter strings determine resource type groups. For example, specifying DPO lets you deassign drivers, power units, and containers from a trip.

Previously, invalid strings resulted in incorrect and/or invalid resource type groups appearing in the Deassign menu option list. This issue has been resolved.

In Multi Mode Dispatch, you can update the route sequence value for a freight bill inside the Pickups grid. Typically this is useful for:

Previously, if you updated the route sequence value for one record and moved to a different record, the change did not display in the grid until or unless the grid was refreshed. Now, the grid refreshes automatically, and any change made to the route sequence displays.

In TruckMate 2022.4, the WriteTLOrderDoor Application Configurator option was moved from CROSSDCK.EXE to MMDISP.EXE.

To clarify this option’s purpose in Multi Mode Dispatch, it has been renamed to Write Active Door Number to Freight Bill User Field.

When a freight bill is parked at a loading door during a trip, the value in this option determines the TruckMate user field in which the door number displays. By default, this option is blank (no door number displays). In this illustration, the door number appears in the USER10 field.

When enabled, the MMDISP.EXE Status Change Date - Apply Time Zones Application Configurator option adjusts the time of an update if the TruckMate database server and the location where the update occurs are in different time zones.

This functionality now applies to these dock activity actions:

For each action, freight bill status(es) and trip status are adjusted as follows:

The location history table also receives correct time zone entries for any resources associated with the trips.

In the Trip status change and equipment repositioning window, the time a resource is repositioned is equal to the current time plus/minus the required time zone adjustment as defined on the freight bill.

Previously, when set to Generate Repositioning Trips, the DISPATCH.EXE Out of Zone Resource Behaviour Application Configurator option caused TruckMate to create a new trip for each resource that was moved.

This could "waste" a potentially large number of trip numbers just for repositioning purposes. This could prove especially problematic for resources that were all at the same zone.

To improve efficiency, scenario-specific functionality changes were made to both Dispatch and Multi Mode Dispatch. These changes also apply if a reposition is triggered via mobile communications.

A new Port of Entry (P.O.E.) field lets you filter manifests by ports of entry defined in the system.

If you create a trap in TruckMate:

Previously, this was the only way a user would know that a trap was created. No history was recorded about events that were related to the trap.

Now, POSITION records are logged against the trapped resource. These records describe events that occur with the trap, including:

In the Location History window in Dispatch and Multi Mode Dispatch, the Comment column describes the event.

Events are recorded from movements performed by a dispatcher in Multi Mode Dispatch and a dockworker using ConnectedDock.

Note that the date reflects the time that is associated with the zone. If the DISPATCH.EXE Application Configurator option Status Change Date - Apply Time Zone is set to True, TruckMate uses the Daylight Saving Time (DST) timestamp associated with the zone instead of the local/machine server time.

With this feature, dispatchers can see more information about trap locations. You can also investigate discrepancies in cases where, for example, a trap was present but a resource was not present at the terminal.

On the Common tab in the eManifest Defaults & Settings window, a new Max Row Limit field lets you define the maximum number of records that appear in the Manifests grid.

The default value in this field is 1000. Valid values include:

TruckMate 2023.1 contains several changes that should improve performance when using Multi Mode Dispatch.

Previously, if a freight bill was moved within ConnectedDock to a non-planned location, the freight bill’s planning fields were not updated. This meant that any ad-hoc moves happened on their own and could only been seen in the Item History window.

Now, ConnectedDock movements are partially controlled with a WCD Application Configurator option.

If all bills are moved to a new location, and the advanced planning feature is being used, all previously existing planned locations are overridden by the new location.