Equipment Group

This page is accessed via Shipment Management > Equipment Management > Equipment Group.

Equipment Groups identify the different kinds of equipment (such as dry vans, flatbed trucks, container cars, hoppers, tankers, box cars, and so on) that are used to transport shipments from one destination to another. An equipment group is defined by an ID and description as well as other attributes that describe the capacity of the equipment (for example, a 28 foot dry van that can handle up to 30,000 pounds).

Note: The Equipment Group finder page will not give you access to combination equipment groups. They can only be accessed via the Combination Equipment Group finder.

Note: If you are creating an equipment group with planes as equipment types, you must create a vehicle type to associate with this equipment group.

Note: There must be a 1 to 1 relationship between equipment groups and equipment types when defining them for rail transactions.

Creating an Equipment Group

1. Enter the Equipment Group ID. This is the alpha-numeric string that identifies the equipment group being created (for example, 28FT Dry Van). The Equipment Group Name is the alpha-numeric name of the group. This could be the same as the ID.
2. Select the domain where this group will be active from the Domain Name drop-down list.
3. Enter the Effective Volume. This is the maximum volume that the equipment group can accommodate. Click the icon to calculate volume by entering length, width, and height.
4. Enter the Effective Weight. This is the maximum weight that the equipment group can accommodate.
5. Mark the Container check box to identify that this equipment group is a container. Equipment groups with this check box marked are considered during the unitization process that can occur when running the Build Buy Shipment on Primary Leg action for an order release.
6. Select the Allow LIFO Only check box to indicate whether the equipment is for LIFO only. If not selected, may still allow LIFO depending on parameter settings. If selected allows only LIFO.
7. Enter the Length, Width, and Height  of the equipment in the equipment group. These dimensions are used in planning and optimization calculations.

   Note: When you add values to these fields, you also need to choose an appropriate unit of measure from the drop-down list.

8. In many cases, the height of the door is not equal to the actual height of the equipment, which can lead to loading limitations. Use the Door Height field to specify the height of the door so the planning logic can take this under consideration.
9. If the equipment has a curved roof, use the Curve ID field to define its curved dimensions. The dimensions and shape of the curved roof are defined in power data and assume that the curve in the roof is symmetrical from left to right.

   Note: Door Height and Curve definitions for equipment are only considered when using the load configuration functionality. This functionality must be set to run using the PERFORM LOAD CONFIGURATION parameter.

10. The Equipment Type Code can be used to designate a specific type of equipment and attributes. For information only.
11. In the Mechanical Designation field, you can enter the alphabetic code assigned to the physical description of the unit. For information only.
12. The Owner Type indicates the type of company that owns the stenciled mark on the equipment. For example private or carrier. For information only.
13. You can assign a Temperature Control ID to the equipment group to define the minimum/maximum temperature settings that the equipment can provide during transportation. Temperature Controls are defined in the Equipment Manager.

    Note: If there is no temperature control specified on the equipment, it means no constraint and is considered compatible.

14. Define the TEU Equivalents or the FEU Equivalents associated with the equipment. TEU is the Twenty-foot Equivalent Unit and the FEU is the Forty-foot Equivalent Unit. They are used to describe containers for ocean vessel shipments. A forty-foot container would be described as 2 TEU's or 2 FEU.
15. Define the Max Left Side Weight and Max Right Side Weight to specify the maximum weight allowed on that side of the equipment. In the Max Side Difference Weight field, specify the maximum weight difference allowed between the two sides of the equipment to prevent load imbalance.
16. Enter the Max Length per Ship Unit, Max Width per Ship Unit, Max Height per Ship Unit per unit.
17. You can enter the Max Gross Weight, which is the maximum permissible weight of the equipment and the load. For information only.
18. The Floor Height is the actual height of the platform or floor above the ground or the rail.
19. The Tare Weight field shows the tare weight of the equipment group.
20. The Empty Center of Gravity Length and Empty Center of Gravity Width fields show the center of gravity (for the length and width respectively) for the empty equipment group. Both measurements are from the bottom left corner of the equipment.
21. The Empty Center of Gravity Height field indicates the height from Top of Rail to the Center of Gravity when the equipment is empty. For information only.
22. Enter the Exterior Length, Width, and Height.
23. Select the Has Meter check box to indicate if there is a meter on the equipment. The meter is used to measure how much product is discharged at any given stop. If there are 20 stops and orders that range from 10 gal to 300 gal, the driver is not going to dip in a 5 gallon bucket to make deliveries. OTM checks for the presence of a meter on the compartment before allowing the same packaged item to multiple customers (stops).
24. Enter a Commodity ID, aka shipping family. Only items with the specified commodity will be compatible with this compartment.
25. Enter the Compartment Type ID to ensure the equipment group is compatible with the compartment type that OTM is considering for use.
26. Select the Bulk check box if this is for a bulk compartment. Bulk items can be mixed (even from different orders) if all of the following are true:

• • the Container Optimization Logic Configuration parameter USE BULK EQUIPMENT GROUP LOGIC is set to true.
  • the bulk mixing family of a second item to be placed matches the first (both must be defined).
  • the Exclusive Use check box on the order ship unit is not selected.

27. The Pulling Length is the pulling length of the container. This is used in calculation of loaded equipment dimensions for external distance engines. It is also part of the configuration for sending equipment dimensions to external distance engines.
    • for semi-trailers, this is the length from the king pin to the rear of the trailer
    • for pony trailers, this is the length from the hitch to the rear of the trailer
    • for the dromedary, this is the length from the front of the vehicle to the hitch

28. Enter the Truck Type ID.  Like the pulling length above, this is also used for calculation equipment dimensions for external distance engines to use.

Equipment Group Details

Add equipment compartment information for this equipment group by clicking the Add a Compartment button.

Obstructions

Add obstructions for this equipment group by clicking the Add Obstruction button. This allows you to configure equipment groups and compartments that do not have a uniform rectangular cross-section.

Capacity in Reference Units

Select Equipment Reference Units (ERUs) to define the specific transport handling units being loaded on the equipment. You can select multiple ERUs. Since you can have multiple ship units on an order, you can have multiple ERUs.

Note: The Maximum Number of Reference Units should be equal to Limit Number of Reference Unit when the equipment reference unit ID is independent.  If there is no alert the Limit Number of Reference Unit will be copied to the Maximum Number of Reference Units when you click Finished on the Equipment Group page.

1. Enter a Compartment Number for compartment level ERU. If the ERU is for the equipment group, it can be left blank or set to zero. A value of zero or null means that ERU is specified on the equipment group itself.
2. You can specify a Limit Number of Reference Unit as well as a Maximum Number of Reference Units. In addition to defining the maximum, this allows you to restrict or set an artificial limit to allow the placement of up to a certain number of ERUs and then allows the equipment to be filled with other ERUs.
3. For the Compartment Number field, if the ERU is for the equipment group, it can be left blank or set to zero. For compartment level ERU, you need to enter the compartment number in this field. For example, when loading automobiles, the number of units that fits depends on the size of the vehicle. You may want to define it as follows: 

   • Large car           5

   • Medium car       7

   • Small car           10

4. Click Save.

Equipment Type

1. Enter an Equipment Type ID to associate with this equipment group. If the equipment group on the shipment does not have any equipment types associated with it, it is open to be assigned to any equipment type.
2. Click Save.
3. Enter a numeric value to indicate the axle sequence.
4. Enter an axle name.
5. Enter the axle distance. This is the distance from the nose of the equipment and an indication of where maximum weight can be loaded.
6. Enter the maximum weight allowed.
7. Click Save.
8. Enter a vehicle type ID in the Vehicle Type ID field.
9. Click Save.
10. Click Finished.

Axles

This section allows you to specify axle details such as the axle sequence number and weight allocation. Enter a numeric value to indicate the axle sequence. Enter an axle name. Enter the axle distance. This is the distance from the nose of the equipment and an indication of where maximum weight can be loaded. Enter the maximum weight allowed.

OTM uses equipment status to indicate feasibility. In order to view axle weight feasibility, check the equipment status. The status type is AXLE_WEIGHT_FEASIBILITY and the statuses are AXLE_WEIGHT_FEASIBILITY_FEASIBLE and AXLE_WEIGHT_FEASIBILITY_INFEASIBLE respectively to indicate feasibility and infeasibility.