Append Shipment

This action is accessed via Shipment Management > Shipment Management > Buy Shipments > Actions > Operational Planning > Change Shipment Route > Append Shipment.

This action allows you to append one shipment onto another. For example, you have two pick-up stops that are separate shipments going to a pool/cross-dock location and then there onto two drop-off locations. The first two shipments can be appended, essentially merged into one shipment. You can use it to undo relay shipment breakdowns and relay shipments in-transit.

If the append-to shipment has handling shipments or secondary charges, or is in a shipment group, you will not be able to append the shipment. These scenarios are not currently supported.

Finding Appendable Shipments

Following is the criteria to determine appendable shipments:

1. Stop requirements:
   • SH1 - last stop is a drop-off
   • SH1 last stop and SH2 first stop must be the same location
   • There can be no MOVE_EMPTY or CHECK _INVENTORY special services at the last stop for SH1 or the first stop for SH2, since these special services are not supported at intermediate stops.
2. Status requirements:
   • SH1 must not be tendered
   • SH2 must not be in-transit
3. Equipment requirement 1:
   • SH1 and SH2 should have only one freight s_equipment (IS FREIGHT=true)
4. Equipment requirement 2 (this is only required for relay, swap or multi-leg shipments that share the same s-equipment):
   • SH1 and SH2 has the same freight s_equipment (Is FREIGHT=true)

For appendable shipments, the logic looks to find shipments that satisfy all 4 constraints; either a single shipment (for relay, swap or multi-leg shipments that share the same s_equipment) or nothing. If nothing is found, it will try to find shipments that meet the first 3 criteria (for breakdown or general shipments).

The 'glog.business.shipment.maxAppendableShipments' property limits the number of results returned.

Appending a Shipment:

1. Select a shipment to append to.
2. Click the Append Shipment action.
3. If there are multiple appendable shipments, an intermediate page opens showing all appendable shipments and the option to manually enter a shipment. Select or enter a shipment. Click Simulate. The Append Shipment page opens. This page cannot be edited. It displays the shipment to append to, the shipment to be appended, and the tentative result.
4. If the tentative result looks good to you, click Execute. The action completes and the results page displays.
   OR
   Click Cancel and stop the append action.

Using the example above, you have two pick-up stops that are separate shipments going to a pool/cross-dock location and then onto two drop-off locations. The first two shipments are appended. The Shipment ID for the Shipment to be Appended is kept and the second shipment ID is deleted.

If the second shipment has a driver and/or equipment or equipment type assigned, they are unassigned. For the equipment in this case, there would have been two equipment records, one for each pick-up to the pool/cross-dock location. Since only one will be needed, the first one is used, provided it is the same size, and the second one dropped. The equipment inventory is updated.

There is an overlapping stop that may be removed. In the above example, the pool/cross-dock location was just a stop to consolidate the two shipments and is no longer needed, so it will be deleted. If there is a pickup or drop-off at the pool/cross-dock location, the stop is needed and will not be removed. This shows in the Tentative Action Result section. If the Overlapping Stop Removed check box is selected, the stop will be removed.

The resulting shipment assumes the identity of the first shipment; has the same service provider, rate offering, driver, s_equipment, status, tracking events and so on. The sequence of stops for shipment 2 and the appointment times are retained. Driver and equipment compatibility rules are checked.