Assign Equipment Type (to Shipment)

This page is accessed via Shipment Manager > Shipment Manager > Buy Shipments > Actions > Fleet Management > Assign > Equipment Type.

Use this action to assign equipment types to the shipment. This action allows you to create and manage equipment positioning moves within a shipment.

You can assign equipment types to third party shipments only when the CONSIDER THIRD PARTY SHIPMENTS FOR ASSIGNMENT parameter is set to TRUE. If there is no driver yet assigned, then the service provider defined in the DEFAULT SERVICE PROVIDER FOR FLEET ASSIGNMENT parameter will be used. If you later assign a driver, the service provider will be determined by the driver.

If you want to send the driver home using this action, you must set the GET THE DRIVER HOME parameter to True.

Note: To assign fleet equipment types to shipment, there must be a one to one relationship between equipment type and equipment group.

Note: When you run this action, if there are depot stops on the shipment with no pickups or dropoffs, they will be removed from the shipment.

Note: This action will function for CLOSED-DETACHABLE shipments, but not for STATIC or DYNAMIC shipments.

Note: This action has two agent actions associated with it: Assign Equipment Type and Assign Best Equipment Type.

When assigning equipment types, there are numerous scenarios for planning equipment types.

A pickup equipment is allowed at the location if the Available Count is greater than 0.

For Dropoff, if the Check inventory bucket exists and the Surplus (Count - Target) is less than 0. (If Check inventory bucket does not exist, ignore check).

Assigning Equipment Types:

Select the Assign Equipment Type action. The Assign Equipment Type to Shipment - Override Criteria page opens. See the Override Criteria for Fleet Planning topic to complete the top part of the page.

Assign Equipment Type for Shipment on Assign Equipment Type

For this action, there is a section on the Ignore Criteria page Assign Equipment Type for Shipment. Each row of the grid is editable, unless the equipment type decision has already been made. In that case, the row is not editable.

The following rows may appear:

• Drop Empty Before Freight: This is shown only if the last stop of the driver's previous shipment is the last freight delivery stop, and if the special service code for that stop is MOVE_EMPTY or CHECK_INVENTORY. If there is no driver, this is not shown. If the shipment's PREV_DELV_INVENTORY_PROCESSED flag is true, "Processed" is checked; otherwise, it is unchecked.
• Pick Empty Before Freight: This is shown only if the first freight pickup stop has the PICKLOADED special service, as well as one of the MOVE_EMPTY or CHECK_INVENTORY special services. If the shipment's PICK_INVENTORY_PROCESSED flag is true, "Processed" is checked; otherwise, it is unchecked.
• Pick Empty For Freight: This is shown if the first freight pickup stop has the PICKUPEMPTY special service. If the shipment has a freight S_EQUIPMENT, "Processed" is checked; otherwise, it is unchecked.
• Freight: This is shown only if the first freight pickup stop has the PICKLOADED special service. If the shipment has a freight S_EQUIPMENT, "Processed" is checked; otherwise, it is unchecked
• Drop Empty After Freight: This is shown only if the last freight delivery stop has one of the MOVE_EMPTY or CHECK_INVENTORY special services. If the shipment's DLV_INVENTORY_PROCESSED flag is true, "Processed" is checked; otherwise, it is unchecked.
  
  Select the Has Dropoff Location check box if you know where the equipment is to be dropped. If selected, OTM will create a new shipment equipment record and associate it with the current shipment. If not selected, this will allow you to create the Shipment's Drop Empty After Freight, S_Equipment (equipment movement) without a known destination, which in turn will decrement the Available bucket at the stop, and make that equipment appear as available retained equipment for the drivers' next shipment assignment.

The following fields exist for the rows displayed:

• The Process check box indicates whether this leg is to be considered in this action.
• The Processed check box indicates that processing has occurred.
• The Location ID indicates an optional user choice for a pickup or drop-off location. If the selection was made previously, the value is pre-populated. The location looks at the available bucket as defined in logic configuration - fleet equipment parameters.
• The Equipment Type ID indicates the optional equipment type for that leg. If the selection was made previously, the value is pre-populated. If you select the Equipment ID, this field will populate automatically.
• The Equipment ID indicates the optional equipment ID for that leg. If the selection was made previously, the value is pre-populated. If you enter an Equipment ID, it does not make sense to enter the Location ID or the Equipment Type ID. If you specify equipment that is not available, the assignment will not be successful.
• The Special Service is read-only and indicates what special service code is the basis for this decision.

Assignment Section on Assign Equipment Type

Note: If you are working with a multi-equipment multi-leg shipment, please go to the Multiple Equipment section below.

The assignment of equipment type to a shipment can be done the following ways:

• Manual/Best Option: After you enter criteria and click OK, the system will automatically select the best option.
• All options: Use the Show Options button (after clicking the More Options button) to show all valid equipment type. A new page opens that displays valid options along with the following fields for review:
• • Weighted Cost is from the shipment
  • Equipment Type ID: ID of the equipment type
  • Pick Location Name: Where the shipment equipment is picked up.
  • Drop Location Name: Where the shipment equipment is dropped off.
  • Out of Route Distance is the additional miles that will be added to the shipment for taking this option. If no driver is assigned, it is the empty miles; if a driver is assigned, it is the incremental miles incurred to add this NFR stop if selected.
  • Freight: if you have multiple pieces of shipment equipment on a shipment, this specifies which one is carrying the freight.
  • Available Count is the on-hand (adjusted) count for the Available bucket at the relevant location.
  • Surplus is the on-hand (adjusted) count minus the target level, both for the Check Inventory bucket at the relevant location.
  • Target is the target level for the Check Inventory bucket at the relevant location.

After reviewing the options, select the option button for the preferred equipment type and click OK.

Note for Show Options

For an option on the Show Options results, whenever the option has no pick location or drop location, the option represents the decision not to move equipment. So choosing this option will not result in shipment equipment or new equipment pick/drop stops being added. This kind of option will show equipment type, and this indicates the equipment type that we have decided not to move.

When the check inventory is for a live load or live unload, however, the Show Option result will show the true pick/drop location for the freight equipment. If the pick location for the freight equipment is the freight pickup location, then this indicates that we have chosen not to move an empty equipment into this location to use as the freight equipment. (Likewise for the drop location and the drop freight location.)

All potential decisions about whether to move equipment are displayed in the Show Options results data.

Multiple Equipment Shipments

If you are working with a multiple equipment shipment, additional columns are displayed.

Combination Equipment Group ID: This column will display the combination equipment that has already been assigned to the selected process. Define combination equipment group IDs here.

Equipment Group Details: This column section will display sequence numbers and equipment group ID information. Fields are also available for you to designate specific equipment type IDs and equipment IDs.

To see which equipment combinations the system suggests for your shipment, click Show Options.

Drag-and-drop on a Workbench Layout