To add a load to the Trucking system, follow the instructions below:
Open Dr Dispatch and go to the Trucking system.
Go to the Dispatch tab at the buttom of the screen.
Once you have the PRO #'s set to start where you want. go to 'Truck Dispatch'->make sure you are on the 'Dispatch' tab.
- Please reference Changing Pro Number Sequence for how to set your Pro #.
1) Press the 'New' button in the upper left corner.
2) TAB through the fields using the TAB key(above caps lock). if you do not know a piece of info, leave it blank and come back to fill in when you get it.
Tip: Tabbing through fields is a very quick way to enter in new loads.
3) First you must select a customer. If you do not see your choice in the drop down list, then you can select '<NEW CUSTOMER>'. This will open a form to ADD a NEW CUSTOMER. **Fill out ALL the fields on the new customer so you have an address to send invoice etc.** You can also go to the CUSTOMER tab and enter directly there if you wish, then come back & select the new customer.
4) After you select/add a customer tab on through the 'Special', 'Commodity' and 'Equipment' fields(setup info here). these fields are NOT required.
5) The 'REF #' field is important to most. this will print on the INVOICE and should be whatever unique number your customer wants to see on invoice to get you paid faster.
6) A field to tab each load with a dispatcher, to track revenue, sort loadboard for just THEIR loads etc. (setup info here).
7) We provide a huge area to make any notes/comments you feel needed through life of the load. (Unlimited size.) Notes will only print on loadsheet (internal copy).
8) Now we tab to the STOPS at bottom of load entry. You can have one pick & one drop or you can have many of each. When you press NEW you always get a P(ick) and D(rop).
9) Shippers and receivers can ALSO be added-on-the-fly, the same as customers. Simply select <NEW SHIPPER> or <NEW RECEIVER> to add a new facility on the fly. Again, you can also stop->goto appropriate TAB and enter there->come back and select or change later.
10) Tab on through to the pick date, fill in DATES! They must be there for many reasons!! After the DATE field, if you wish to SKIP last column->press END key, then tab on down to the DROP. tab through it same as shipper, you can add a new receiver if needed as well.
11) Once you tab through the last drop, DRD will ask you if you need another stop. When done and you answer NO, the CUSTOMER BILLING RATE screen opens. This is where you fill out the rate you will be billing the CUSTOMER. You can come back and change ANY PART, at ANY TIME! Fill in what you need, then when you press OK, it will add it all up and save it! This is the rating that prints on the invoice.
Once you press OK to save the rate, you have basically completed the load. You can go back and CHANGE or ADD any info, at any time.
The load will have a STATUS of 'Available' if NO trk was assigned. If a unit was ASSIGNED, notice the status - 'Assigned'.
The status has to be changed to "DISPATCHED" by a human, a CHECK CALL will be entered AUTOMATICALLY when DISPATCHED. This way, if you do NOTHING more we have a times stamp on that load, as to WHEN it was dispatched. (press TRACKING to view/add checkcall)
*All loads can be monitored via the 'LoadBoard' from here.
***If you have a CUSTOMER, A RATE greater then ZERO and a UNIT assigned, that load will SHOW IN TRK INVOICING to be billed at any time. what could be easier!!
Terms used in the Dispatch tab
Driver 1 The first driver of the load. Use this as the primary driver.
Driver 2 The second driver of the load. Use this if you have two drivers hauling the load.
Customer is where you input the customer for the load. Depending on your preferences set in Trucking Preferences, you may need to fill out certain fields for a customer before you may use a customer on a load.
Special/Commodity/Equipment are fields that denote any special requirements, the commodity being hauled, and required equipment for the load. These lists are designed to both look up previous entries from the database and quick add simply by typing the name of your new entry and tabbing out of the list with the TAB key. For example, one could tab into the special field, or use the mouse, type 'EXCHANGE' for pallet exchange, and tab out or click on another field to assign 'EXCHANGE' to the load and permanently add 'EXCHANGE' under the special list for future loads.
Ref # (Billing) is the billing reference # from your customer. Typically, this is their internal invoice number and how your customer refers to this load. This field is searchable from the search tab and the utilities menu.
Dispatcher is who is the dispatcher assigned to this load. Dispatcher name displayed is the last name of any employee entered in the Sales/Dispatcher section of setup.
Miles miles for the load. If you're integrating PCMiler or ProMiles with Dr Dispatch, the 'Update Miles' button will calculate this based off of your stops.
Status is the status of the load.
Available is used to denote they need a carrier booked.
Assigned is used once a carrier is assigned to a load.
Dispatched is used to denote the carrier's driver has in fact been dispatched by you and should be on the way to service the load
Loaded (optional) designates that a load is in fact LOADED on the trk
Docked (optional) for users that cross dock their freight, use this to tell if its on the dock vs a trl
Empty is used once a load has been delivered.
Closed is used when you're done with the load to drop it from your active load filter.
Dispatcher Notes are any notes, special instructions, etc. This data prints on some reports and is useful to store any notes or information for the load not already present in Dr Dispatch.
Stops is where you enter your picks and drops. Double clicking on a facility here will produce a screen with the shipper or receiver's notes section. This is useful to quickly pull notes and directions on your pickups and drops from dispatch.
A pickup is denoted as a P and a drop as a D. The stops are ordered by the value in the # field. Selecting the shipping or receiving location under facility will auto fill the city, state, zip and phone # fields entered on the shipper and receiver tabs. Dr Dispatch will perform best if you fill in an origin pick and destination drop with accurate location information, dates, and times. Failure to supply dates can make the load(s) fail to appear in revenue due to the lack of a valid pick and drop date. You can use the blue up and down arrows to the left to quickly re-arrange stop order.
There are several fields in the Stops area.
The # is a number only field that denotes what order this stop occurs.
Pick/Drop is the type of stop. P for pickup and D for drop. The first pick and last drop of a load set the pick date, drop date, and origin/destination information for the overall load.
Facility is the shipping or receiving facility and is looked up from the database under the shipper tab for P and receivers tab for type D facilities (much like the carrier and customer lookups).
City ST for the facility selected above.
Phone number of the facility. (optional)
Pick/PO # for the stop. (optional)
Units used to be referred to as cases or pieces. (optional)
Pallets is a new field added that denotes how many pallets to pick or drop. (optional)
Wgt is the weight being picked or dropped. (optional)
Date of the pick or drop. Origin and destination dates are derived from the first pick and last drop of a load. Searches with date ranges and revenue REQUIRE a date on your first pick and last drop.
Time the stop picks up or delivers. This is an actual computer time format and can not contain text or a time range. On a FCFS load or a load with a time range you may put the earliest or latest time here. (optional)
Time Range is a text field that you may be a range of time or FCFS in. (optional)
Address 1 of the shipping or receiving facility. (optional)
Zip code of the shipping or receiving facility. Users with a mileage integration should put a correct zip code in on all addresses for accurate mileage. (optional)
BOL Associated with the stop. (optional)
Freight class of the stop. This field is largely unused at this time. (optional)
Status of the stop to denote planned, en-route, and completed. (optional)
Description is a place to put extra notes on the stop.