Using the Dispatch Advantage planner

3.Using the Dispatch Advantage planner

Planning trips in Dispatch Advantage

Retrieving trips and resources in the planner

Retrieving trips according to the assigned resource type

Displaying the most current trip information

Viewing and sorting trips

Displaying the current sorting method

Sorting by tractor or driver availability

Sorting drivers by PTA date

Displaying drivers' PTA dates in the Resources grid

Specifying the default setting for the PTA Date column

[Dispatch Advantage] ShowDriverPTADate

Sorting resources based on distance from the trip origin

Sorting available trips based on distance from the selectedresource

Setting up the planner to display revenue per mile

[Dispatch] MTSortRevenuePerMile

Finding trips and resources

Searching for trips in the Available Trips grid

Searching for trips in the resources grids

Searching for a tractor

Searching for a driver

Viewing more or fewer dates in the Trip Assignment grid

Increasing the zoom percentage

Decreasing the zoom percentage

Increasing the number of resources and trips thatcanappearintheplanner

Changing the row height and trip bar length

Setting the default collapse settings

[Dispatch Advantage] CollapseHeightAndVOffsets

Expanding and collapsing the Resources grid

Viewing overlapping trips in the planner

Locking the Trip Assignment grid

Assigning available trips

Verifyingatrip'sprofitability

Consolidating trips in the planner

Consolidating Dispatched and Started trips intheTripAssignmentgrid

Specifying the default consolidation setting

[Dispatch Advantage] StdTripAllowConsolidation

Changing a trip's start date

Updating the Earliest and Latest dates whenatripassignmentischanged

Specifying the default start date setting

[Dispatch Advantage] DisableEarliestLatestUpdate

Changing the dates for a trip's unactualized stops

Specifying the default setting for a trip's unactualized stops

[Dispatch Advantage] StdTripAllowEndDateChange

Understanding how the planner handles loadrequirements

Assigning an order with a Must condition to a resource

Assigning an order with a Should condition to a resource

Understanding how the planner handles expirations

Viewing detailed trip information

Opening a trip in the Trip Folder

Viewing trip information in the Trip Info window

Locking the Trip Info window for the currently displayed event

Viewing miles, commodities, and stops in the Trip summary

Viewing detailed resource information

Accessing a resource's assignment history from the planner

Accessing a resource's assignment history fromtheTripInfowindow

Viewing contact and location information in the Driver Summary

Determining a resource's current location

Recording and reviewing check calls in Dispatch Advantage

Viewing event color and duration definitions

Canceling trip assignments

Canceling a single trip assignment

Canceling one or more assignments

Hiding the Unassign Trip confirmation message

Setting the default for the confirmation message

[Dispatch Advantage] DisableUnassignShortcutWarning

Using Dispatch Advantage with TotalMail

Sending a Load Assignment form

Sending a Trip Profile form

Sending a text message

Identifying tractors and drivers using TotalMail

Identifying a trip's TotalMail status

Planning trips in Dispatch Advantage

The Dispatch Advantage planner allows you to plan trips and view resource assignments on one easy-to-read screen. To plan resource assignments quickly, you "drag" resources from the Planning Worksheet's Available Trips grid and "drop" them in Dispatch Advantage's TripAssignment grid, also referred to as the planner.

When you display trips in the planner, resources and trips are displayed alphabetically by tractor ID or driver ID.

The system remembers many of the settings you used during your last Dispatch Advantage session.When you open the planner for a session, these features will appear as they did when you closed the previous session.

The size of the Trip Info window and its position in the planner when opened are also saved.

Note: On the following day, the dates in the Start and End fields default to the current date.

Retrieving trips and resources in the planner

When you retrieve data into the Dispatch Advantage planner, the trips and resources that appear are determined by the following:

  • The trips that appear in the Planning Worksheet's AvailableTrips grid.
  • The resources that appear in the Available Resources grid.
  • The date range that you enter in the Dispatch Advantage planner's Start and End fields.

The trips displayed in the AvailableTrips grid and the resources displayed in the AvailableResources grid will vary according to the view being used. When you look up available trips and resources, the grids display only records that match the views assigned to your group, or those assigned specifically to you.

Consequently, the trips and resources that you can retrieve in the Dispatch Advantage planner are dependent upon the views you are using for the AvailableTrips grid and Available Resourcesgrid.

Note: For more information about views and restrictions, see the Definingviews chapter of the PlanningWorksheet guide.

Before you open the Dispatch Advantage planner, you must populate the Planning Worksheet's AvailableTrips grid and the Tractors/Trip Segments grid, Drivers grid, or AllResources grid.

Follow these steps to access the Dispatch Advantage planner:

  1. In the Planning Worksheet, click Retrieve.
    Trips meeting your restrictions show in the AvailableTrips grid. Resources meeting your restrictions appear in the Available Resources grids.
  2. Do one of the following:
  • If you will be assigning tractors to trips, select theTractors/Trip Segments tab.
  • If you will be assigning drivers to trips, select theDrivers tab.
  • If you will be switching between assigning tractors and drivers to trips, select theAllResources tab.

Notes:

  1. The Dispatch Advantage planner retrieves resource data from the AvailableResources tab that you select. It cannot display the data if you retrieve resources without selecting one of the tabs. If you will be planning trips for both drivers and tractors, it is recommended that you retrieve your resource data in the AllResources grid.
  2. Any restrictions applied by your assigned view are enforced when resources are retrieved.
  1. Select the Dispatch Advantage tab. The empty Dispatch Advantage planner is displayed.

Note: To open the Dispatch Advantage planner in a new window, click Open Dispatch Advantage in New Windowin the sheet toolbar. You can also select ViewDispatch Advantage. The window will use the settings from your previous session in the planner.

  1. Enter the date range for which you want to retrieve Planned, Dispatched, Started, and Completed trips:
  2. In the Start field, enter the beginning date of the date range for which you want to retrieve trips.
  3. In the End field, enter the ending date of the date range.

Notes: When you initially open the planner, the Start and End fields default to the current date.

  1. In the first drop-down list, specify whether you want to retrieve trips based on Tractors or Drivers.
  1. To display the resources and trips that match your filtering restrictions, click Retrieve.

The TripAssignment grid displays trips with a status of Planned, Dispatched, Started, and/orCompleted for the specified date range.

If you retrieved trips based on tractors, the Resources grid sorts the resources by tractor ID. If you retrieved trips based on drivers, the grid sorts the resources by each driver's last name.

Note:By default, Planned trips are gray, Dispatched trips are aqua, Started trips are green, and Completed trips are red. For information about changing the colors, see the Setting default trip status colors for trip bars section in the "Setting up the Dispatch Advantage planner" chapter.

Retrieving trips according to the assigned resource type

Use these steps to retrieve trips in the Trip Assignment grid based on the tractor or driver resource type.

If you initially selected / Do this
Tractors/Trip Segments tab /
  1. Return to the AvailableResources grid and select the Drivers tab.
  2. Open the Dispatch Advantage planner.
  3. Select Drivers from the first drop-down list.
Note: If you select Drivers without first selecting the Drivers tab, this message is displayed.

  1. Click Retrieve.

Drivers tab /
  1. Return to the AvailableResources grid and select the Tractors/Trip Segments tab.
  2. Open the Dispatch Advantage planner.
  3. Select Tractors from the first drop-down list.
Note: If you select Tractors without first selecting the Tractors/Trip Segments tab, this message is displayed.

  1. Click Retrieve.

All Resources tab /
  • If Tractors is displayed in the first drop-down list, select Drivers from the list.
  • If Drivers is displayed in the first drop-down list, select Tractors from the list.

Displaying the most current trip information

Moving and removing trips changes the planner's empty mile calculations. Afteryou cancel a trip assignment, or move a trip from one resource to another resource, you must update the trip information for the trips currently displayed in the planner's TripAssignment grid.

Right-click in the TripAssignment grid, and then select RefreshTrips from the shortcut menu.

Notes:

  1. The RefreshTrips option updates data for the trips currently displayed in the TripAssignment grid.
  2. When you click the Retrieve button, the system retrieves the resources and trips that match the date and resource filtering restrictions. If the resource information or trip status has changed, the information in both the Resources grid and the TripAssignment grid will change.

Viewing and sorting trips

Within the Dispatch Advantage planner, you view trips in the TripAssignment grid by entering a date range. Within that date range, you can sort the Resources grid by:

  • Tractor ID
  • Tractor availability
  • Driver ID
  • Driver availability
  • Driver PTA date

The planner also allows you to sort resources and trips based on distance. You can:

  • Sort the resources in the planner based on how close each resource's most recently planned destination is to the origin of the trip selected in the AvailableTrips grid.
  • Sort the trips in the AvailableTrips grid based on how close each trip's origin is to the destination of the resource selected in the planner.

Note: If you set up Dispatch Advantage to identify trips by segment number, it is useful to move the LghNumber field next to the Order# field in the AvailableTrips grid when planning trips.

Displaying the current sorting method

To display the current sorting method in the planner, place the cursor on the top border of the Resources grid, just below the Start field. When the hand icon appears, click the mouse button.

When you change the sorting method, the status message will change automatically.

The sort status is not retained when you close and reopen the planner.

Sorting by tractor or driver availability

By default, the Resources grid lists the tractors or drivers in alphabetical order. You can also display resources according to the end date of their last assigned trip.

  1. Right-click in the TripAssignment grid.
  2. From the shortcut menu, select Sort by Availability.Resources with no current assignments appear at the top of the Resources grid.

Notes:

  1. If Sort By Tractor appears in the shortcut menu, you have Tractors selected in the drop-down list next to the Retrieve button. The Resources grid will sort by tractor availability.
  2. If SortByDriver appears in the shortcut menu, you have Drivers selected in the drop-down list next to the Retrieve button. The Resources grid will sort by driver availability.
  1. To return to the original sort order, right-click in the grid and select Sort By Tractor or SortBy Driver from the shortcut menu.

Sorting drivers by PTA date

A driver's PTA (projected time of availability) date is the date the driver expects to be ready for the next load assignment. In the Planning Worksheet, the PTA date for each driver can be entered in the Wants Home field in the Tractors tab, Drivers tab, and AllResources tab. You can also enter it in the Driver File Maintenance and Wants Home windows.

You can sort the Resources grid by PTA date if the planner is set up to display that information.

  1. Right-click in the TripAssignment grid.
  2. From the shortcut menu, select Sort By Driver PTA Date.

  1. To return to the original sort order, right-click in the grid and select Sort By Driver from the shortcut menu.
Displaying drivers' PTA dates in the Resources grid

First available in TMWSuite: 2011.10_08.0302

A feature in the Options window allows you to specify whether the PTADate column appears in the Resourcesgrid.

  1. In the Options window, scroll to the Asset List Columns section.
  2. To display the column, select the Add Driver PTA Update Column to Driver Asset List check box.
  1. Click OK.
Specifying the default setting for the PTA Date column

By default, the PTADate column does not appear in the planner's Resource grid. You can change the setting in the Asset List Columns section'sAdd Driver PTA Update Column to Driver Asset List field. If you need to, click the Reset button restore the setting to the value defined in your TTS50.ini file.

[Dispatch Advantage]
ShowDriverPTADate
Applies to / TMWSuite: 2011.10_08.0302
Description / Use this setting to specify whether driver PTA dates should be displayed in the Dispatch Advantage planner's Resources grid when the trip display is based on the assigned drivers.
Note: You can change setting in the Dispatch Advantage Options window. If you use the window's Reset button to restore defaults, the value defined by this setting is restored.
Options /
  • N (default)
Do not display driver PTA dates.
  • Y
Display driver PTA dates.
Note: This setting allows you to sort the drivers displayed in the Resources grid according to PTA date.

Sorting resources based on distance from the trip origin

You can sort the resources displayed in the planner based on the distance between each resource's most recent destination and the origin of a trip selected in the AvailableTrips grid.

  1. Select a trip in the AvailableTrips grid.
  2. Do one of the following:
  • At the top of the planner, click Sort Power Closest To Trips.
  • Right-click in the TripAssignment grid and select Sort By Closest To Trip.
  • Go to View > Sort Power Closest To Trips.

Note: This method does not work when you run Dispatch Advantage in a separate window.

The planner sorts according to each resource's distance from the trip origin. The closest resources appear at the top of the grid. The current sorting method indicates thecity/state for the trip origin.

The MTMiles column displays the number of empty miles between the trip origin and the current destination for each resource.

If you have the MTSortRevenuePerMile=Y setting in the [Dispatch] section of your TTS50.ini file the LH+FSC/MT Miles columns is displayed in the Resources grid. The resource with the greatest estimated revenue per mile appears at the top of the list.

Notes:

  1. The next time you reopen Dispatch Advantage, the column will display only the empty miles. The revenue information will appear when you use one of the distance-based sorting methods.
  2. Resources with no trips planned sort to the bottom of the Resources grid.

Sorting available trips based on distance from the selectedresource

You can sort the trips in the AvailableTrips grid based on the distance between each trip's origin and the destination of the resource selected in the planner.

  1. If necessary, clear the Lock check box at the top of the planner.

Note: If the Lockcheck box is selected, you cannot select trip bars or rows in the Resources grid.

  1. Do one of the following to sort the available trips based on the destination for a resource’s most recently assigned trip:
  • In the Resources grid, click in the row for the resource that you want to assign.
  • Click on a trip bar for the resource that you want to assign.
  1. Do one of the following:
  • At the top of the planner, click Sort Trips Closest To Power.

Note: A similar icon appears in the sheet toolbar. It is not applicable to Dispatch Advantage.

  • Right-click in the TripAssignment grid and select Sort Trips Closest To Power.
  • Go to View > Sort Trips Closest To Power.

Note: This method does not work for the standalone Dispatch Advantage window.

The AvailableTrips grid sorts according to distance from the destination of the resource's most recently assigned trip. The closest tripsappear at the top of the grid.

A message at the bottom of the Available Trips grid indicates the destination for the selected resource. The MTMiles column displays the number of empty miles between each trip's origin and the resource destination.