Wednesday, August 20, 2008

Work Assignments

I've mentioned my work assignments before, but I've never really gone into detail about what an assignment consists of. I'm going to provide examples of one below and explain what the gibberish means. Each message requires at least one response.

Fuel and Directions (one for each load)
PLZ SEND FUEL LVL FOR LD XX12345 TO RECEIVE DIRECTIONS
For this message, a reply presents a form on which I have to input two things: my fuel level (in increments of 1/8 tank) and what kind of directions I want (fueling only, company directions from nearest major highway, or street-level directions akin to Google's). This is the only way to get fuel directions so I generally round down to the next-lower fuel increment to be safe.
Equipment Disposition (one for each movement of unloaded equipment, rarely more than two per load)

Unfortunately, I don't have an example of this handy right now. But all it does is provide a customer code, what I'm doing with equipment (picking up or dropping off a trailer, deadheading, or bobtailing), and the number of miles I'm getting paid for it. In a case where I'm picking up an empty trailer and taking it to another yard - which is common for places that only receive or only ship - I'll get one message to pick up the trailer and another message to drop it. Each one requires a reply so they know when I picked it up and that I did, in fact, get the trailer I was supposed to get. If for some reason the trailer I've been told to pick up is not available, there are fields that I can input that information on; I then have to wait and find out what they want me to do.

Pickup Information (one for each pick up point)
PU INFO  LOC ID ABC12_ LD# XX12345 CUST NAME GENERIC WAREHOUSING #42 ADDRESS 123 NOWHERE RD CITY CORINTH____________ STATE MS PU STOP# 01 OF 01 BOX # TA987654 PRELDED___ PU RELAY N EST ARRIVE DTTM 08/21 0800 PU WINDOW 08/21 08:00 16:00 ON AVG DUR 00:30  HV______ MILES LDED 320 MILES FROM PREV LOC 0
Yay, details! This message provides the information I'll need in order to get directions, when I'm expected to arrive there, and how much I'm getting paid for it. In this case, I'm going to pick up a load that I have to pick up on the 21st between 8AM and 4PM and will get paid 320 miles for delivering it. If "miles from previous location" weren't zero, I'd be getting paid just to drive there. This is often the case if I've dropped a load at the previous customer and am picking up a preloaded trailer. Any specific information for the load or customer will be in this message as well, listed below the information in my example. This message requires two replies: one when I arrive and one when I depart. When I leave, I need to include the trailer number I've taken with me so the company can track what equipment is where.

Pickup Billing & Service Verification (one for each pick up point unless load is picked up as a relay)
PU BILLING & SERVICE VERIFICATION LOC ID ABC12_              LD # XX12345 CUST NAME GENERIC WAREHOUSING #42 PCS 3495 WEIGHT 30360 CMDTY PAPER, BALED MB/L 123454321 PU # R2-D2 HAND LOAD? NO X PART _ FULL _ LMPR _ PALJACK _
And more details! The first three lines just repeat information I already know, but the rest is useful. In this case, the load is just over 30,000 pounds so I need to be somewhat concerned about weight. I also have a bill of lading and a pick up number; most loads will only have one or the other, but in this case I have both. It's also not a hand load, though that's pretty obvious for preloaded trailers. When I reply to this, I have to fill in the correct number of pieces, the weight, and the bill of lading number. "Lumper" services are loading or unloading services we have to pay for and, frankly, are a pain in the ass. But that's a post for another time.

Delivery Information (one for each drop/unload point)
DEL INFO LOC ID ZZ987_ LD# XX12345 CUST NAME BIG BOX MART #7269 ADDRESS 500 DUELING BANJO LN CITY MCDONOUGH________ STATE GA DEL STOP # 01 OF 01    DP RELAY N EST ARRIVE DTTM 08/21 1539  DP LDED DEL WINDOW 08/22 00:01 23:59 BY AVG DUR 00:30 MILES FROM PREV LOC 320 SND MAC29 IF DEL IS OUTSIDE SVC WINDOW
And now for information about the place I'm going to. This has similar information to the pickup info message, only detailing my delivery. In this case, it's a "by" delivery, which means I can drop it any time I want as long as it's by the time listed; if I get this load delivered by 11:59PM on the 22nd, it's considered on time. Of course, I can deliver it early; the computer figures I can get there before 4PM on the 21st. It's to my advantage to deliver as early as possible, since the sooner I deliver a load the sooner I can get on something else to rack up more mileage. Like the pick up info, this message requires a reply both at arrival and departure.

Delivery Billing & Service Verification (one for each pick up point unless load is dropped off as a relay)
DEL BILLING & SERVICE VERIFICATION LOC ID ZZ987_              LD # XX12345 CUST NAME BIG BOX MART #7269 PCS 3495 WEIGHT 30360 CMDTY PAPER, BALED HAND LOAD? NO X PART _ FULL _ LMPR _ PALJACK _
The delivery message contains completely redundant information. All I have to do is, once I get the bills signed or stamped, reply to this so they know to send out a freight bill.

There may be an additional message with pick up or delivery numbers, such as PO numbers that may or many not be necessary, or any other unusual information I might need. I still haven't figured out why they can't just include it in the load-specific information on the pick up or delivery info messages, but that's not my thing to figure out

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