Consignment Details

Consignment Details

Introduction

Before a pickup or delivery can be performed, the TransVirtual system requires a consignment to describe and allocate resources to perform and track the work.

It is important to understand that by default creating consignments and booking or allocating pickups are two different tasks. Larger companies may be generating new consignments regularly but are not immediately ready for them to be picked up. You have the ability in settings to link creating consignments with requesting a pick up. This is useful for smaller clients using the online booking option or if you only create a new consignment when it is ready to be transported.

Consignment Details

Consignment Finance

Consignment Finance provides an detailed view of the pricing, costs and rate assignment for a consignment.

 Prices




This section provides a list of prices for this consignment.

  • You can select a price and see its details on the right hand side of the screen under Price Info.

  • You can click the Add Price button to add a manual price to the consignment

  • You can show deleted prices by ticking the box labelled Show Deleted in the top right hand corner of this section.

Active Price Summary

This section provides a broken down list of prices associated with this consignment

Consignment Items

This section provides a list of the items within this consignment.

Price Info

This section displays the information on the price selected within the Prices section of this page.

This allows you to see how the consignment has been automatically allocated prices based from your rates and zones.

  • If you have changed details in a consignment or changed the rates to fix a pricing issue, you will need to click the Re Price button and the price will be updated based of the new details and rates.

  • You can delete a price by clicking the Delete button. Prices are not actually deleted, just disabled from view, tick the box labeled Show Deleted in the Prices section above to select and re-activate a price.

  • To assign the price to a specific invoice, click the Invoice Actions button.

Applying Costs

A weighting is applied to each consignment. 
The total costs for the selected time period are calculated
The costs are divided across consignments based on their weighting. The higher the weighting the great the portion of costs it bears. 
To do this we gather the following information for every consignment 
  1. Cubic
  2. Dead Weight
  3. Base Price
We then total each of these variables across the selected time frame.
Reportable Costs = Consignment Total Cubic รท Account Total Cubic

Cubic Weight + Charge Weight Columns in Consignment Finance Tab

In the consignment finance tab there is the below field that is used to show the Weight chargeable against the consignment:

This column will display the greater of the dead weight vs the Cubic Weight listed in the Consignment Items section.

The Cubic Weight column next to this column is NOT calculated based on the cubic multiplier in the linked consignment rate card.
Instead, it will use the global default cubic multiplier located under Settings > General > Global Setup > Consignment Related Rules > Other:

For example, in the below consignment, the linked rate card is using a cubic multiplier of 333:

As you can see in the Rating Notes section, the weight is being calculated at 2,328kgs thanks to the 333 Cubic Multiplier used by the rate card this customer is assigned to.
When looking at the Cubic Weight column in the Consignment Items section, you see that the Cubic Weight (and Charge Weight as well) is displayed as 1,748kgs:

This is because the global default cubic multiplier value being used is 250.

Both the Cubic Weight and the Charge Weight columns may not be reflective of the actual consignment charge weight - as per the above example.
The Cubic Weight column is based on your global default cubic multiplier and the Charge Weight column simply displays the greater of the total dead weight vs the Cubic Weight columns as listed within the Consignment Items section.


Consignment Admin

This Tab provides an operational overview of the consignment and its requirements. 

General

This section provides an overview of this consignments creation, status & expected event dates.

Additional Services

This section provides a list of the customer requested or driver captured services

Re-occur and Templates

This section allows you to create a recurring template of this consignment and lets you provide a schedule for this work

This section lists the rating and routing zones associated with this consignment.

Consignment POD and Files Tab

POD & Files allows you to view any POD Signatures, ATL Photos or any other photo's or files associated with the consignment .

Reassign POD Signature

In TransVirtual in some circumstances it may be necessary to move a Signature from one consignment to another or changing the file type

Change Job

This can be done by locating the consignment the POD signature should belong to then navigating to the consignment with the signature.

In the POD & Files tab at the bottom of the signature image you are able to select reassign

You will then be presented with a list of consignments you have recently viewed and click on the consignment number you need to assign this too

You will now see this signature under the consignment assigned to, no need to reassign the POD image as the assigned consignment will regenerate its own image.

Change File Type

In the POD & Files tab at the bottom of the image you are able to select reassign

Select the Change File Type tab and press chance beside the type of file you would like this to become as below

Consignment History

Consignment Admin provides an operational overview of the consignment and its requirements.

Scans

This section provides a list of the consignment scans.

Equipment Transactions

This section provides a list of the transactions between the consignment entries and yourself

Equipment Captured/Scanned

Consignment Status Changes

This section will provide a list of consignment status changes as the consignment has been transported.

Assignments


This section will provide a list of assignments as the consignment has been transported.

Run Sheets

This section will provide a list of run sheets this consignment has been associated with while it has been transported.

Manifests

This section will provide a list of manifests this consignment has been associated with while it has been transported.

Data Changes - Consignment Fields

This section will provide a list of the changes to the consignment fields up to this point in the consignments transport..

Data Changes - Other Fields

This section will provide a list of the changes to the other consignment fields up to this point in the consignments transport. (ie Item Description changes)

Consignment Tracking

Consignment Tracking is used for the Transport Business, the Customer in the Web Portal and Receiver through a Tracking URL.

This will show information about the consignments details, current status, location and a scan history.

There is also the ability for the receiver to provide instructions to the driver for Authority to leave. This can be done by entering the instructions for the driver, the name of the person making the request and clicking on Save Request.

Consignment Communication

Consignment Communication allows information to be exchanged both internally and with the customer about this consignment

User Comments

A user can click the Add button to add comments to the consignment. These can be marked as private for internal notes and the comments will not to be shared with the customer.

EDI Export Events

Here you can see any EDI Exports that have been made against this consignment. If they are pending or incomplete you will see them here highlighted in red. If they have been successfully exported it will show the export date and time along with any comment made. If can double left click the Export to re-send.

Customer Service Tickets

Here you can see any Customer Service Tickets that have been made against a consignment.

Tickets can be created either by clicking the Add button or the below button in the top right hand corner of the page.

You can double click on the service ticket to open it.

See Customer Service Tickets for more information on using Service Tickets in TransVirtual.

System Events

Here you can see any System Event notifications that have been made against this consignment.

Other

  • General Note: A general note (tag) that can be added and will appear in search and reports, if required

  • Pickup Driver Alert: Alert to display to driver when pickup performed. Example: Goods ready at back door for pickup

  • Delivery Driver Alert: Alert displayed to driver when performing the delivery. Example: Customer has given authority to leave at back door.

  • Send SMS: Send a manual SMS to the contacts associated with this consignment

Recurring Consignments

Recurring consignments can be created and used for daily pickups or deliveries that happen on a repeating basis - this function saves you needing to create new consignments each time as the system will automatically do this.

To begin, create a consignment as you normally would ensuring all details are correct. This will become the template consignment from which other consignments are created.
Ensure now that if this job is to be a pickup that the pickup required toggle is set to YES
Once the consignment has been created, change the consignment number to be something you can use to find the connote later or know what it was created for e.g. 'Daily Pickup'. This helps easily identify template consignments and ensure staff do not accidentally cancel/delete them:



Once you have changed the number you will then need to go to the Admin tab of the created consignment and change the status to be Fully Complete:



Ensure to save the status change.
The reason behind the status change is because this consignment will act as a template from which others are created, which means this will be a consignment that does not actually get actioned.
Note: If creating a recurring pickup type consignment, you will need to re-enable the pickup flag from the details tab of the consignment. The act of setting the consignment status to Fully Complete will disable the pickup flag (expected behavior), which means you simply need to re-enable the pickup flag after setting to Fully Complete.
Without this step, any consignments created from this template will not create as pickups. 

From here, on the right-hand side of the screen you will see the below Re-occur and Templates box where you will need to toggle this setting to Yes:

Doing this will then bring up the below fields:



If required, you can set the subsequent connotes as assigning to an agent or driver using the Auto Assignment section.
To do this, first click on Source and choose either Employee or Agent:

Then choose the relevant assignee from the options:


Any connotes created from this template will now automatically assign to the nominated agent or employee (driver).

You now need to configure the Run Time, which is the time at which this template will replicate and create new consignments for your team to action:

Click on Settings next to this section and you will then see the below pop-up appear: 



Use the 4 fields at the top to specify a time for this template to run and create new consignments - you do not have to use all 4, you can use just the 1 if required, but you do have the ability to re-create new consignments from this template for up to as many as 4 times on the given days/dates you specify.
Use the checkboxes in the middle to specify which days of the week this template will create new consignments.
Use the 2 fields at the bottom to further refine the run time if needed - for example, you can choose to only have this consignment re-create on a certain date of the month (1st every month etc).
Ensure to click Update to save the changes and implement.

If required you can also place limitations around the creation of the consignment based on the previous day's freight volumes:

This could be useful if a customer ceases creating connotes to not have drivers attend and could also trigger additional pickups if required.

The Limitations function is designed to stop the re-creation process from occurring based on the specified criteria - leaving blank means the connote will simply re-create at the time and days nominated.

Things to Note:

Pickup and Delivery Dates will change in respect to the template consignment. Consignment Date of 24/09/2020 with a pickup ready date of the same day will create a consignment with a pickup of the same day

Consignment Date of 25/09/2020 with a pickup ready date of the 26/09/2020 will always create a pickup for the day after the consignment is created by the system

Searching/Finding a Consignment

There are multiple ways to find a consignment in the Web Portal:

History in the Menu Bar

In the TransVirtual Web Portal menu there is history button as below, If you click here you can see the most recent items you have opened.

Search in the Menu Bar

In the TransVirtual Web Portal menu there is a search box, if you put in the consignment number you wish to edit/modify, it will open after you push 'enter' or click on the submit button next to the search box

Search Consignment Page

To open the Search Consignments page, go to Home > Consignment Actions > Search Consignments.


Users using the updated 2022 menu should go to Transport > Operational Tasks > Consignments

This page allows you to filter the consignments on a number of fields stored against each consignment. In this case, Under the "Consign Number" column there is an inline filter box you can enter the consignment number or part of it. Push enter and you will be showed a list of the consignments that match the search criteria.
Double click the consignment to see its details.

Filtering by the Consignment Number column bypasses the date range selector to the top right

Bulk Search Consignments

This article will show you how to bulk search multiple consignments.
Select Home > Consignment Actions > Search Consignments
Users using the updated 2022 menu should go to Transport > Operational Tasks > Consignments

Select the barcode button in the top left to utilize the bulk search feature.
You will now have the bulk features pop up on your screen, paste in any consignments with a new number per line as shown below.
Now select search.

Edit/Modify a Consignment Details
Find/Locate a consignment


 


Once you have found you consignment you will be presented with the consignment details
In the top left corner of the screen under the Details tab is a check box to enable editing
Once selected you can double click on any field you wish to modify
When finished modifying the consignment, select save, if there is any missing information you will be prompted to enter these before you can continue.

Delete/Cancel a Consignment

Find/Locate your consignment
Once you have located your consignment click on the  button in the top left hand corner.
Toggle the selector next to Delete Consignment and click the action button.

Re-enable a Deleted/Cancelled Consignment

Find/Locate a consignment by using the search in the menu bar or Consignment Search page
Once you have found your Consignment click on the below button to open the Consignment Settings and Actions window in the top left hand corner of the consignment page under the consignment number
Untoggle the selector next to Delete Consignment and click the action button.

Placing a consignment on Hold

Find the consignment you wish to place on Hold either by typing in the consignment number to the search field at the top of the page:
 Or by going to Home > Consignment Actions > Search Consignments:
Users using the updated 2022 menu should go to Transport > Operational Tasks > Consignments
Once you have located the correct appropriate consignment, click on the button located in the top-left as below

This is the consignment setting and actions button and once clicked you will see a screen like below
Toggle the Delivery on Hold to YES and enter type in a Hold Comment to Driver you want to be displayed to mobile users when they attempt to load scan this consignment.
Once you have adjusted these settings you will notice that the job is now on Hold
You may need to refresh the page after you click the Action button in the previous step for this message to appear straight away-the job has still been placed on Hold even though you may not be able to see this message straight away; page refresh after actioning will resolve this and display the new message.
Now, when a mobile user goes to load scan this consignment they will be displayed with a warning that will have the error message that you typed in the 'Hold Comment to Driver' field
The mobile user should then press CANCEL being that the job is on Hold. However if needed the driver can select YES and override this warning message which will then add the job to the device for delivery as normal. 

Consignment Redirect

This process allows you to add a new receiver to a consignment after its created and save some of the existing information.
This is different to simply 'editing' or 'updating' receivers details to correct errors.    

Requirements

An additional service needs to be available.
The additional service needs to be added to the 'Redirect Wizard Charge Name' setting (Settings > Global Setup > General Tab > Web Settings Column > Finance Section)

Users using the updated 2022 menu should go to Configuration > General > Global Setup > Finance section (middle-right of page)

Process

Once this additional service has been set you can: 
1. Go to a consignment and click the actions button (three bars top right)
2. Select the 'Redirect Consignment' Option and click the 'Action' button
3. Enter the new receivers details in the popup and click the blue 'Next' button
4. Confirm/edit the redirect charge and click the blue 'Save' button
Receivers details will be updated with the new address information and new labels will be available if required. The new receiver information is auto updated on the mobile app.

Pricing 

The selected redirect additional service will be added to an existing customer price (if available and not on a locked invoice). Otherwise it will be added as a new manual price
If available the original Customer Price will then be locked in order to save it You can manually edit a locked price but not do an auto reprice
If you unlock the price and do an auto reprice, the price will be updated based on new route information ignoring the old receivers location

Point to Point Consignments

Point to point consignments are picked up and delivered by the same driver on the run of a device without returning to the depot. The pickup will be displayed on the device and once completed will change to a delivery and remain on the delivery screen.

These can be created manually by editing an existing consignment, by setting up customer, agent or global Consignment Creation Rules.

Manually assigning a point to point delivery against a consignment

  1. Find and edit the consignment

  2. Under Other Information -> Delivery Details you can toggle on Point to Point.

Customer consignment creation rules

  1. Follow the instructions on the Customer Consignment Creation Rules or the Agent Consignment Creation Rules pages

  2. These will both help you setup specific rules for for automatically assigning Point to Point consignments for specific customers or agents.

Global consignment creation rules

  1. Follow the instructions on the Global Consignment Creation Rules

  2. This will allow you to create global rules that automatically assign Point to Point consignments based off the rules you assign.

Bulk Printing Consignments

This can be done from the Consignment Search Screen, to the left of the consignments there is a check box which can be ticked then select the bulk actions window as below this will open the Bulk Actions screen which you can toggle to print connote or labels or both and select ok
If printing more than 30 pages these will be emailed to the users email address

Flagged Comments

TransVirtual has a section called 'Flagged Comments' which is essentially an easy to read list of all consignments that have had comments made against them-via the Communication tab and been flagged.

Navigate to Home > Service Tickets > Flagged Comments. Here you will see a list of the consignments that have flagged comments against them:


Users using the updated 2022 menu should go to Transport > Administration > Flagged Comments

Click on a consignment from the left and you will see all related information for that consignment appear on the right-hand side:

From here you can do a variety of things which include adding comments, creating a customer service ticket, clearing the flag or viewing the consignment. You can also use the 'Show Customer' or 'Show Agent/Supplier' toggles to display the comments to customers or agents if you wish to do so. 

If the comment has been responded to and/or there is no longer any issue that needs attending to, you can use the clear flag button to remove the comment/consignment from this list.

You can bulk clear flags by ticking the relevant boxes next to the consignments, and clicking the 'Clear Flags' button that appears as below

 




    • Related Articles

    • Taxi Truck Consignments

      In TransVirtual it is possible to create Taxi Truck type consignments which are essentially multi-leg consignments. To be able to create these types of consignments, you MUST have the below setting enabled in your global settings: Settings > General ...

    • Consignment EDI Export

      Consignment EDI Export In TransVirtual there is the ability to setup Consignment EDI (Electronic Data Interchange) Exports which are essentially a method of exporting data out from TransVirtual to another location; via email, FTP etc.  This article ...

    • Consignment Creation

      Creating Consignments The below will describe how to create consignments In the TransVirtual Web Portal, Select the following: Home > Consignment Actions > Create Consignments This will open a window that allows you to enter details of your new ...

    • Consignment EDI Import

      Consignment EDI Import In TransVirtual there is the ability to create EDI (Electronic Data Interchange) Import rules that allow you to create consignments without the need to use the consignment creation page in the TransVirtual Web Portal. This is ...

    • Troubleshooting Consignment Pricing Issues

      When enabled, the Finance module in TransVirtual allows you the ability to rate and 'price' a consignment. However, there may be times when you encounter a particular consignment will not price or consignments from certain sending suburbs will not ...