Navigating a Trip Workflow
- Joanna Miller
Viewing your Loads
Once you enter your username and password you will be brought to your ‘My Loads’ screen. This view will show loads that you are assigned to. There are three types of loads:
Active Loads – These are loads you have activated yourself on. They are the loads that you are currently in the processes of completing
Open Loads – These loads are ones that you will have coming up to complete
Closed Loads – These are loads that you have previously completed. Note, the length of time that a load will stay in the closed loads section can be configured in the Portal’s Administrator Menu section under Mobile Settings.
The order number or trip number (depending on how you have configured the system in Admin-Mobile Settings in the portal), is displayed on the right side of all the loads. Clicking on the load will open the load so you can see additional information. For example, in the screen shot below there is one open trip TRANZ000052 available to start.
The stop summary that you see on the My Loads screen shows each stop on the trip, if it is a pickup or delivery and the scheduled time and date for each stop. Clicking anywhere on the load will open the load so that you can view additional details or it can be started.
When you first open a load on your device you will see information about the current stop at the top of the screen as well as upcoming and previously completed stops listed below. If you scroll down you will also see additional information at the bottom of the screen such as reference numbers.
Working Through a Load
Most of the activities that you will need to do in order to move the load from pickup to delivery will show up at the bottom of the screen in green. Let’s look at the load in the screen shot below:
At the bottom of the screen there are 2 icons in green:
which will start the trip
which will show you any tasks that you have to complete
Once you click on start the screen the trip will begin and the start button will be replaced with the next activity that you will need to perform on the load. If you are setup to auto arrive at your stops then the arrive will happen automatically. If not, then the next button you see at the bottom of the screen will be arrive.
As you work your way through the trip you will be able to see your progress:
This part of the screen shows your current stop. IT also tells you if you are working on your arrival or departure. The green box is the next expected activity. So, in this screen shot you have arrived at the stop at 12:05 (the grey box) and your next activity is to depart (the green box) Below this section you will see an overall trip progress bar. You can see that the trip is 50% completed. You can also press on the More Stop Info link under the address to be able to add reference numbers onto this stop or see stop related information.
This section shows the stops that you have coming up. For example, this trip is currently in San Diego California and the next stop is Perrysburg, OH.
Section 3 shows all the stops that you have previously completed. Note, you can click on this stop to see more details and add reference numbers after the stop is completed; however you cannot undo the completed stop once you have finished it.
Update Banner – When you complete an activity this activity banner will popup momentarily to notify you that the activity completed successfully. If you leave the tablet the notification will disappear in a few seconds.
Completing Tasks
As you work your way through the load the button at the bottom of the screen may update from the standard Arrive or Depart to show if you have any pending tasks that have to take place throughout the trip. When this happens your screen will show the task count at the bottom of the screen:
Clicking where it says 1 Task will open the task screen and show you the outstanding task. You can see there is one black dot under the Pickup Paperwork Header. If there were multiple tasks entered for this part of the load there would be additional circles that you could click on.
The task above is a reminder to pickup additional paperwork from Bill in receiving at this stop location. At the bottom of the screen is a button that you can press to complete the task. Depending on the type of task the action button at the bottom may look different.
Reminder task: A reminder task is created to notify you that there is something that needs to be done. The only action that needs to be completed is to dismiss the reminder task when you are done.
Confirmation Task: A confirmation task requires you to answer either a yes or a no to a question. For example, were you waiting longer than 1 hour? Was there any damage to the freight? A confirmation task will provide you with a checkmark to confirm the instructions and an X to if the answer is no:
Timer Task: A timer task will allow you to initiate a timer to track your time. For example, if you need to track your loading or unloading time or if you are required to track any waiting time you may find a timer task. To start the time you can press the Start Button:
And when you are done you can press the red stop button
Action Task: If you need to upload paperwork or collect a signature of a receiver you will be presented with an action task. For example, if you need to take a picture of some paperwork the bottom of your screen will look similar to this:
To take a picture with your camera click on the camera button in the middle of the screen. If you already have a picture on your device click on the icon on the right side to access your camera roll and upload you image that way.
Prompt Task: Sometimes throughout your load you may need to provide additional information to dispatch, reefer readings, delivery notes, updates etc. To achieve this you will be presented with a prompt task. When you receive one of these your activities will look similar to below:
When you press the button you will be presented with the fields you will need to fill in. When you are done press the checkmark at the bottom of your screen:
As you work your way through the tasks they will disappear from your tablet. You can always see the tasks on this trip by clicking on the task button from the main load screen:
Adding Reference Numbers
As you move through the trip you may need to add reference numbers. Perhaps a shippers reference number or a manifest number at a stop. To get to the reference numbers you will have to access the stop you want to add the reference number onto. If you want to add a reference number onto the current stop you are working on then press the More Stop Info button at the top left side of the screen:
If you want to add a reference number for a stop that you have already completed then click on the stop at the bottom of the screen first to open it.
When the stop detail screen opens up you can add a reference number by clicking on the + Add Reference Number green button in the middle of the screen.
You can choose the type of reference number on the left side and then enter in the actual reference number in the field marked Enter Reference Number. There is no save button required for this. Simply press on the back button to return to your load and you reference number will update. You can also add multiple reference numbers here as well as edit any number that you had entered previously:
Conversations
Conversations are a great way to communicate back to dispatch while on the road. The conversation piece of VIA Mobile will allow you to send test messages and predefined macros back and forth to your in office contact. To access your Conversations click on the VIA Mobile Menu. To access the menu click on the menu button (three horizontal lines) on the top right side of the tablet:
From the menu click conversations to open the conversations screen. From this view you can see all the conversations that you currently have already started or you can start a new conversation. Let’s take a look at the screen layout:
Conversation Filters: If you have a number of conversations on your screen you can use the dropdown box located here to filter down to either, Load level conversations, or general conversations. You can also select all and see all the conversations you currently have,
This main section of the screen will list all the conversations based on your filter selection. You can click on any of these to open an existing conversation and continue the discussion.
New Conversation: This plus button at the bottom of the screen is where you would go to initiate a new conversation. Let’s look more at starting a new conversation.
To start a conversation hit the + button at the bottom of the screen. You will be presented with a popup screen:
Enter in your subject in the subject field. If you are currently on a load the To will default to current load. When you are done press OK and the conversation will be added to the open conversation list. Click on the conversation to open it.
There are 2 ways to submit conversations in VIA, you can send in freeform where you enter in whatever it is you want to say. You can do this by simply typing in the grey box at the bottom of the screen where it reads send message. When you are done press the send button at the bottom of the screen.
Your system may be setup to allow for macro messages. They are messages that are predefined and cane save you time be prefilling out common messages. For example, you may have a macro used to require time off or report an accident. To see if you have any macros available to use press the </> button on the top right side of the screen. Any macros will be available here.
Select The macro at the top of the screen. In this example we have the driver time off request form selected. The macro itself is displayed at the bottom of the screen. When you have selected the macro you want to use you can enter in the fields for the specific macro.
When you are done press the Send button.