Understanding and Using Attributes
- Joanna Miller
Attributes allow for users to define requirements for specific loads based on their commodities and then create corresponding attributes on difference resources. At the time of assignment, the system will look at the required attributes on an order or segment and, if the resources such as driver, truck, trailer or carrier do not match attributes; they will receive an error.
Assigning Attributes to Orders and Segments
Attributes are automatically assigned to orders and segments based on their commodities. The setup for attributes are setup in the Administration Screen. To start, you will have to define the different attributes for Carriers, Trucks, Trailers and Drivers. These attributes are defined in the drop down list section within the admin section of VIA. You can manually enter attributes for or you can import them from a csv format.
You will also need to ensure that your commodities are all defined. This is also done in the Administration Screen Under the Drop Down Options section of the system.
Once you have defined all the commodities and the different attributes for the different resources, you can start assigning required attributes to commodities within the administration screen under company settings.
Press the + button on the top right side of the screen to bring up the add required attribute screen.
Select the resource that you want to require the attribute to match; your choices are Carrier, Driver, Trucks and Trailers. The second drop down field options are must have and must not have. The third dropdown option is the attribute that you can chose. Note that the attributes that appear in the dropdown field will change depending on the resource type that you choose from the first dropdown. The final dropdown field allows you to select a commodity. If this is a blanket attribute you can assign it to all the commodities. When you are done, you can press Add Attribute and your attribute will be created.