Creating a new consignment

Audience	Dispatcher, logistic provider
Task	Create consignment
Application	eCargo Web

A consignment covers the dispatch and delivery of goods. Consignments are usually created by either the owner of the freight, or the logistics provider, who manages the freight.

Consignments can also be created by importing a CSV file via the eCargo Web application, or automatically from your business' Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system. This is done by eCargo's application programming interface (API) between your ERP system and eCargo.

---

 Skip ahead to

• Create the consignment
• Address fields
• Carriers

---

 

Create the consignment

From the Consignments List page click the New button. This will open the Create a new consignment page.

Create a new consignment page

The following table describes each field in detail.

Field	Description	Mandatory?
Consignment number	The primary unique reference for the consignment. Free text field up to 20 chars in length.	Y
Owner/customer	The owner of the consignment, often a customer of a logistics provider or another site managed by the user's business. See more detail in the Owner section below.	Y
Purchase order number	Customer purchase order number. Free text field up to 50 chars in length.	N
Booking reference	Carrier booking reference. Free text field up to 1000 chars in length.	N
Protection	Temperature requirements for the goods to be moved. Allowed values are Ambient, Chilled, Frozen and Produce.	Y
Pickup from	The name and address of the business the goods are to be picked up from. This will default to your business. Select the field and start typing the business name to find the appropriate business. Jump to the Address fields section to explore this in more detail.	Y
Pickup planned date	The date you would like the goods to be picked up on.	Y
Pickup planned time	Specify a time of pickup.	N
Delivery to	The name and address of the business the goods are to be delivered to. Select the field and start typing the business name to find the appropriate business.	Y
Deliver planned date	The date you would like the goods to be delivered. If Automated lead times are setup the Deliver date/time will default to the configured value. The calculated lead date/time can be overridden.	Y
Deliver planned time	Specify a time of delivery.	N
Carrier	The transport company who will transport, or manage the transport of, your goods. If Auto carriers are configured the carrier will default to the calculated carrier (for new consignments only). Jump to the Carriers section to explore this in more detail.	N
Subcontractor	In the case where the carrier is managing the freight the subcontractor will be the transport company that will transport the goods instead of the carrier. Auto carrier can be configured to automatically assign a subcontractor (for new consignments only). Jump to the Carriers section to explore this in more detail.	N
Logistics provider	The Logistics provider is the business who manages the carrier selection and freight costs.	Y
Transportation mode	The mode of transport for the goods. That is, if it's being transported by rail, road, or ship. Note this will have implicit effects on rates used if an invoice is created for this consignment. The default mode is road.	Y
Comments	Free text field available for you to communicate additional requirements to your carrier.	N
Consignment items	The description and quantities that describe the products being moved on the consignment.	Y

 

Owner

The owner of the consignment is typically the owner of the freight and is often the pickup point. From the point of view of a logistics provider or carrier, 3PL, or carrier, they are the customer. Changing the owner will affect several fields, such as the available consignment items, pickup and delivery points, auto-carrier calculations, auto lead-time calculations, and default transportation mode. Since changing the owner is a significant operation, eCargo may update several other fields as a result.

It's important to choose the correct owner since this is one of the key fields that drive rate calculations.

Address fields

The following fields make up what is considered an address in eCargo.

Field	Description
Street	The number and name of the road where the address is located. The number can also include a unit number prefix or an alpha suffix for divided units.
Suburb*	A named geographical area within a town or city, also known as a locality.
City*	The name of the town or city where the address is located.
Postcode	Four digits which specifies the area, delivery type and the lobby for mail delivery.
Region	A named geographical area defined by eCargo which has an associated parent region or country.

* Suburb and City are used in determining the rating zone, which in turn is used for calculating the auto carrier and subsequent freight costs.

Carriers

The names in your Carrier and Subcontractor list will be sourced from a combination of the following:

• Your list of carriers that can be manually assigned. These can be found and managed in the My Carriers page. If you are a Logistics Provider the carrier list for each of your customers will be found in the Carriers tab of each customer within the My Customers page.
• Carriers that have been setup to be automatically assigned as an Auto carrier for the combination of Pickup from, Deliver to and Protection type.

Subcontractor

You must first set a carrier before a subcontractor can be set.

Changing or removing the carrier will automatically remove the existing subcontractor.

Auto carrier

The auto carrier calculation will be triggered when the Pickup from, Deliver to or the Protection type is changed, while the calculation is in progress you will not be able to make changes to the carrier and subcontractor.

The calculation result may be one of the following:

1. No carrier and no subcontractor.
2. Carrier only.
3. Carrier and subcontractor.

The result will override the existing carrier and subcontractor on the consignment. If there is no carrier and/or subcontractor then the existing carrier and/or subcontractor will be removed.

If you have the necessary authorisations, the calculated result can be overridden by manually changing the carrier/subcontractor after the update.

Only the latest calculated result is available to be selected as the carrier/subcontractor on the consignment. Changing the combination of Pickup from, Deliver to or Protection type will remove the previously calculated carrier/subcontractor (if it exists) from the list of available carriers/subcontractors.

 

 

 

< Introduction to eCargo

eCargo Web >