Caribou Software

If you are a logging contractor in British Columbia, and you own your own trucks, then there is a good chance that you already use our BC Fuel Rebate module to provide you with the information you need to complete your on and off highway distance information. 

Now, our BC Fuel Rebate module has been enhanced to go even further!  It will actually use the information from your Logger's Edge system to populate the BC  Ministry of Finance's Off-Highway Refund Application in PDF format so that you can print out the auto-filled form for submission to the Ministry. 

If you use the Logger's Edge to record all your fuel purchases throughout the year, the report will include that information in the PDF as well, and the Refund Calculation section will be filled in.

For more information, visit our website at:  http://www.caribousoftware.com/wiki/LoggersEdgeReports/TruckReports/BCFuelRebatePDF.

For users who have already purchased the BC Fuel Rebate module, this enhancement is an extra $100.  That price includes our time to install it for you, and to give you a quick primer on how to enter your information in order for the report to populate with the necessary information.

 

Do you find yourself repeatedly scrolling to the right in the load slips, time slips, or miscellaneous entry grids to get to the column of data that  you want?  We all have different ways of wanting to look up information in a grid of data.  For example, some people have a need to look up tickets by truck number on a frequent basis, but other users who don't pay for trucking don't ever sort or  filter tickets by truck, so they'd just as soon not have the truck colum getting in their way!

Did you know that you can request to have the columns in your data grid re-arranged?  If you would like to get your grid data presented in a way that is better suited to your working preferences, please call us.  It only takes about 10-15 minutes of support bank time to have a Caribou Software representative log on with you, and make the nessessary adjustments.  It’s time well spent if it can make the program all the more convenient to use!

In any of the "Edge" products, you will see a handy "Search By" box in the bottom left corner of selected data entry grids such as the load ticket grid (Logger's Edge), the part grid (Mechanic's Edge), or the work ticket grid (Contractor's Edge).

If you type in a number and click the green "play button", the software will find the entry with that ticket number, part number, work ticket number, etc. 

But what if you don't know the entire number of the ticket (or part) you are trying to look up?  Not to worry!  Just use the % when you do your look up.  For example, if you type in "1101%"  (without the quotes of course!), hat will return all tickets that start with 1001.    Likewise if you type in %1001%, that will return any ticket with 1001 anywhere within the ticket number (e.g., AB1001, AB10015, etc.)

The search feature is a great little time-saving feature for sure, and even more so when you invoke the power of the % sign!

Did you know you can keep track of IFTA fuel and mileage information through Logger's Edge? 

The IFTA -- International Fuel Tax Agreement -- is a compact between most states in the United States and most provinces in Canada that governs how motor fuel taxes are paid by truckers that haul across state or national boundaries. The main purpose of the agreement is to allow trucking companies to file only one fuel tax return to their base state, instead of filing one return for each state/province in which they operate. The single unified return reconciles all the different state motor fuel rates and allows companies to make one payment (or receive a credit) to settle their fuel tax liability.

The Logger's Edge provides the ability to track your mileage for each truck and drver by state/province and your fuel purchases for each truck by state/province.  It also lets you download the latest IFTA tax rates and import them into your Logger's Edge database. 

There is a report that makes all the fuel tax calculations required by state/provincial taxing authorities.  If you are a member of our Logger's Edge user group, you can log onto the "Special Features" section of our website and learn more about the IFTA feature:  http://hayt.caribousoftware.com/wiki/SpecialFeatures/TruckingFeatures/HowToManageIFTA

If you are not yet a member of our Logger's Edge group, please call us at 706-865-4110 for more information.  You can also find extensive information at The IFTA web site address: www.iftach.org .

Did you know that The Logger's Edge will let you scroll back and forth through your tickets in the order that you entered them, right from the ticket entry window itself? 

This feature can be handy if you just entered a stack of tickets, and you want to double-check your work.  Or perhaps you just entered 3 or 4 tickets, only to realize that you just made the same mistake on all the tickets.  This feature lets you correct the ticket you are working on and save it, then scroll backwards (without leaving the ticket entry window) to review and correct the other tickets you just entered.

How do you do this?  If you are in the load ticket entry screen (and you are using version 4.7 or higher), you will see a back and forward button to the right of the Internal No. field, as shown below.  Simply click the back button to move back through your tickets in the order you entered them, and forward to move forward through the tickets in the order you entered them.

 

Did you know that when you are in a rate setup grid, you can highlight multiple rows at a time and copy them all at once?  (If, that is, you are on the version 4.7 or later series of the Logger's Edge.) This feature is particularly useful if you have a rate change part-way through the life of a tract and you need to set up new rates with new effective dates. 

For example, suppose that you have received a revenue rate increase from IP, effective April 1st.  You have two rates in the system that you need to copy and update:

When you are done, your results will look something like this:

Isn't that easier than copying the rows one at a time?

For users that do not have Microsoft Access, the "backup only" utility can be used to create a straight (not compacted) backup copy of the database. This is an easy way to create a file that can be stored off-site. The backup database utility creates a copy of the database to which you are currently connected.  This utility does not compact the database.  Go to the File menu item, as shown below:

In the window that appears (see picture below), you will need to navigate to the location where you want to store your backup.  Be sure to note the subdirectory in which you are creating the backup of your database.  The default location is "C:\Program Files\Caribou Software\LoggersEdge\Database", but you should change the location to which the file will be written using the drop-down "Save in" box at the top of the window so that you re-direct the backup to a removable thumb drive, CD drive, etc.  (If you only save the backup to your C drive, and you have a computer failure, your backup will do you no good!)

 The backup function will use an auto-naming convention that indicates uses the date / time as the file name and appends the extension ".mdb".  You can override this auto-naming feature with your own file naming convention, but it is generally useful to indicate the vintage of the backup file so that older backups can be periodically purged. 

Click the Save button shown above.

Once compete you will get the following message:

You are done!  Take your thumb drive, CD, or whatever external drive you used for your backup off-site so that if you have a fire in your office, you still have your data!!

Did you know?

That if you are on the following grids:

(1)  Blocks / Tracts / Sales

(2)  Revenue Contracts

(3)  Pay Contracts

and you highlight a row and Right-Click that you can bring up your rates without plowing through the whole wizard?

Check it out!

Calculating your equipment cost is not only important for measuring your profitability,  it is also important because many mills spend a great deal of time estimating equipment costs in order to set logging rates.  Specifically, they estimate the costs per productive machine hour that a contractor should be able to achieve for each machine involved in harvesting a cut block.  This rate-setting exercise theoretically ensures that you as the contractor earn enough to cover your equipment costs and earn a decent return on your investment.

We now have an on line equipment cost caclulator that allows you to build up to the hourly cost of operating your equipment.  Here www.caribousoftware.com/MechEdge/EqCostWorkSheet.aspx  is the link to the calculator for the US and here www.caribousoftware.com/MechEdge/EqCostWorkSheet_CA.aspx  is the link for Canada.

Interesting Press release from Canfor:

"February 11, 2011 – Vancouver, B.C. – Canfor Corporation (TSX:CFP) announced today that, following a review with its Board of Directors, the Company will be proceeding with capital improvement projects totaling $62 million at its Vavenby, Polar and Plateau operations in British Columbia.

The projects are part of a capital spending plan for 2011 totaling $145 million, and a three year strategic plan that calls for total investment in sawmill improvement projects of $300 million.

Following completion of the capital upgrades at its Vavenby mill, Canfor will be restarting this operation sometime in the third quarter and recalling approximately 140 employees including staff. When at full production, the mill will produce approximately 240 million board feet of SPF (Spruce-Pine-Fir) lumber on an annual basis.

"This continues our strategy to invest in our mills, creating efficient and low cost operations," said Jim Shepard, Canfor President and CEO.

Canfor also announced that Jim Shepard is retiring in May.