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Pay: Contractors, by Load Attributes -- Trucking Contractor

Trucking contractors can be paid according to the weight or volume of the loads that your company delivers to a mill.  For example you might pay a trucking contractor $10.00/Tonne or $40.00/MBF on the loads that you handle.  You can also pay a trucking contractor a percentage of the revenue you receive from a mill.  For example, if you are paid by the mill $50 for trucking, you could set up a contract to pay a contractor 95 percent of that amount.  This type of contract may be useful when you have a large number of rate breaks on your revenue contract and merely want to pay your contractors a percentage of what you get paid.  If you had to set up contractor pay rates for each revenue rate break, there could be substantial time wasted in maintaining both a revenue rate and pay rate schedule.  The alternative of setting up just one rate (say 95 percent) can be much easier to maintain, as it automatically takes into account any revenue rate breaks or changes over time.

In your block setup (see below),  you can select either 'Do Not Track Activities, Employees, Equipment on Load Slips' or 'Track Activities, Employees, Equipment on Load Slips' (depending on whether you track equipment/operators for phases other than trucking on your loads).  Whichever radio button you select, you want to check the checkbox in the column 'Pay Truck Owner' or 'Pay Contractor Equipment'.  See below.

OR

Either method will allow you to pay the truck owner for log hauling.

There is a second column 'Pay Contractor Operator' in addition to the column 'Pay Truck Owner' or 'Pay Contractor Equipment'.  You only need to invoke the use of the 'Pay Contractor Operator' in the event that your trucking subcontractor owns his own trucks, but uses some other contractor's drivers whom you have to pay.  In this case, you would have to split the trucking payment between the contractor owner (for use of the truck) and the contract driver (for driving services).  If the truck owner and driver are with the same contractor, you can use a combined rate and just specify that you want to pay the truck owner.

Once you have setup your block, you need to setup your pay contract for each contractor and their payment terms.  As noted above, there are two basic ways to pay contractors on a load-by-load basis: (1) pay by load attributes (weight, volume, etc), or (2) pay as a percentage of load revenue.

These two cases are explained below:

Case I.  You pay based on load attributes (weight, volume).  

Steps:

1. Set up the Contractor.  Select Setup | Vendors from the Main Menu
2. Set up Activity to be Paid on the Block.  Select Setup | Blocks | Setup from the Main Menu.  On the block you must identify trucking as the activity for which a contractor will be paid.  See the discussion above.  This task must be performed for each block that has loads for which trucking contractors need to be paid.
3. Set up the Truck.  Set up each Truck.  The Logger's Edge will use the owner you specify for the truck to determine who gets paid.
4. Set up Pay Contract.  Select Contracts | Payment Contracts | Contract Setup from the Main Menu.
5. Enter Load Slips.  Select Data Entry | Load Slips | Load Data.  You do not need to enter the activities, workers or equipment on the load slip.  You must enter the Truck Number on the Load Slip.  The Logger's Edge will pay the owner of the truck.
6. Run Vendor (Contractor) Calculator.  Select Calculators | Vendors - Full. 
7. Review Vendor (Contractor) Statement. Select Reports Vendor Statements.

Case II.  You pay based on percentage of load revenue.

Steps:

This type of contract is special in that it its 'rate' is really expressed as a percent of the revenue you earn on a load-by-load basis.  Thus, in order to use this type of contract, you must perform the additional step of entering or calculating the revenue for each load (step 7 below).

1. Set up the Contractor.**  Select Setup | Vendors from the Main Menu
2. Set up Activity to be Paid on Block.**  Select Setup | Blocks | Setup from the Main Menu.  On the block you must identify trucking as the activity for which a contractor will be paid.  See the discussion above.  This task must be performed for each block that has loads for which trucking contractors need to be paid.
3. Set up the Truck.**  Set up each Truck.  The Logger's Edge will use the owner you specify for the truck to determine who gets paid.
4. Set up Pay Contract.  Select Contracts | Payment Contracts | Contract Setup from the Main Menu.
5. Enter Load Slips.**  Select Data Entry | Load Slips | Load Data.  You do not need to enter the activities, workers or equipment on the load slip.  You must enter the Truck Number on the Load Slip.  The Logger's Edge will pay the owner of the truck.
6. Enter Revenue on Load Slip or Use The Logger's Edge to Automatically Calculate Revenue.  In order for the 'percent of load revenue' pay contract to work, you must have revenue entered for each load.
7. Run Vendor (Contractor) Calculator.**  Select Calculators | Contractors - Full. 
8. Review Vendor (Contractor) Statement.  Select Reports | Contractor Statements.

** Step is the same as in Case I.

Trucking Pay Rules:

The key to pay Trucking is the 'Truck No' on the Load Slip.  The 'Truck No' identifies the specific log truck that hauled the load.  In order to pay a contractor for trucking you must enter the truck number on the load slip -- an entry of 'NONE' will not work.  There are three basic cases that are handled by The Logger's Edge.

1. The Pay Contract Specifies a Specific Contractor.  If the Truck on the Load Slip is owned by the same contractor as on the pay contract, the load will be paid.  Otherwise, if the Truck on the Load Slip is (1) owned by a different contractor, or (2) is owned by your company, or (3) entered as 'NONE', it will not be paid.
2. The Pay Contract Specifies the 'OWNER' wild card.  If the Truck on the Load Slip is owned by a contractor, that contractor, whoever it is, will be paid.  For example, if you have 20 loads with six different truck owners, each of the six will be paid for their own loads under the same 'OWNER' contract.  If the Truck on the Load Slip is (1) owned by your company, or (2) entered as 'NONE', it will not be paid.
3. There are two otherwise identical Trucking Pay Contracts: one that Pay Contract Specifies a Specific Contractor, and a second that Specifies the 'OWNER' wild card.  If the Truck on the Load Slip is owned by the same contractor as on the specific pay contract, the specific contractor will be paid.  If the Truck on the Load Slip is owned by a different contractor, that contractor, whoever it is, will be paid under the 'OWNER' contract. The specific contractor will not be paid under the 'OWNER' contract if he is paid under the Specific Contract.  If the Truck on the Load Slip is (1) owned by your company, or (2) entered as 'NONE', it will not be paid.

Troubleshooting Common Errors:

1.    "Error: PAY_CONTRACT_RATE not Set up For: TICKET_NO = 6879 DATE_OUT = [8/3/2004 8:03:00 AM] and Activity = TRUCKING
Ticket: 6879 Detail:
Tract: 01-GREEN-1001
Destination: SS-DANVILLE
Species: MAPLE
Grade: NONE
Truck No: HL6004
Truck Type: 7C
Route: OFF"
 

This error occurs when a valid pay rate is not found for the a load slip for a contractor on a load.

This message can be interpreted as:

"The is no pay rate for ticket 6879 (date out of 8/3/2004 8:03:00 AM) for the activity TRUCKING."

In other words, you have told The Logger's Edge that you want to pay the activity TRUCKING for all loads on the block, yet there is no valid pay contract for the load ticket '6879'

Things to check when this occurs:

• Is there a pay contract setup?  Do you have a pay contract set up to pay the owner of the truck on this load slip for the specified activity (TRUCKING)?
• If there is a contract, is the 'CONTRACTOR' type set in Step 2 of the Pay Contract wizard? (It should not be Owner/Operator)
• Does the block on the pay contact match the block on the load?
• Is the Pay Date on the Load between the Start Date and End Date for the Contract?
• Is there a valid rate in the pay rates grid?  Does the rate have the matching activity (TRUCKING)?  Do the rate attributes (Destination, Species, Sort, Grade, Truck, Route, etc) either match the load or are they blank (meaning ALL)?  All load attributes must match or be blank.  Is the effective date valid?  The effective date on the rate must precede the DATE OUT for the load.

2.    "Error: No Conversion Set Up For LBS to CORD For Block 01-GREEN-1001
Ticket: 6948 Detail:
Block: 01-GREEN-1001
Destination: IP-AUGUSTA
Species: PINE
Grade: NONE
Truck No: T'10001
Truck Type: 7A
Route: ON"

The fragment 'Ticket: 6948' refers to the ticket number.  In this example, the error occurs because a conversion factor is not found to convert 'LBS' into 'CORD' and the matching pay contract rate for this load has a pay basis of cords.  Anytime, The Logger's Edge cannot convert the weight measure on the block to the pay basis on the matching pay contract, you will receive this message.  For example, if you have set kilograms up on the block as your weight measure and want to pay a contractor in cubic meters (M3) and you fail to set up a conversion factor, you will receive a message such as 'No Conversion Set Up For KGS to M3'.

The fragment 'For Block 01-GREEN-1001'  tells you the block that has the problem.  There are 2 conditions that give rise to this error.

1.    There is no conversion set up on the  block to convert the weight on the tickets to your pay basis on your matching pay contract.  (For example, your loads may be entered in kilograms, but you want to pay in cubic meters 'M3'.) 

2.    There is no 'Generic Conversion' available.  Generic conversions are those that never change under any circumstance, such as KGs to Tonnes and Lbs to Tons.  (If you think that the system is missing a generic conversion, contact a support representative to assist you.)

If there is no conversion set up, as indicated in (1.) above, you must select option 'C' in the conversion setup window in the block setup wizard (see below) and then manually enter your conversion factors.        

Things to check when you get a conversion error are:

• Check the block.  Have you selected 'Use Block Specific Conversions' in Conversion Setup step of the wizard?
• Check the 'Conversion Rates' grid.  Is there an entry for the 'convert from' and 'convert to' columns that match what you are trying to convert?
• If there is a matching 'convert from' and 'convert to' row, do the attributes (e.g. destination, species, sort, grade, etc.) match those of the load?  The load attributes are included as part of the error message in order to facilitate this comparison.
• If there is a attribute match, is the effective date correct?  The effective date must precede the 'Date Out' of the load.  The Logger's Edge will select the rate that is the most recent matching entry that precedes the 'Date Out' of the load.

3.    "Error: Missing Load Revenue for Load= 7531 and Activity= TRUCKING"

 The fragment 'Load= 7531' refers to the ticket number.  This error occurs when the system is attempting to pay this load with a "percent of load revenue" payment contractor.  Things to check when this occurs:

• Check to see if you have revenue on your load.  You can check this on the load slip. This error occurs when there is no load revenue for the activity where a percent of load revenue contract is being invoked.  Check to see if the activity (TRUCKING) has revenue.  If there is no revenue on the load for trucking, either enter the revenue directly (if your system is configured for direct revenue entry), or check the following two items (if your system is configured to calculate the revenue for the loads).
• Have you run the invoices calculator?  If you are using The Logger's Edge to calculate revenue automatically, you must run the invoices calculator to assign the revenue amounts to the load.
• Do you have a revenue contract for the activity that matches the activity of the pay contract (TRUCKING)?  The percent of load revenue rate looks for revenue based on the activity specified in the pay contract.

4.    "Warning: Truck COST_PER_UNIT not found for Truck Code: T10011,8/7/2004 2:06:00 PM"

When The Logger's Edge  calculates load pay, it also calculates the internal cost of your own log trucks (where truck costing is based on load units rather than hours).  This message informs you that there is no valid rate for the truck hauling the indicated load.  Things to check when this error occurs:

• Is there a standard cost rate setup?  Check under Setup | Equipment/Trucks | Trucks | Truck Costing from the Main Menu.  Be sure there is a Std Cost/Unit rate set up in the grid for the equipment.
• Check the effective date.  Is the time entry prior to the effective date on your truck standard cost rate? 

Note:  If you don't care about truck costing, you can always set the Std Cost/Unit rate to $0.00, and thereby eliminate the warning message.  This message will not prevent The Logger's Edge  from otherwise calculating payment for the load.

5.    "Warning: Truck FULL_FOUNDED_RATE_PROD not found for Truck Code: T10011,8/7/2004 2:06:00 PM"

When The Logger's Edge  calculates load pay, it also calculates the internal cost of your own log trucks (where truck costing is based on load units rather than hours).  This message informs you that there is no valid rate for the truck hauling the indicated load.  Things to check when this occurs:

• Is there a full cost rate setup?  Check under Setup | Equipment/Trucks | Trucks | Truck Costing from the Main Menu.  Be sure there is a Full Cost/Unit rate set up in the grid for the equipment.
• Check the effective date on the rate.  Is the time entry Prior to the effective date on your truck rate? 

Note:  If you don't care about truck costing, you can always set the Full Cost/Unit rate to $0.00, and thereby eliminate the warning message.    This message will not prevent The Logger's Edge  from otherwise calculating payment for the load.

6.    The wrong rate is applied.

Things to check when this problem occurs:

• Are there multiple pay contracts setup for the same activity and block?  Check under Contracts | Payment Contracts | Setup from the Main Menu.  Check the attributes of the load versus those of the pay rates. The Logger's Edge  will select the pay rate that is a more specific match to the load.  Make sure that the rate you want applied is more specific.
• Are there multiple pay rates setup?  Check under Contracts | Payment Contracts | Setup from the Main Menu.  Select the relevant pay contract.  Be sure that the pay date of your load ticket is subsequent to the rate you want applied.  If so, is there another rate between the date you think should apply and the date of the load ticket?  If so, the system will use that rate.  The system will use the pay rate that is (1) prior to the pay date of the your load ticket entry, and (2) the most recent of those that are prior to the load ticket.

7.    Multi-Pay Errors.  The Logger's Edge allows you to split the payment for the same activity between two different vendors.  As a consequence, there are occasions where the same activity (for a given ticket) will be paid twice (or more) correctly.  For most users, however, such multiple payments for the same activity on the same load will be in error.  When The Logger's Edge finishes a pay calculator it checks to see if there are any multiple payments for an activity.  If there are, The Logger's Edge reports a 'Multi-Pay Error'.

Example:

--------------------------MULTI PAY ERROR ---------------------------------------------
ERROR: MULTIPLE PAY FOR TICKET:7019, ACTIVITY: TRUCKING
Pay Date: 8/9/2004; Tract: 02-CLEAR-2102, DESTINATION IP-AUGUSTA
1) Pay Contract: 2BR - TRUCKING Paid to: 2BR; Amount: $165.78; Pay Period: [Aug 1 04 V]
2) Pay Contract: ARROW - TRUCKING Paid to: ARROW; Amount: $182.36; Pay Period: [Aug 1 04 V]

The above error message says that the ticket '7019' has been paid twice for the activity 'TRUCKING'.  The two lines -- numbered 1) and 2) -- show each pay contract that has been applied and the corresponding pay period with which the payment is associated ('Aug 1 04 V' in this case).  Presumably, one is the correct contract and the other is incorrect.  If both payments are correct, you don't need to do anything.  In this case, the error message serves as a harmless warning.

If you don't want to pay both contracts, you should check:

• Are there multiple pay contracts setup for the same activity and block?  Check under Contracts | Payment Contracts | Setup from the Main Menu.  Check the pay contracts listed in the error message for this ticket.  Specifically, check the attributes of the load versus those of the pay rates. The Logger's Edge  will select the pay rate that is a more specific match to the load.  If the attributes of the good and the bad pay contract are identical -- meaning the block, destination, species, sort, etc. -- and the effective date is identical, both rates will be applied.  In order to avoid a multi-pay situation, make sure that the rate you want applied is more specific.  If you cannot make one or the other rate more specific, you can change the effective date.  Changing the effective date will mean that one rate will apply for a given period of time, and then be superseded by the rate with the more recent effective date.  Finally, if you cannot change the rate to make it more specific or change the effective date, you should delete the offending rate from the offending pay contract. 
• Are there multiple pay rates setup for the same contract?  Check under Contracts | Payment Contracts | Setup from the Main Menu.  Select the relevant pay contract.  Check the attributes of the load versus those of the pay rates. The Logger's Edge  will select the pay rate that is a more specific match to the load.  If the attributes of the good and the bad pay rates are identical -- meaning the block, destination, species, sort, etc. -- and the effective date is identical, both rates will be applied.  You probably don't want this result.   In order to avoid a multi-pay situation, make sure that the rate you want applied is more specific.  If you cannot make one or the other rate more specific, you can change the effective date.  Changing the effective date will mean that one rate will apply for a given period of time, and then be superseded by the rate with the more recent effective date.  Finally, if you cannot change the rate to make it more specific or change the effective date, you should delete the offending rate.
• Does the multi-pay error for the ticket list two different pay periods under which the load has been paid?  If so, you may have edited the date on the ticket to a different pay period after processing pay for it in the original pay period.  If that is the case, the system now has a pay record for the old pay period and the new pay period.  If the current period's pay record is correct, you can just re-run the calculators for the original pay period, which should clean out the offending pay record from the original pay period.