 |  |
How To: Handle Light Loads
1. BackgroundThere may be occasions where you want to pay a trucker for a minimum pay weight. For example, in western Canada there is currently a large infestation of pine beetles that kill the trees. When the deadwood is harvested, the wood is lighter so that even for a fully loaded log truck, the actual weight is often lighter than normal. Thus, when truckers are paid based on weight for "bug" wood, they earn sub standard rates. In these situations, you can top up a trucker's pay in The Logger's Edge by using the capability to pay a trucker based on a set minimum weight. Thus, for example, you could set a weight of 38,000 Kgs to be the minimum and pay the trucker the greater his actual net weight or the minimum weight.
2. StepsEnable Minimum Truck Weight on the Truck Weights Form
In edit data setup, you need to enable the MINIMUM_WEIGHT_NET field on the Truck Weights table. This will allow you to enter a minimum weight for each truck.
If your truck minimum weights also depend on the configuration (e.g. number of axles), you will probably also want to make sure that the TRUCK_TYPE_CODE field is enabled.
You can then enter your minimum truck weights:
Enable Is Use Min Weight on the Destinations Form
In edit data setup, you need to enable the 'IS_USE_MIN_WEIGHT field on the Destinations table. This setting will enable you to use the truck minimum weights for some destinations, but not for others. Depending on the mills you serve, the practices of dealing with light loads can vary substantially.
Once this field is enabled, you will be able to select the destinations to which the minimum weights apply:
Enable 'Cull' In Basic Setup
'Cull' is a term we use to generally indicate a deduction from the net weight due to sub standard logs. The cull deduction lowers the net weight and allows you to pay a contractor based on that lower weight. When the cull deduction is negative -- meaning it is not a deduction, but an addition -- it can be used to ADD weight to a load. In The Logger's Edge we use a negative deduction as the 'Top Up' amount for a load that weight less than the minimum amount. For example, if a load is 35,000 Kgs and the minimum weight is 37,000 Kgs, we apply a negative cull deduction of -2,000 Kgs that serves to top up the weight of the load to 37,000 Kgs.
So, the first thing we need to do, is to enable 'Cull' in the Basic Setup Table:
Next, be sure that the CULL and ADJ_NET fields are added to the loadslip table. (The fields must be enabled in order for the auto-calculation of the adjusted net to work properly.) Because we would rather have the label for cull not be the word 'cull', we change the term from 'cull' to a more meaningful term, such as 'top up', on the load slips table.
Now, when we enter a slip, we see additional entries for the 'top up' amount and the adjusted net weight on the load slip:
The Net Weight is the true net weight of the load. The 'top up' amount is the difference between the minimum weight and the true net weight -- it is the amount that needs to be added to the net weight to achieve the minimum.
Note:
The top up amount has a negative(-) sign because the net weight minus a
negative weight, results in an addition not a subtraction. We must
apply the negative sign because the 'Top Up' entry is normally used for
a deduction not an addition.
Load Slip Entry
When you add or edit a load and enter the trucking details for the load, the top up amount will be auto-filled based on the truck, truck configuration, route and destination. (In the truck weights table, a value of 'NONE' will mean all or ignore; thus an entry for route code of 'NONE' would mean that the value for route on the load slip will not be used to determine the applicable minimum weight.)
Though
not shown here, you can make the minimum weights differ by destination.
This would require adding destination to the truck weights table.
The auto filling function will look at the destination if it is applied
to the truck weights table -- otherwise, destination will be
ignored.
Beware: If you edit destination on a load ticket from a
min wt to a non min-wt destination, and a top-up has been applied with
the original destination, you must manually clear out the destination.
Thus, we you are entering your loads, The Logger's Edge will automatically fill in the top up amounts -- you do not have to perform this task manually.
I
f you are importing your loads and you are NOT importing the 'top
up' amount or the 'adjusted net' fields,
The Logger's
Edge will apply your minimum
weights and auto-fill the amount when the loads are successfully
imported. If you do import the 'top up' amount, make sure that it
is imported with a negative sign. In this case, the actual data
will trump any calculated value during the import. Beware, though,
if you edit an imported load,
The Logger's
Edge will recalculate the top up amount
based on the rules you have set up.
Also, if you are importing, and you have told the system that a given Destination applies minimum weights, but have set up no minimum weights that are applicable for that destination, the import will simply set the top-up to zero.
Pay
OK, now you have two weights on your load ticket: a regular net weight and an adjusted net weight (the net weight plus the top up amount, if any). During the pay calculators, how does The Logger's Edge choose which new weight to use for pay calculations?
When 'Cull' is enabled, there is an additional column added to the pay contract rates grid - 'Pay by Adj Net'. This checkbox is used to tell The Logger's Edge to use the adjusted (topped up) weight rather than the true net weight. In the rate grid below, the fifth row has this option selected, meaning that when calculating pay based on that rate, the adjusted net will be used and will be converted in Tonnes using that adjusted net weight.
Note
that you must make this selection for each rate you want to apply.
Because the selection is made at the rate level, you can choose to use
the adjusted net for some activities, but not others. For example,
you can pay Trucking based on the adjusted net, but Loading based on the
actual net. The same goes for blocks and destinations -- you can
use the adjusted net for some blocks and/or destinations, not use the
true net for others.
If
you have failed to set up a minimum weight for a particular destination
and your load ticket thus has no top-up weight on it, the payment
calculators will NOT generate an error that you are missing a minimum
weight. They simply use the value in the "adjusted net" field, and
assume that value is what the user intends. The moral of the story
is: double-check your light loads carefully to ensure that you
have done all the necessary work for the system to have the proper
"adjusted net" value.
On the vendor statement grid, you will see two weights -- the true weight and the pay weight. If you have selected the adjusted net weight, and the load has been topped up, the statement will show a difference in the net weight and the pay weight, indicating the top up amount:
In
the formatted (Crystal) vendor statement, you will only see the actual
pay weight.
A Note on Revenue
You can also receive revenue based on the topped up weight. As with pay contracts, when 'Cull' is enabled, there is an additional column added to the revenue contract rates grid - 'Pay by Adj Net'. This checkbox is used to tell The Logger's Edge to use the adjusted (topped up) weight rather than the true net weight when calculating your revenue.
When, the adjusted net checkbox is used, The Logger's Edge will use the adjusted net to calculate the amount the mill owes you for a load.
Now, in the invoice revenue grid, you will see the topped up weight as the pay (revenue) weight for the load.
Pay as a Percent of Load Revenue
If you set your trucking rates to pay as a 'percent of load revenue', you can still pay be the adjusted net weight. When you set up your pay contract, just use the 'Pay by Adj Net' flag to indicate that you want to use the adjusted (topped up) net weight.
In a contract like this, The Logger's Edge will use the adjusted net weight for the pay basis and will grab the pay rate from the revenue contract rate. The Logger's Edge will then apply the percentage to the revenue rate to calculate the actual pay rate to be applied to the adjusted net weight.
On
a 'Percent of Load Revenue' pay rate,
The Logger's
Edge IGNORES the checkbox 'Pay by
Adjusted Net' on the associated Revenue rate.
The Logger's
Edge uses the 'Pay by Adjusted Net'
checkbox on the pay contract rate to determine the appropriate pay
basis.
Thus, in the example above, the pay rate is 98% of the revenue rate of $14.22 and the pay weight is based on the adjusted net weight.
