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Organising time slots at your loading docks starts with deciding how long a slot lasts for each type of transport, how many docks to open for booking, who books and what to do with a vehicle that has no booking. Every slot needs time that nobody plans for: pulling onto the dock, positioning, and clearing up after the delivery. A schedule made up of unloading slots alone looks good in a table but falls apart in the second hour, because there is not a minute of slack left between two deliveries.
Decisions to make before the dock schedule goes live
The first decision is the length of the slot and whether it should be the same for everyone. Unloading pallets from a curtainsider takes a different amount of time from a bulk delivery or a collection of finished goods, and a single slot length for every type of transport is the most common mistake in a new schedule. It is better to tie the time to the entry type, because then the portal suggests the right length to the carrier by itself.
Next, decide how many docks to open for booking. All of them rarely are, because one dock kept outside the schedule can take a load that nobody foresaw.
Bookings can be made by the carrier in the portal, by the purchasing department, or by both. The portal shifts that work onto the carrier, but it does not have to be the only route.
That leaves the vehicle without a booking. What happens to it has to be settled on paper before security settles it at the barrier at seven in the morning.
Time before and after the delivery in a dock booking
A dock booking covers more than the delivery itself. Before it, the vehicle has to pull up and position itself. After it, the space has to be cleared, the forklift put away and sometimes the area washed down. If none of that is in the booking, the next vehicle pulls onto a dock that is not free yet.
In TraxSystem you set this as preparation time before the delivery and time after it, and the system adds both to the booking automatically. Both times come from the entry type, because a tanker needs different preparation from a curtainsider at the same dock. Tying them to the dock looks more natural, and it is a mistake that shows up after a month.
What to do with a vehicle that misses its slot
Late arrivals call for two decisions. The first is the tolerance, meaning how many minutes after its slot a vehicle is still handled as booked: a schedule without one is unrealistic, and with too wide a tolerance it loses its point. The second is what happens once the tolerance is exceeded. The vehicle then goes into the first free slot or to the end of the day, or is sent away, although sending it away is mainly justified at refrigerated docks.
Separately, you decide how to release bookings that nobody turns up for, because otherwise the schedule fills up with reservations that will never be used. In TraxSystem this is a threshold in hours: once it is exceeded, the booking is marked as a no-show and the dock is freed.
Changing the dock at the last minute
Last-minute dock changes happen and will keep happening, so what matters is whether the change reaches the driver. A correction in the table on the dispatcher’s screen tells the driver nothing. TraxSystem sends a notification of the dock change by text message to the driver’s number from the booking.
The system cannot guarantee that the text is delivered: the network operator may delay the message, and the driver’s phone may be out of signal. For a change a few minutes before the delivery, a phone call is more reliable.
Who looks after the schedule day to day
The schedule is looked after either by a dispatcher or by the system. In manual mode the dispatcher sees the dock calendar and assigns vehicles personally, which works well with a few docks and a lot of variability.
In automatic mode TraxSystem assigns the dock according to rules. This is sometimes misread as ‘the system will sort everything out by itself’, whereas automation sticks to the rules it has been given. If the rules do not match how work at the docks really goes, the result will be wrong faster and more consistently than with a person.
The dock calendar and the dispatcher view are part of the Bookings and warehouse module, so you do not buy them separately. The module is paid for by the number of docks, and the pricing configurator will show you the amount for your site.
What time slots will not solve
A schedule spreads the load on your docks over time, but it does not create capacity, and it does not add docks. Nor will it force carriers to be punctual, although it will show no-shows and arrivals outside the slot; the conclusions and the conversations with carriers are up to you.
TraxSystem is not a warehouse management system (WMS). It plans the entry, the dock and the time, but it does not know what is in the trailer and does not keep stock levels. Nor will it block a vehicle without a booking on its own: the operator sees that there is no reservation and decides whether the vehicle comes in.
Questions and answers
How long should a typical slot be?
That depends on the type of transport and the conditions at your site, which is why the length is tied to the entry type rather than set globally. The starting point is timing a dozen or so real deliveries.
Can the carrier see the occupancy of all the docks?
No. It sees free slots within the range you make available to it, and it cannot see other carriers’ data.
Can a dock be blocked for an inspection or repairs?
Yes. Taking a dock out of booking for a period is done in the calendar.
See also: Time slot calendar vs yard management system: what is the difference · Truck queues at the gate: where they come from and how to clear them · ‘What time should I be there?’ calls: how to stop taking them