8: Setting up Distribution

The Distribution menu allows you to manage your vehicles and organise your deliveries and couriers.

To add a vehicle, go to Fleet Management and click Create Vehicle in the bottom right corner. As well as storing information about your vehicles, the system will utilise the following fields to automatically optimise your delivery routes in Distribution Planning; Weight Limit, Default Start Location, Default Start Time, Default End Location and Default End time.

The two compulsory fields are:

  1. *Vehicle Name - This will be the display name of the vehicle.
  2. *Weight Limit - This will limit the weight of products that the route planning software can add to this vehicle.

The optional fields are:

  1. Make - Enter the make of the vehicle for easy identification.
  2. **Model ** - Enter the model of the vehicle for easy identification.
  3. Colour - Enter assign the colour of the vehicle for easy identification.
  4. Registration Number - Enter the registration number of the vehicle for easy identification.
  5. Vehicle Type - Assign vehicle type, e.g. Van, HGV, etc. to the vehicle for easy identification.
  6. **MOT Expiry ** - Record the MOT expiry date as a reminder in the system.
  7. Insurance Expiry - Record when the insurance expires as a reminder in the system.
  8. **Service Due ** - Record when the next service is due as a reminder in the system.
  9. Insurance Company - Record which company this vehicle is insured with for your reference.
  10. Policy Number - This is used to state the insurance policy number of the vehicle for reference.
  11. **Default Start Location ** - This informs the route planning software where the vehicle is expected to start its journeys. The tick box Use Company Address As Start Location is used to default this to the company address. If this is unticked you can enter an alternate address manually.
  12. Default End Location - This informs the route planning software where the vehicle should go at the end of the journey. The tick box Use Company Address As Start Location is used to default this to the company address. If this is unticked you can enter an alternate address manually.
  13. Default Start Time - This informs the route planning software what time the vehicle is expected to leave on its journeys.
  14. Default End Time - This informs the route planning software what time the vehicle is expected to finish its journey.
  15. Notes - Any additional information on the vehicle can be added here.

The vehicle list can be searched to find the vehicle you are looking for.

An existing vehicle can be edited or deleted.

Once you have added your vehicles, you can then add the schedules. In the Distribution Schedule you can organise delivery routes and couriers.

To add a Delivery Area , click Edit in the top right of the Delivery card. You can enter the name of the Delivery Area , and select which days deliveries are made. In the list, you can edit the number of days it takes for the delivery to be made. When you have added all of your areas, click Save.

The Delivery Defaults card will allow you to allocate a default time to stops, and a delivery cost which will automatically apply to all delivered orders.

The Courier Collection card allows you to add the courier services you use. Click Edit in the top right of the card to add couriers. You can enter the name of the service provider, and select which days these collections will be made. In the list, you can edit the number of days it takes for the delivery to be made and the cost for this service. This will be added to all orders that have the courier selected. When you have added all of your couriers, click Save.

Now proceed to 9: Container Tracking - Creating Containers for the next steps.

The guide assumes that you are importing your data in bulk. To add individual new items or for more detail on all the relevant fields, please see the guides below:

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Page Created: 05/08/2021