START OF ROUTE

Before starting the route, the driver loads the route information into the hand held computer from the host system. This includes customer information, special prices for those customers, item information, and the expected sequence of the route.

The customer information is separated from the route sequence as customers can be scheduled several times in the same route. Customers not on the scheduled route can be included to support unscheduled deliveries, and emergency deliveries to customers normally serviced by other drivers.

START OF TRIP/SHIFT

A route may be run in one trip/shift or in several. Before starting each trip/shift, the driver verifies the trip/shift starting date and time, enters the truck odometer reading and any other required start of trip information.

The software selects the first unprocessed stop on the route as the first stop for the trip/shift.

END OF TRIP/SHIFT

A trip/shift is ended when the driver chooses to send transaction data to the host system. The driver verifies the trip/shift ending date and time, enters the truck odometer reading and any other required end of trip information.

The driver is given the option to concurrently process end of route.

The invoice and inventory transaction data is formatted and transmitted to the host system. A snapshot of the current truck inventory is taken and transmitted.

After successful transmission, the transaction data is archived, customer invoices are copied to invoice history, and invoices over a month old are purged.

END OF ROUTE

When the driver selects to end the route while processing an end of shift, the software closes out any undelivered or skipped stops on the route. A start of route is then required before any more deliveries can be made.

Copyright 1999, 2000 Marietta Systems, Inc.   All rights reserved