An Introduction to Appointments
There are two types of Freight handled by a facility; company-managed freight and supplier/customer-managed freight.
Company Freight | Freight managed by the company. Typically inbound/outbound freight is paid for by the company. Company freight will be managed and booked in the company’s TMS, Shipwell. This type of freight will be known as Shipment Appointments.
Shipwell Appointment Behavior To book an appointment for company freight a carrier, shipper, broker, or dock worker will search for the shipment using a reference number: PO, BOL, PRO, Customer Ref, Shipwell Id. The details of the shipment will synched and used to determine load type and appointment window. |
Supplier Freight | Freight that is inbound to the company from a supplier or vender. Typically receiving freight from a vendor or supplier that is not managed in the company’s TMS, Shipwell. This type of freight will be known as Supplier Appointments.
Shipwell Appointment Behavior To book an appointment for inbound supplier freight the carrier will contact the facility. They will need to provide all order/shipment-related details for the system to assign a dock. Instead of all the details the shipper/dock worker will assign the dock. The appointment window will also be set by the shipper or dock worker unless a load type is entered. |
The different types of appointment
There are two types of appointments: By Appointment and First Come First Serve (FCFS). A facility can support both types or be a hybrid of the two.
By Appointment | First Come; First Served |
Appointment has a defined start time | Appointment does not have a defined start time |
The carrier has to schedule the appointment at the facility | Carrier can just turn up during facility or dock operating hours |
Appointments will link to a Load Type | Appointment will link to a Load Type |
The appointment will have an appointment window | The appointment will have an appointment window |
The appointment will be assigned to a Dock | The appointment will be assigned to a Dock |
There is a capacity limit to the number of daily appointments | There is no capacity limit to the number of daily appointments |
Carriers can expect to be loaded and unloaded at their appointment time | Carriers may need to wait in a holding area until there is availability |
A carrier turns up late for their appointment they will be marked as Arrived Late | A carrier will never be marked as Arrived Late. |
A carrier can be marked as a No Show if they do turn up by the end of the planned window | A carrier can be marked as a No Show if they do not turn up by the end of planned window |
A carrier can cancel and/or reschedule their appointment | A carrier will be able to reschedule but not cancel |
By Appointment
Why does a facility require carriers to schedule Appointments?
Facilities will require appointments to be scheduled by a carrier for a variety of reasons:
· Capacity: The facility has a high volume of inbound and outbound shipments that could not be handled with a first come; first serve mode
· Optimization: The facility needs to stage products or pre-load before a carrier pick up/delivery so knowing when and what order loads are to be picked up or delivered is imperative to the facility being efficient
· Constraints: A facility might have a limited dock worker resource pool and need to plan its resourcing needs, especially when a facility handles seasonable products.
How is a By Appointment type assigned to the appointment?
Docks determine if a shipment is By Appointment. When a shipment is created, it is matched to a Load Type that in turn is matched to a Dock. If the Dock requires an appointment, the TMS will guide the user to search for availability and schedule the appointment.
How can a user schedule a "By Appointment" appointment?
A user can schedule an appointment from the dock scheduling calendar, shipment details page, the carrier portal, or the mobile app. A user will need to select the Schedule button to see all available time slots. The schedule button will only become active once a carrier is assigned to a shipment. Once an appointment is scheduled it will be posted to the Calendar.
Can a carrier schedule an appointment before or after the planned appointment date?
Appointments can be scheduled within the planned window, which ranges from the planned window start time to the planned window end time. This means carriers have the flexibility to choose a time slot within this designated range. However, they cannot schedule appointments outside this window.
For example:
If a shipment's planned window is 10:00 AM - 2:00 PM, the carrier can schedule an appointment for any time between 10:00 AM and 2:00 PM.
They cannot schedule an appointment for 9:00 AM (before the window) or 3:00 PM (after the window).
Can a By Appointment appointment be rescheduled or cancelled?
The appointment can be cancelled or rescheduled up until the day of pick up or delivery. Same-day cancels or reschedules will not be permitted by the system unless a user has Override permissions.
What is an unscheduled appointment?
An unscheduled appointment is an appointment that has a planned date but has not yet been scheduled by the carrier or shipper. It will not appear on the Calendar until it is scheduled. An unscheduled status will only apply to appointments with an appointment type of By Appointment. An unscheduled appointment linked to a shipment without a carrier assigned will not be included on the calendar or in the Appointment required compass alert.
First Come; First Served Behavior
Why does a facility NOT require carriers to schedule an appointment?
The first come first serve appointment is a type of appointment that does not require a carrier to schedule an appointment. A facility will not require an appointment when the:
· Shipment Loading and Unloading times are short
· Shipment volumes are low
· There are no facility capacity or resource constraints that would require ahead planning
How is a First Come First Serve appointment type assigned to the appointment?
Docks determine if a shipment is first come, first serve. When a shipment is created, it is matched to a Load Type that in turn gets matched to a Dock. If the Dock is first come first serve an appointment will not need to be scheduled by the carrier or shipper. The first come first serve appointment will have a start and end time equal to the open and close time of either the facility or the dock. Only once a carrier is assigned to this appointment type be it be visible to the dock worker.
How can a user cancel or reschedule a First Come First Serve appointment?
A first come first serve appointment cannot be cancelled. In order to cancel the appointment the shipment will need to be cancelled. The pick up or drop off date for a first come first serve appointment can be updated. This will not affect planned date of the pick up or drop off.
Appointment Status
An appointment will be deemed active or inactive based on the appointment's status.
Active or Inactive? | Appointment Status |
Active Appointment | Unscheduled, Scheduled, Rescheduled, Arrived, Arrived Late |
Inactive Appointment | Completed, Rejected, No Show, Cancelled |
The status assigned to an appointment will vary based on the appointment's type.
Appointment Status Glossary
An unscheduled status is only assigned to a by appointment appointment. This indicated that the carrier or shipper has not scheduled their appointment
A scheduled status is assigned to both a by appointment and first come first serve appointment. A dock worker will only see scheduled appointment linked to a shipment with a carrier.
A rescheduled status will only be visible to a user from the Appointment History timeline. Although a user will be able to reschedule an appointment it will not be shown on the Appointment pill.
An Arrived status will be triggered once an appointment is checked in.
An Arrived Late status will be assigned if an appointment is checked in past the Facility Late Appointment Threshold rule.
A Rejected status will be assigned if an appointment is rejected at the facility.
A No Show status will be assigned if the carrier does not show up for their appointment on planned date. The status is assigned at midnight on planned day.
A Cancelled status will only be visible to a user from the Appointment History timeline. Although a user will be able to cancel a By Appointment appointment it will reset the appointment back to Unscheduled.
A Completed status will be assigned once an appointment is checked out.