Multiple means of transport by load

Consignments of goods are often transported by segmented means of transport, for example, a truck-and-trailer combination, or a locomotive that pulls several cars. In such cases, you may want to perform freight planning for some, or perhaps all of the segments that make up the means of transport.

In Freight, for each freight order line, you can specify whether transportation is to be performed by individual means of transport or segmented means of transport.

If you choose individual means of transport, you can add a transport means group to the freight order line. If you attach a means of transport to the freight order lines, Freight will try to allocate this means of transport to the load that results from the load building process. For more information, refer to The use of transport means groups, Means of transport selection, and Freight order grouping.

If you opt for segmented means of transport, you can add a transport means combination to the freight order line. A transport means combination can include various individual means of transport, this depends on the way you set up your transport means combinations. As a result, Freight can allocate more than one means of transport to each load that results from the load building process.

Note: You can attach either a transport means group or a transport means combination to a freight order line, both is not possible.

If you do not insert a transport means group or a transport means combination on a freight order line, the load building engine selects a transport means group or a transport means combination based on your setup data. The load building engine first looks for a suitable transport means group. If no transport means group is found, the default transport means group defined for the carrier is taken. If no default transport means group is defined, the load building engine looks for a transport means combination. If not found, the default transport means combination defined for the carrier is taken. For further information on the load building engine, see The load building process.

Transport means combinations are also available for freight order clustering. A transport means combination is one of the criteria used to generate freight order clusters.

Transport means combinations

A transport means combination constitutes a combination of vehicles; it consists of various segments. For example, a truck-and-trailer combination, or a locomotive that pulls several cars. To specify the segments that make up the transport means combination, you must attach vehicle types and/or means of transport.

Vehicle types

A vehicle type refers to an anonymous, that is, not uniquely identifiable, type of vehicle. For each vehicle type, you must specify the number of vehicles that is used for the transport means combination. For example, if the combined means of transport consists of a locomotive and five cars, for vehicle type CAR, you must insert 5, and for vehicle type LOC, you must insert 1.

Means of transport

A means of transport refers to a uniquely identifiable vehicle for which Freight can perform availability checking during load building. To define a uniquely identifiable segment, you must add a means of transport and a vehicle type to the transport means combination. For example, if the combined means of transport consists of a locomotive and five cars, and you want to enable availability checking for the locomotive, you can insert means of transport LOCOMOTIVE AX00023 and vehicle type LOC for the locomotive. For more information, refer to To set up transport means combinations.

You can add several means of transport to a transport means combination. Thus Freight can plan transportation for more than one means of transport to transport a load.

To set up transport means combinations

To set up transport means combinations, proceed as follows:

  1. In the Combination Codes (fmfmd0120m000) session, define combination codes.
  2. In the Transport Types (fmfmd0140m000) session, define transport types.
  3. In the Means of Transport (fmfmd0155m000) session, define means of transport and in the Means of Transport Calendar (fmlbd0560m000) session, set up the calendar for means of transport.
  4. In the Transport Means Groups (fmfmd0150m000) session, define transport means groups.
  5. In the Vehicle Types (fmfmd0147m000) session, define vehicle types.
  6. In the Transport Means Combination (fmfmd0642m000) session, define transport means combinations.

  7. In the Vehicle Types and Means of Transport by Transport Means Combination (fmfmd0148m000) session, add vehicle types and means of transport that belong to a transport means combination.

    To define an anonymous segment for a transport means combination, you must add a vehicle type and the number of vehicles of this vehicle type. For example, if the combined means of transport consists of a locomotive and five cars, for vehicle type CAR, you must insert 5 in the Number of Vehicles field.

    To define a uniquely identifiable segment, you must add a means of transport and a vehicle type. The number of vehicles for a uniquely identifiable segment cannot be more than one.

  8. In the Transport Means Combinations by Carrier/LSP (fmfmd0144m000) session, define the transport means combinations that are available for carriers.
  9. In the Freight Planning Parameters (fmlbd0100m000) session, select or clear the Check TMG and TMC Availability check box to specify whether or not the loading capacity and the availability of means of transport or transport means combinations must be checked during load building.