The Dispatch Menu provides a group of programs which give the user:

The following section introduces the dispatching features of CARS+. Refer to the individual chapters for details on each program.

OPTION: _________ DISPATCH MENU

1. Show Current Status CURSTAT
2. Show Current Status 2 CURSTAT2
3. Make Vehicle Available MAKAVL
4. Physical Lot Report PHYSLOT
5. Release Vehicle RELEASE

6. Vehicle Staging VEHSTAGE
7. Lot Controller LOTCTRL

8. Make Veh Avail-Hand-Held MAK

9. Make Equipment Available MAKEQP
10. Assign Assets to Vehicles ASSIGN
11. Asset Linking Report LINKRPT


I. DEFINITION

Dispatching allows the user to control the flow of vehicles available to the rental counter. This feature is especially helpful for high volume operations and where customers are bussed from airport terminal counters to pick up rental vehicles at a remote parking lot. These programs are used to define which vehicles can be rented by counter agents and to observe the immediate fleet needs of the operation.

Dispatching is location sensitive so the logic can be turned on for selected locations where appropriate.

II. SUMMARY OF DISPATCHING FEATURES

When the dispatching feature is turned on for a location the following occurs:

  1. The rental agents are restricted to renting only vehicles which are currently on the "ready line" (those with Vehicle Status Code "A"). In certain locations with multiple parking lots, rental agents can be restricted to drawing vehicles from only one lot linked to their Drawer record.
  2. Once a RA is opened, instead of going to "Open" status, the RA goes to a "Hold" status.
  3. When the customer drives the vehicle off the rental lot, the Release Vehicle program is used to release the vehicle from the ready line and change the status of the RA from "Hold" to "Open".
    Prior to saving the release of a vehicle, access is granted to the Options Pop-Up window (by using Shift/F5) in case the customer wants to add or delete options. The RA can then be reprinted.

    Locations can be defined so that the actual rental charges begin as soon as the RA is put on "Hold" or at the time when the vehicle is released. This is controlled in the Location record.
  4. The MAKE VEHICLE AVAILABLE program is used to change the vehicle status to "A" and assign it to a particular parking stall. Additionally, it can be assigned to a particular parking lot if the multiple parking lot logic is being used.
  5. If a requested class of vehicle is not available, the counter agent can save a RA without an assigned vehicle. This type of RA will be put in "Wait" status.
  6. The SHOW CURRENT STATUS program allows the dispatcher to see how many vehicles from each class are on the ready line and on the back lot. In addition, this display shows all RAs which are currently in "Hold" and "Wait" status.
  7. The PHYSICAL LOT REPORT is used to print out a list of all vehicles currently on the ready line.


III. ACTIVATING THE DISPATCHING FEATURE FOR A LOCATION

The dispatching feature is turned on for a location through fields in the Location record. (Use the Edit Locations program to make changes to the Location record.) The following notes cover the fields involved.

EDIT LOCATIONS, PAGE 1

19. DISPATCH CONTROL

This field determines whether the location will use the vehicle dispatch features.

Y = Dispatch features will be used as follows:

Open RAs will go on "Hold" status when saved and the Release Vehicle program must be used to change the status to "On-rent".

The opening date/time is set when the RA is saved. It is not adjusted when the vehicle is released from Hold status.

The Show Current Status report can be run for this location.

On the Vehicle Search program, rental agents are restricted to searching only for vehicles with Status Code "A".

When a RA is preprinted, the RA status is VOID-P.

1 = The same Dispatch features as listed above in the “Y” response will be in effect with the exception that when the vehicle is released from Hold, the opening date/time of the RA will be re-written to the current system date/time when the release is entered.

When a RA is preprinted, the RA status is HOLD-P.

N = This location will not use the dispatch features.

20. READY LINE SIZE

Enter up to 3 numeric characters to indicate the number of parking stalls on your ready line.

14. AUTO VEHICLE SELECT

This is an optional feature of dispatching.

Y = After entering a Class Code on the RA Open program, the system will automatically select an available vehicle of that class and insert it into the RA.

Note: This auto selection can be overridden by executing a vehicle search and selecting a new vehicle.

N = The rental agent will have to enter a vehicle inventory number or select a vehicle from the Vehicle File Search.

16. CHECK-IN STATUS

When using the dispatch feature, the default check-in status must be set to a Status Code other than "A". This is because Status Code "A" now refers only to those vehicles currently on the ready line.

EDIT LOCATIONS: PAGE 4

11. DRAWER STALLS Y/N

When different lots are used to hold the available fleet, it can be defined in the Cash Drawer record which lot corresponds to which drawer. This field turns on the lot number logic and grants access to the lot number in the Edit Stall program.

EDIT CASH DRAWERS

57. LOT NO

If the operation uses multiple lots to park available vehicles, use this field to specify which lot should be used by transactions done from this drawer.

When a vehicle search is performed, only those vehicles in stalls assigned to the user’s drawer number will be displayed.

When automatic vehicle assignment is turned on, vehicles will be selected only from the stalls assigned to this lot number.

To assign a lot number, enter up to 2 alphanumeric characters.

EXAMPLE: Type W1 (RET)

58. RELEASE

This field is part of the dispatch logic. It determines the status of the RA once it is saved.

Enter:

N = When the RA is saved, its status will be set to OPEN.

Y (or blank) = When the RA is saved, its status will be set to HOLD.

EXAMPLE: Press (RET)


IV. DISPATCH AND VEHICLE STATUS

When Dispatching is turned on at a location, the following changes occur to Vehicle Status Codes:

1. If the vehicle number is changed on a previously saved RA (allowed only during the first 59 minutes of the RA), the status of the original vehicle is set to the default Check-in Status defined for the location.

2. The following programs block the ability to assign Status "A" to a vehicle:

Void RA

Close RA
Vehicle Exchange

Foreign RA Entry
Vehicle History Update

3. The only program at a Dispatch controlled location which can make a vehicle available is the Make Vehicle Available program.


V. VEHICLE STAGING AND LOT CONTROLLER

Some operations, especially those serving airports, have insufficient space at the actual rental location for the entire fleet. This necessitates having one or more off site staging lots for cleaning, prepping, and storing vehicles between rentals. When there are multiple lots, it becomes necessary to track which vehicles are in which lots.

After defining Lots in the system (Edit Lot Numbers), the Vehicle Staging program can be used to specify which lot the vehicle is in. When saved, the Vehicle Inventory record is updated with the current lot location.

To manage the vehicles in the off-site lots, the Lot Controller program is used. It is a dynamic display of the number of vehicles by class in each of the lots.