A. TIME PERIODS
The Recommendation: It is highly recommended that the Time Period records for all locations in a metroplex group use the same values for each of the 12 time periods available. This also applies to the Time Period record for the metroplex group itself. If this is not the case, changes to the fleet size and the number of commitments may appear to report in the wrong time period.
Background Information: The Time Period record consists of 12 "time slots" as seen on the screen of the Edit Time Periods program in fields 2 - 12 and the fixed field above field 2. The file CARS+uses to track the fleet size and number of commitments for given class at a given location contains fields for the 12 time slots. When a reservation is made or a walk-up rental or Non-Revenue movement occurs, CARS+ consults the Time Period record for the pickup and return locations and, based on the pickup and return times, makes the necessary adjustments in the appropriate time slot.
Consequences When the Recommendation is not Followed: The problem occurs when running the Class Availability Report for a Metroplex Group; specifically in the group summary section of the report or when the report is run in summary-only mode. When the Time Period records for the various locations within a Metroplex Group are different, the problem arises as to which record should be used when displaying the summary information. This is the purpose of creating a Time Period record for the Metroplex Group itself. However, the Class Availability Report, when summarizing the data (for the summary section), aggregates that data based on time slot -- since that is how the data is stored in the file.
Example: The third time slot is defined as being 10:00 am to 11:59 am for location "A", yet the third time slot is defined as being 11:00 am to 12:59 pm for the Metroplex Group. A reservation for pickup at 10:30 am will be shown in the third time slot in all sections (location detail and group summary) of the Class Availability report. The third time slot will be correctly labeled when reporting this reservation in the location detail section, but will not be correctly labeled (and therefore mis-representative of the actual reservation details) in the group summary section or on a summary-only report.
In the event there is no Time Period record for the Metroplex Group, the Time Period record used for the summary information will be determined as follows:
There is no issue with the Warning Messages received or with the Class Availabiity display in the Reservations and RA Open programs. The reason is that in these instances a specific location and class code are being reported. Group summary information is not being reported. Therefore the Time Period record for the pickup location and the Warning Percentages for the desired class are used.
WARNING PERCENTAGES (CLASS CODES)
The Recommendation: It is highly recommended that the Warning Percentages for any given class be the same for each location within a Metroplex Group. For example, the Warning Percentages for the class CCAR should be the same for each location in the Metroplex Group. If this is not the case, the Class Availability Report may display unexpected Warning Percentage values.
Background Information: Keep in mind that Vehicle Class records are set up on a per-location basis. For example, the class CCAR must be defined separately for each location where that class is available. The Warning Percentage 1 and 2 values are stored in the Class record. Unlike Time Periods, there is no Class record defined for a Metroplex Group.
Consequences When the Recommendation is not Followed: The problem occurs when running the Class Availability
Report for a Metroplex Group; specifically in the group summary section
of the report or when the report is run in summary-only mode. When the Warning Percentage values for the various locations within a Metroplex Group are different, the problem arises as to which set of vaues should be used when displaying the summary information.
Since there is no Class record for the Metroplex Group, when reporting the summary information for a given class, the Warning Percentages are retrieved from the appropriate Class record for a specific location determined as follows:
In the event that the Warning Percentages on this record are significantly different than those on the class records for the other member locations, it can result in a particular class being flagged on the summary section of the report as having reached either the 1st or 2nd warning threshold (as shown on the report by the "." or the "*") when that really is not the case.
There is no issue with the Warning Messages received or with the Class Availabiity display in the Reservations and RA Open programs. The reason is that in these instances a specific location and class code are being reported. Group summary information is not being reported. Therefore the Class record for the pickup location and its associated Warning Percentages are used.
User tip: The Change Warning Percentages program is a convenient way to set the Warning Percentages for a given class to the same level for an entire location group in a single operation.
CLASS GROUPS
The Recommendation: It is highly recommended that all vehicle classes defined in a class group use the same Warning Percentage values. If this is not the case, the Class Availability Report may display unexpected Warning Percentage values.
Background and Consequences: The issues involved here are the same as those discussed in the "WARNING PERCENTAGES (CLASS CODES)" section above. The only differences are: