External Equipment
External Equipment is the catalog of third-party vehicles and equipment (contracted, leased or subcontracted) that take part in your transportation operations and, optionally, in maintenance, but that are not owned by your company. Here you register their driver, license plate, registration and fuel efficiency, then use them to generate Trips in the Transportation Management (TMS) module.
What is it and what is it for?
Technically, an External Equipment record is a Fixed Asset (FA_FixedAssets) flagged
with the EXTERNAL type, instead of the regular type used by the
Equipment screen. It shares the same table as Fixed Assets and your own Equipment,
but its form shows only the fields relevant to something you don't own: it doesn't include
depreciation, ledger accounts or manufacturing data, and instead highlights transportation data
(license plate, driver, fuel efficiency) and, when relevant, basic maintenance data (equipment
class, fuel it consumes, reading unit).
It's mainly used to register the fleet of subcontracted or third-party carriers that run Trips for your company: when creating a Trip in the Transportation Management (TMS) module, you can assign it an External Equipment record (for example, a contracted carrier's truck) instead of one of your own vehicles. An External Equipment record can also be flagged as Support Equipment (unloading support equipment), which makes it selectable as "Support Equipment" when planning a Trip's unloading.
Screens in this area
| Screen | What it does |
|---|---|
| List | All registered external equipment. You can filter by Equipment Class, Vendor and by a specific support equipment, and customize which columns are shown (by default: Name, Code and Class; you can add Vendor, Driver, Support Equipment, Transportation Equipment, Fuel SKU, Fuel Efficiency and its unit). |
| Create / Edit | A form with the equipment's general data, its typical spare parts and its attached files. |
| Details | A read-only view with all the equipment's data, its image (if any) and its linked Preventive Maintenance Plans. |
| Report | A printable report of external equipment, filterable by class, vendor, employee, subsidiary, purchase date, code and status, among other criteria. |
How to create an external equipment record step by step
- Open the list and click New. You need the "add" level of the "TMS External Equipment" permission.
- Enter the name. It's the only required field. The code is optional: if you leave it blank, the name must be different from any other equipment or fixed asset already registered (internal or external).
- Fill in the general data. Brand, model, year, color, vendor (the carrier or leasing company) and, if your company has the Customer Service module active, the linked contract.
- Choose its Equipment Class from the Equipment Classes catalog, later used in reports and list filters.
- If it takes part in transportation, turn on the TMS data. Flag it as Transportation Equipment or Support Equipment and enter its driver, license plate, registration and fuel efficiency.
- Configure the basic maintenance data that applies: the linked customer, the fuel item it consumes, the reading unit (hours, kilometers, etc.) and whether that reading should be required when dispatching fuel or parts for the equipment.
- Add the spare parts it typically consumes in the matching section, and attach files (carrier contracts, photos, policies) if you need to.
- Save. The external equipment record is immediately available to assign to Trips in the Transportation Management module and, if applicable, to Preventive Maintenance Plans.
Key capabilities
- Use on Trips (TMS): equipment flagged as transportation equipment can be assigned directly to a Trip, just like one of your own vehicles.
- Support Equipment: equipment flagged as support equipment becomes available for selection as unloading support equipment when planning a Trip.
- Spare parts and files built directly into the equipment record, with no need to visit another screen.
- Preventive Maintenance Plans: even though the equipment isn't yours, you can track it with preventive maintenance plans if your company provides that service on it.
- Customizable list: choose and reorder which columns to see (vendor, driver, fuel efficiency, etc.) and save your own configuration.
- Printable report of external equipment, with the same filters as the Equipment report, but limited to records flagged as external.
Key fields
| Field | What it's for |
|---|---|
| Code / Name | Identify the external equipment record. Name is required and, together with code, must be unique across all Fixed Assets (internal and external). |
| Equipment Class | Grouping from the Equipment Classes catalog, used in reports and list filters. |
| Brand / Model / Year / Color | Descriptive data for the equipment, useful for identifying it in the field and on reports. |
| Vendor | The carrier, leasing company or subcontractor that actually owns the equipment. |
| Contract | Links the equipment to a service contract. Only visible if your company has the Customer Service module active. |
| Transportation Equipment | Flags the equipment as a transportation unit, available to assign to Trips in the TMS module. |
| Support Equipment | Flags the equipment as unloading support equipment, available as "Support Equipment" when planning a Trip. |
| Driver | The contact assigned as the transportation unit's driver. |
| License Plate / Registration | The vehicle's official identification. |
| Fuel Efficiency / Unit | How much fuel the equipment consumes per unit of distance or time, and the unit it's measured in (for example, km/gallon). |
| Customer | The customer the equipment is linked to, if applicable. |
| Fuel SKU | The inventory item that represents the fuel the equipment consumes, used when recording dispatches. |
| Reading Unit / Require Reading on Dispatches | The unit the equipment's use is measured in (hours, kilometers, etc.) and whether that reading must be recorded every time fuel or parts are dispatched to it. |
| Spare Parts | The parts or supplies the equipment typically consumes. |
| Linked Files | Contracts, photos, policies or other documents related to the equipment or its vendor. |
Validations when saving
- Name is required.
- Code must be unique when entered manually; name must be unique if the code is left blank. Uniqueness is validated against all Fixed Assets, not just other external equipment.
- Each field's length limit is enforced (name and code up to 200 characters; brand, model, color, license plate and registration up to 50; reading unit up to 200; fuel efficiency unit up to 20).
- You cannot delete an external equipment record if it has associated transactions (bills, dispatches, ledger lines or tasks that reference it), if it's assigned to a manufacturing routing (BOM), if it appears on any payroll, if it has Preventive Maintenance Plans, or if it's assigned to any TMS Trip; the system shows you the list of affected records so you know what to reassign or delete first.
Availability, plan and modules
- This screen is only available on the Enterprise plan, and only when your company has at least one of these modules active: Transportation Management (TMS) or Industrial Maintenance. If neither is active, neither the menu nor the screen will be visible.
- Access is controlled by the "TMS External Equipment" permission of the user group, with separate levels for browsing, adding, editing and deleting.
- The Contract field only appears if your company has the Customer Service module active.
- Unlike the Equipment screen (for your own machinery and vehicles), External Equipment doesn't include depreciation, ledger accounts or manufacturing data, because the equipment isn't an asset of your company.
Tips and common pitfalls
Flag Transportation Equipment and Support Equipment correctly. The same piece of equipment can have both checkboxes on if it both hauls and helps with unloading; if you only need it to show up when planning a Trip, checking Transportation Equipment is enough, and if it's only used to assist with unloading, check only Support Equipment.
Don't confuse External Equipment with the Equipment screen. Both share the same Fixed Assets table and a similar form, but External Equipment is meant for vehicles and machinery that your company doesn't own: you won't see depreciation, ledger account or manufacturing fields. If you need to register a vehicle or machine your company owns, register it on the Equipment screen instead.
Can't delete an external equipment record? Check the error message: it tells you exactly which transactions, trips, maintenance plans or manufacturing routings are still linked to it. Reassign or delete those records first, or flag the equipment as Inactive if it simply stopped providing service to you.