Transportation Routes
A Route is a catalog in the Transportation Management (TMS) module that defines a leg from an origin to a destination: which of your Locations the trip departs from, which Destination it arrives at, plus extra data such as the distance, whether the road is steep, and the tolls paid along the way. AdmCloud uses these routes to define your freight Rates and to record each Trip's path.
What is it and what is it for?
Each Route represents a leg between an origin Location (one of your company's locations/warehouses) and a Destination (a delivery point from your Destinations catalog). With that information, AdmCloud can:
- Serve as the Route dimension when defining a freight Rate: each Rate applies to a specific Vendor (carrier), Equipment Class and Route.
- Identify the leg a TMS Trip follows, so AdmCloud can automatically resolve which freight Rate applies to it.
- Keep reference data about the leg (distance, whether it's a steep road, toll count and cost) that you can use to estimate costs, plan delivery times, or explain variations in fuel or maintenance spend.
How to use it
- Browse the Routes list from the Transportation menu. You can filter by Location (the origin Location) to see only the routes departing from a particular warehouse or branch, and customize which columns are shown using the column customization button.
- To create a Route, click Create. Enter the Name (required and unique), pick the origin Location and the Destination. Enter the leg's Distance, check Inclined if the road has a considerable slope, and record the toll count and cost if the leg has any. Add Notes if you need to leave a remark, then save.
- To edit a Route, click its name from the list or the edit link on its row, change what you need and save again.
- To delete a Route, select it in the list and use the Delete button. If the route is already used on a freight Rate, AdmCloud blocks the deletion and shows you which rates reference it.
Key capabilities
- List with search by name, column customization (Notes is hidden by default) and filtering by origin Location.
- Direct links from the list to the Route's detail view and to the origin Location's record.
- Autocomplete search by name on screens that select a route, such as the Rates form.
- The basis for automatic freight cost resolution: together with the Vendor and Equipment Class, the Route is one of the three dimensions AdmCloud uses to find the correct Rate for a Trip.
- Protected deletion: AdmCloud blocks deleting a route that is already used on a Rate.
Key fields
| Field | What it's for |
|---|---|
| Name | Identifies the route throughout the system (for example, a name describing the leg). Required, and can't be repeated. |
| Location (origin) | The company Location the leg departs from. Must be a valid, active location. |
| Destination | The delivery point, from your Destinations catalog, the leg arrives at. Must be a valid, active destination. |
| Distance | The leg's distance, used as reference data for your cost or delivery-time calculations. |
| Inclined | Checkbox marking whether the road has a considerable slope, useful to account for extra fuel or vehicle wear. |
| Toll count | How many tollbooths are paid along the leg. |
| Toll cost | The total amount paid in tolls when traveling the route. |
| Notes | Free-text remarks about the route. |
Validations on save
- Name is required and can't be repeated; you can't create two routes with the same name.
- The origin Location must be a valid, active location in your company.
- The Destination must be a valid, active destination from your Destinations catalog.
- When deleting a route, AdmCloud checks that it isn't linked to any freight Rate. If it finds rates that use it, it shows each one's Vendor name and blocks the deletion.
Availability and permissions
- Browsing, creating, editing and deleting Routes requires the "Routes" permission on your user group, with separate levels for each action (browse, create, edit and delete).
- The Routes catalog is only available on the Enterprise plan, with the Transportation Management (TMS) module active on your company. If you don't see this screen in your menu, contact AdmCloud to have the module enabled.
Tips and common mistakes
"Record already exists": you already have a route saved with that same name. Look it up in the list instead of creating a duplicate.
"Can't delete because it has related records": the route is already used on a freight Rate. Check the message to identify which rate (and which Vendor) references it before trying to delete it again.
Set up your Locations and Destinations first. Since every Route needs an existing origin Location and Destination, it helps to have both catalogs complete before registering your transportation routes.
Use descriptive names (for example, including the origin and destination in the Name) so it's easier to identify the correct route when picking it on a Rate or reviewing the list.