Software of the Month Club 1996 June

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Page 15. CHAPTER THREE - USING THE TRUCK INFORMATION GETTING MAINTENANCE AND FUEL HISTORY ON THE CRT The S)how repair history selection will present a listing of repairs for a unit on the CRT screen. It requests a vehicle number. If you want a shorter report of just the more recent entries, you may also enter a date to begin the report. If you leave the date blank and just press <ENTER>, the report will begin at the start of your file and include all data for the unit number you enter. TRUCK will display the repairs from your record for that vehicle number. If there are more than will fit on the CRT screen, you will see about 15 entries and the scrolling of the entries will stop. Press any key to get the next screenfull -- or enter a "Q" to go back to the main menu. The C)RT selection is similar to the repair selection but shows the information about fuel entries for a vehicle. Just as with the repair display, you may specify a starting date for the display. LOCATE A VEHICLE DESCRIPTION The L)ocate selection will present you with a Locate menu. Here, you may select the vehicle number, license tag number, VIN number or operator's name. When doing a search, enter the search basis EXACTLY as it appears in the vehicle description record. TRUCK will quickly find the description from any of these selections. (If you do not know the number of the vehicle, you can list them on the screen or printer with the Operator listing selection on the Printed Report menu.) As the description is located and displayed on the CRT screen, if any of the scheduled maintenance items or permits renewals are due for this vehicle, you will see a flag in the upper corner of the screen. If anything is due, check the Schedule, Tag or Permit files. A)dd repairs The A)dd repairs selection on the main menu brings up a sub menu of repair choices. You may add repair information, create a work order to send to your repair shop, add repair information to a completed work order after the work is done, print another copy of an open (incompleted) work order or enter a repair cost to be distributed to a number of vehicles. (NOTE: The work order routines are not in the standard TRUCK program but are an extra cost option for those users who need to produce and process work orders. See the section on "HOW TO PRODUCE A WORK ORDER".) To add a repair, at the sub menu, choose A)dd a repair record. Page 16. To enter the information, just fill in the blanks. Press <ENTER> after an entry to move to the next field. An up arrow key will move to the previous fields if you need to make a correction. Control END (hold down the <Ctrl> key while you press the <End> key) will move the cursor to the last field of the current record. The <PgDn> key will take you to the end of the present entry screen. This is true throughout the program. Your first entry is for the repair code. HELP is available for the repair codes. For help, press the <F1> key. A selection list will appear on the screen. The list of codes is only suggested - you may use any codes you want - but do use something. If you do not enter any repair code, the default code "OTH" (for other) will be used. These codes can be extremely useful. If, for example, you need all of the transmission repairs (TR) from June 5, 1991 to September 3, 1993 for division "AA", you can get a printed report based on these codes. You can also report all repairs of a type for a single vehicle. Using other dBASE type programs, you can generate other special reports. Entering the codes as the work is recorded assures that such reports can be made from your files as needed. It does mean that you must enter each type of repair separately if you expect to report the repairs by type. The repair codes can be up to 3 characters. Some fleets use the first digits of the American Trucking Association (ATA) codes for this. Next, you add the division, unit number, date and odometer reading for this repair. The odometer entry can be up to 9,999,999. You don't need to enter a comma and do not enter tenths of miles or kilometers. The current odometer reading for a unit is updated from the repair entry. If you look at the description for a unit, you will find that the current odometer follows the most recent repair or fuel entry. Now, you add the cost of parts for the repair followed by the labor cost. TRUCK will add these entries and place the total in the field for the total cost. If costs are zero, just press the <ENTER> key. If you enter a figure in the labor hours field and leave the labor cost at zero, TRUCK will calculate the labor cost from the system hourly labor rate you have entered (in the confuguration part of TRUCKS). At the "Work done:" field, make the description of the work short and descriptive. When you display the repair history later on the screen or on a printed report, the short, direct descriptions will be easier to read but do enter what is useful to you. Here are a few suggestions for typical repairs: CHG OIL AND FILT CHASSIS LUBE OVERHAUL TRANSM REPL BRK PADS 4 P195/75R14 AMERIWAY XT TIRES REPR ALTERNATOR REPL FLOOR AT REAR Page 17. Do not run your repair note all together without spaces between words. The program uses the spaces to find a break point for a note with long lines. A note like REPL-PLUGS,WIRES,ROTOR,CONDENSOR,POINTS,BOOTS cannot be properly separated. This note should be entered like this REPL PLUGS, WIRES, ROTOR, CONDENSOR, POINTS, BOOTS and it will be properly displayed or printed. The fields Done by # and Work done by are for the repair shop or mechanic doing this work. You can enter the vendor number here without the name and TRUCK will find the name from your VENDOR file. If you enter "??", you can search through your vendor list to find the name and the number. ( See the section on Vendors ) W)ork orders Production and processing of work orders is an extra cost option for TRUCK. It is included in the Deluxe and in the Network versions. The following description of the use of the Work order and the Complete work order selections apply only if this feature is a part of your program. The features added to the standard version of Version 6 are routines to produce a printed WORK ORDER; process the work order after the work is COMPLETED; selectively PRINT A COPY of an incompleted or completed work order; and on demand, to REMOVE OLD WORK ORDERS from the data file. SETTING UP THE WORK ORDER NUMBERS When you create the first work order, you must enter the sequence number for that order. As more work orders are produced, that number will be incremented so that the orders are numbered in sequence. HOW TO PRODUCE A WORK ORDER At the main menu, select A)dd Repair. At the sub-menu with selections for A)dd a repair record, W)ork Order and for C)omplete a work order, etc., Select the second menu item for a W)ork order. You will be asked to enter the Unit Number for this work order. Enter the vehicle number and press <ENTER>. The program will get the vehicle information from your description file and show it at the top of the screen along with the Work Order Number. Enter the DATE and ODOMETER READING for the vehicle. If this is the first work order or if you want to change the work order sequence number, you may also type in the correct number. Work orders may be up to seven numbers long and may begin with a first character A through Z. Page 18. If you change the work order number to a new sequence of numbers, be sure that you do not create a conflict in the numbers. You must not have two orders with the same order number in the same set of records. Now, enter one, two or three complaints for work to be done. At the end of the complaint entries, a printed copy of the work order may be made or can be printed later. It is designed to be printed on a single page of regular 8 1/2" wide paper. That printed copy is ready to go to the repair shop. If you have more than three complaints for the same vehicle at the same time, you must make multiple work orders. The limit is three complaints on any one order. PRINTING A WORK ORDER The shop copy of a work order can be automatically printed when you enter the initial complaint information on the computer. You can also print a copy of a work order that has been entered earlier. It may be a completed one or may still be in progress. At the Add Repair sub-menu, use the selection to P)rint an open order. To print a completed work order, see the section that follows about the main menu selection to G)enerate special reports. WORK ORDER ENTRIES IN THE REPAIR SHOP The printed work order is similar to many commonly used printed work order forms. At each complaint, there is room to write the cause and the work done to correct the problem. There is also room on the left side to list parts used. Each part is to be keyed to a correction by number - that is complaint 1, 2 or 3 for this order. The person doing the work notes his/her name and identification number along with the number of hours for each correction. The work order is then returned for computer entry of the information. ENTERING THE COMPLETED WORK INTO THE COMPUTER To enter the information from the repair shop, from the main menu, choose the A)dd Repair selection. At the sub-menu, choose the C)omplete a Work Order selection. You will be asked to enter the Work Order Number. Enter the number from the printed order. If the number is 0000291, you can just enter 291 but if it something like A000291, you must enter the complete number - A000291 - then press <ENTER>. The first screen is for entering the parts used for this work order. Each part is keyed to the complaint by number (complaint 1, 2 or 3). The part number entered is your in-house part number used in your inventory record. If the part is not one of your stock parts, you can enter a description and cost for that non- stock part. It too is keyed to the complaint by number. Page 19. As in-stock parts are used, they are removed from your inventory and listed in your inventory issue audit trail. Then, on the screen, when all of the parts have been entered, you will see the vehicle description along with the first complaint you entered when the work order was created. You also have room to enter the cause and correction from the repair shop information. (Notice also that you may want to change the odometer if the shop reported it differently.) If you entered any parts for the first complaint on this work order, you will see the total cost of the parts you have listed for this complaint. If you enter the labor hours without the labor cost, the labor cost will be calculated from the standard labor rate you have entered in the configuration file (At the "T" selection described earlier) just as is done with a regular repair entry. If you enter both the time and labor cost, your figures will be accepted without the calculation. Also enter the repair code for this work. If you enter the mechanics name and 2 character identification into your VENDOR file, you can enter "??" for the number and select the name from that file -- just as with the supplier of fuel or repairs on other screens. You can also enter the name without regard for the listing in the Vendor file. When you complete the First Complaint screen, press <ENTER> and you will see the Second and, on completion of that complaint, then the Third. When all three have been completed, the program will enter a record in your repair file for each of the three items PROVIDED THERE WAS A CORRECTION NOTED. If no work was done, for example, on complaint number two, no repair entry is made for that complaint. Numbers 1 and 3, however, will be recorded if they include a notation for any correction work. DISTRIBUTE CHARGE TO MANY UNITS This selection will allow entry of a single expense but the cost will be divided among all units in a division - or all units in all divisions. This may be something such as an insurance premium for the group that you want to break down as an expense for each unit. First, you enter the division (the three character division identifier or 999 for all divisions). Then, you will see a screen that is very similar to a regular repair entry. There is no odometer entry since the odometer for each unit will be different. The odometer reading will be retrieved from the description file for each vehicle. The other items work just like the repair entry. Enter the labor, parts and cost for the full charge for this work. When the entries are complete, the cost you enter is divided among each of the units you have listed for the division(s) you entered. Page 20. The descrip- tion file is used for the list of units. The total cost will be divided by the number of units and that cost entered into a repair entry for each unit. When the cost is divided, it is rounded to two decimal places. Because of this rounding, there will sometimes be a variation of a few cents between the total cost of the work and the total cost of each of the entries made. For example, a cost of $300 divided by 35 vehicles will be $8.57 for each one. If you multiply $8.57 by 35 vehicles, you get $299.96 - a difference of $0.04 less. ( A repair of $295 would be posted as $8.43 for each of the 35 units. $8.43 multiplied by 35 units is $295.05 or $0.05 more. If this is a problem, you can use TOOLSET to spread the few cents to one or more of the vehicles. PERIODIC INSPECTION ENTRIES If the work order is for doing an A, B, C or D inspection, or a DOT inspection, you must also make the entry from the main menu for D)o Periodic Inspection. The periodic inspection routine will update your maintenance schedules for the inspection you enter. Since the labor and parts are entered from the work order entry, just make the D)o Periodic entry with the odometer reading, unit number and date but do not enter the labor or repair costs. If you are entering a periodic inspection that was not done on a work order, you would, of course, enter the cost details for the inspection. REMOVING OLD WORK ORDERS FROM THE FILE Old work orders take up a fair bit of storage space on your hard drive. They can be removed by using TOOLSET the main menu X)tra file work selection. D)O PERIODIC INSPECTION ENTRY With this selection, you can choose to enter an ABCD type inspection or one of the special DOT, BIT or BUS inspections. If you choose the ABCD inspections and have set the maintenance schedule up using the A,B,C,D intervals, this is where you enter the information. Just fill in the blanks. TRUCK will make an entry in your repair file showing the date, odometer, etc for the type inspection you show. It will also update the maintenance schedules for this vehicle. If you do a type A inspection, it will update the interval for your next type A inspection. It will use the intervals you have entered in the system for this vehicle. If you do a higher level inspection, it will update that schedule as well as the more frequent types. (If you do a type D inspection, TRUCK will update the schedule for A, B and C as well as the D interval) If you choose the other inspections, the result is the same except that TRUCK will show the repair code as INS (inspection) and will enter the proper inspection in the work done section. It will also update the schedule for this unit. Page 21. ADDING FUEL INFORMATION The F)uel data selection is for entering information about fuel added to a vehicle. Printed and screen reports may be produced that use these entries. One report will show each entry and calculate MPG or KPL for that fill up. At the end of the report, there will be a summary of fuel used, cost, average performance and total cost. Another report shows fuel purchased for each unit by state during a period you choose. On the fuel entry screen, there is a notation for Fuel Tank Topped Off. If fuel is added to a vehicle and it only partially fills the tanks, the fuel report can become distorted. The Topped Off notation is normally set to Yes. If this entry is not a fill-up, you can change this to No. Then, when a fuel report is made, the performance calculation for this fuel entry is not made - the fuel and cost is saved until the next following Top-off. The calculation is then made and will accurately show the performance for this vehicle. The cursor is normally set to bypass this "Topped off" notation but you can use the up arrow key to move up to change it. When entering fuel information, if you enter only two of the fuel items, that is quantity, cost per unit or total cost, TRUCK will calculate the third field. Of course you can enter all three and TRUCK will accept your calculations. NOTE THAT THE COST OF FUEL IS ENTERED IN CENTS, NOT DOLLARS. To enter a cost of $1.25, you enter 125.0 These figures can only be accurate if ALL of the fuel is entered for a vehicle. Accurate individual consecutive entries will accurately show the MPG or KPL between fill ups. Just as with the repair entries, each time you make a fuel entry the odometer field in the description record is updated. This updating of the current odometer is used in other reports. When you bring a description up on the CRT screen, you will see a near up-to-date reading for that vehicle. There are also spaces to enter any oil that is added at fuel time. Enter the number of quarts or liters and the cost for each. The oil cost does not show in the fuel total but is reported as oil added in the reports for the vehicle. T)ax data This entry is for Road Use or Fuel Tax records. Here, you can enter the distance traveled (loaded, unloaded or toll roads where needed) in each state. Usually, this data is taken from driver logs or other source of trip information. This road use information will be available in a printout that will list distance traveled by vehicle and by state during the period you specify. Page 22. R)evise your schedules - HELP IS AVAILABLE, PRESS <F1> Select a vehicle by number and review the schedule for that vehicle.This screen shows the odometer and date when maintenance items are due, not the interval between them. This screen may be viewed at any time. If you want to change any item, just overtype the odometer or date shown. Any of the schedule fields that are left blank or with a zero will be ignored when printing exception reports. For example, If you do oil changes as part of a Type A inspection, leave the oil change field at 0. If you do not use the Type A, B, C or D inspections, leave those entries at 0. Although both entries are not needed, you can, of course, use them. Exception reports (the report of maintenance due) will compare the entries in all of the schedule fields if they are listed at more than 0. These schedules may be updated manually. If you enter individual maintenance schedule items, updates should be made when the scheduled work is done. These updates are made manually. The record includes changes of oil, oil filter, transmission oil and filter, chassis lube and coolant replacement. These are the regular, on-going things that are needed - usually on a distance traveled basis. When you change oil on aá vehicle, simply add the desired oil change interval to the odometer at the time of the change. Date entries are available for brake and exhaust system inspections. These are particularly useful for vehicles used in such duty as police and taxi service. You can use any schedule that fits your need. If the brake and exhaust inspections are not to be used, leave the date field blank for that vehicle (move the cursor to the date field and use the delete key to remove the month entry. Then press enter to leave a blank date entry). If you use the Type A,B,C,D, the DOT, BUS or BIT inspections, these odometer and date fields are updated from the entry described above in DO PERIODIC INSPECTIONS. All schedules will be included in the printed report for this vehicle's maintenance work. You will notice in the middle of the schedule screen, a reference to "BY TYPE (USING INTERVALS 1, 2 OR 3)". This is where you enter which of the groups of intervals to follow for this vehicle when using the ABCD inspection schedules. To follow the first group, enter 1 - or leave it set to 0 if the intervals are to be ignored. (These are the intervals you enter in the configuration part of TRUCK when you type "T" at the program's beginning screen.) Just above the line about "USING INTERVALS..." is a line that includes the current odometer reading for the vehicle. USING THE MAINTENANCE SCHEDULES - HOW THEY WORK There are really two parts to the maintenance schedules. There is the part that includes Oil Change, Filter Change, Chassis Lube, etc. and there are the A,B,C,D inspections. The A,B,C,D inspections work more automatically than the others. Page 23. In this discussion, I will make reference to "vehicles". Read this to mean vehicles or units. They may be cars, trucks or other equipment. First, let's consider the Exception Report. You select this report from the Printed Report menu. You can see the report either on the CRT screen or you can print it on paper. The Exception Report will include all of the vehicles for which any one of the maintenance schedule items is due. If ANY item is due, the entire maintenance schedule for that vehicle is included in the Exception Report. If nothing is due, that vehicle is not shown in the report. To make the Exception Report work, you must have certain information entered into your records. That information must include these items: There must be a maintenance schedule record for each vehicle. The schedule must include information about WHEN each item is DUE TO BE DONE. If using the A,B,C,D inspections, you must have entered the inspection INTERVALS that will be followed for the vehicle and you must have entered the interval group number (1, 2 or 3) that will be used for this vehicle. The odometer reading for the vehicle must be up-to-date or must be updated prior to making the Exception Report. Your computer date must be correctly set to today's date. Let's take these one at a time. When you first start using the program, you enter a description for each vehicle. Then, from the TOOLSET menu, you select the routine to generate your initial maintenance schedules. This routine will write an entry into the maintenance schedule file for each of the vehicles in your description records. It may enter some default odometer readings into those files. If the schedule is for a brand new vehicle, this may be good. If it is an existing, used vehicle, you will need to go to the REVISE selection on the main menu to enter the dates and odometer readings when each of the scheduled items you will use is to be done. That gets us to the second thing. Any maintenance schedule item that is left at zero(0) or blank will be ignored in making the Exception Report. If you want to use the Oil Change, Filter Change series at the top of the Schedule screen, just leave the A,B,C,D entries at 0 and the dates blank. If you want to use just the A,B,C,D's, leave the Oil Change, Filter Change items at 0. Of course, you can use them all. The Exception report generator compares the odometer readings entered with the up-to-date odometer reading for the vehicle. It also compares the date entries with the date entered into your computer. (That is today's date.) In setting up your records, you must enter into each vehicle schedule, the odometer and date when each item you will use is Page 24. due. For the initial settings, you must do this manually so that the computer will know when to report them. If you use the Oil Change, Filter Change series, each time you do one of these maintenance operations, you must enter the odometer reading or date WHEN THE NEXT ONE WILL BE DUE. For example, if you do an oil change at 57,500 miles and you want to change oil at 5,000 mile intervals, use the Revise schedule selection and enter 62,500 (57,500 plus 5,000) at the Oil Change field. If you use the A,B,C,D schedules, you must prescribe what work is to be done for each of these. Typically, an "A" inspection could include an oil change, filter change, chassis lube. This is the most frequent item. A "B" inspection is expected to include everything that is done in the "A" plus some other things. Perhaps tire rotation, aim headlights, etc. The "C" includes the "B" which includes the "A" and so on. Additional things for the "C" inspection could include transmission service, wheel alignment, etc. The "D" inspection includes A,B, and C plus some other things. The "D" could be an annual or semi-annual inspection. When you do one of the A,B,C,D inspections, you make an entry from the main menu at the Do Periodic Inspection selection. When you do this, the program will write a repair entry into your file for this work and will update your maintenance schedule for the interval you have chosen for the particular inspection. If you do a "D" inspection, it will update the schedules for not just the "D" but also for C,B and A. If you do the annual DOT inspection, it will update the date the next one is due based on your chosen interval (probably 365 days). How do you choose these intervals? When you first start the program and you get to the screen where it asks for the drive that has your files and the type monitor you are using, at the monitor setting, you enter "T", as in truck. This will take you to several configuration items for the program. One of these is the maintenance intervals for the A,B,C,D inspection schedules. When you do that, you will see that there are three groups of A,B,C,D intervals - numbered 1, 2 and 3. You can enter three different sets of intervals (distances or days). Now, how do you get a vehicle to follow the desired set of A,B,C,D intervals? Back to the maintenance schedule for that vehicle. In the middle area of the screen, just before the A,B,C,D entries, there is a selection for the Type schedule to be used. You can enter a 0,1,2 or 3. If you enter 0, the intervals (the ones you listed as in the preceding paragraph) will be ignored. Enter a 1 to use the group numbered "1", etc. UPDATING THE ODOMETER FOR A VEHICLE As you use the fuel or repair record entry portion of the program, the odometer for a vehicle is updated each time you make an entry. Then, when you want to do the exception report, the reading will Page 25. be current as of the last fuel or repair entry. If you do not use the fuel or repair entries, at the beginning of the exception report routine, you will be asked if you want to update the odometer. If you choose to do it, you will be shown the odometer reading in the record for each vehicle and can enter a corrected reading or accept the reading shown. You can update a vehicle odometer at any time by using the Edit Description selection on the H)ousekeeping menu. SETTING THE DATE The date fields in the maintenance schedules are compared with the date in your computer. If you have an internal clock in your computer, as most computers do, or if your computer is a workstation in a network, the time and date are set each time the computer is started. If your time is not automatically set, you must set the time and date manually each time you start the computer. The Exception Report uses the date from the computer and all of the printed reports show the date of the printout. That printout date is the computer date. It's important that you set it. If you are not working in a network and do not have a clock that automatically sets this, the addition of a clock to your computer is much recommended. They are inexpensive and just worlds of convenience. The date and time setting for a network workstation is normally synchronized to the network file server. OTHER MENUS The selections for P)rint reports, H)ousekeeping, I)nventory, G)enerate special reports and X)tra file work each take you to other menus for creating several printed documents, doing housekeeping chores on your files, keeping parts room/warehouse INVENTORY records,making budget projections, special repair reports and for TOOLSET for making corrections, etc. with the files. These other menus are selected just like all menu items - press the first character of the selection or move the cursor to it and press <ENTER>. We will discuss each of these other menus later. ENDING THE PROGRAM Choose Q)UIT or press "Q" at the main menu to end TRUCK and return the computer to the normal DOS prompt. Before the program exits, you will be asked to confirm that you do, indeed, want to quit. Anything other than a "Y" or a "Q" will return to the main menu without having to restart TRUCK. If you do quit, to restart TRUCK, see GETTING STARTED. FREE MEMORY SELECTION If you use the up or down arrows to move the cursor to the position just above Q)uit, you will see a "sunburst". Some users have seen this and wondered what it is used for. Press <ENTER> Page 26. and you will see some information appear in the upper right portion of the menu screen. FREE: and a number indicates the amount of memory in kilobytes that is available in your computer at this particular moment. CALLS: shows how many calls have been made to various routines in the program. It is in the program for use if we have to work with you in case you have a problem. Otherwise, you will not need this facility. Just press the <ENTER> key to return to the menu. CHAPTER FOUR - THE PRINTED REPORTS Most reports can be properly printed on a printer that uses 8 1/2" wide paper. If you have a wide carriage printer, and have set your configuration for it (see the "T" monitor setting above) the wide reports will include more information. If you have set your configuration for a narrow printer, you will get a report that is condensed to fit on the 8 1/2" page. One report, the S)chedule review selection, will print in two parts - a left side and a right side. There is just too much information to put on a single 8 1/2" page - even in condensed print mode. At the main menu, choose the P)rinted reports selection. There are several useful printed reports that you may prepare from this alternate menu. Each report includes the date when the report is printed. The first selection provides a vehicle repair history report. You can choose a (R)egular or (S)ummary type report. You may choose to print this report or show the results for a single vehicle on the CRT screen. A printed Summary report is a listing by division of each unit for repairs between dates you specify. It shows the total repairs for a vehicle and totals the cost of repairs for all in the division being reported. If you enter "999" for the division, all of your units will be included in the report. The (R)egular report selection prints a detailed report for each vehicle. The report includes the description, repairs, a summary of costs and the maintenance schedule for that unit. You can choose to report a single vehicle or all in a division for dates you specify. Again, if you use "999" for the division, all vehicles will be reported. You can select to print a (F)ull report only if the full history for a vehicle is included in your records. (See "NEW RECORDS - OLD VEHICLES".). It will give you a printout of the entire repair history for the vehicle you select. You may also select a short report beginning at a specified (O)dometer or at a beginning and ending (D)ate. You can, for example, print a repair history for a vehicle for the second quarter of a year by entering the proper beginning and ending dates. F)uel report. Just as with the repair report, you may choose to print a single vehicle report or reports for many vehicles. If you do a single report, you can choose to print it on paper or simply show a summary report on the CRT screen. If you choose to do many vehicles, you can select (S)ummary or (R)egular fuel reports, just as for repairs - that is, printed or not, by dates, one vehicle or all by division. Page 27. C)ombined report is a report of the combined repair and the fuel expenses. It too can be printed or just on the screen and can be for a single unit or for a group. TRUCK will attempt to determine the beginning and ending odometer readings for this report using information from both of these files. Because of that, the distances reported may vary from that shown on a separate repair or fuel report. You may choose to do the report based on odometer readings from only the fuel or only the repair records or you may choose to use them both. If you have a wide carriage printer, the report will also show the oil added as the vehicle is fueled. A)mount by STATE prints a listing of fuel added to each vehicle, listed by state and date. This information can be used to make the fuel tax report for travel in each state. You can indicate the state you want to report or enter "99" for the state to report all states. The report details fuel purchased by state for each vehicle. You can select the beginning and ending dates for this report. If you report fuel and distance quarterly or monthly, these reports can be made just for the period you select. The T)ax report is similar to the Amount by State report except that it is a listing of distance traveled by each vehicle, listed by state for the period you select. Again, "99" will cause all states to be reported. This is the information you may need for reporting interstate commercial operations. P)ermit reports include the license tag along with fuel tax permits or decals and other permits that expire during the month you specify. If you specify a division and enter 9 for the month, the report will include all the vehicles in that division and will show if the tag or any permits expire in the month of September. You may also select a shorter report that shows only those vehicles for which a permit or tag is due that month. You may also specify "999" for the division and include all of your vehicles. This report is based on the information you enter in the Tag and the Permit files for your vehicles by going to the H)ousekeeping menu selection to E)dit and then choose T)ags or P)ermits. The O)perator listing selection prints a handy list of your vehicles and drivers. If you have several divisions and use the three character designator for the division, the report will be for vehicles in that division. If you use "999" for the division indicator, all of the vehicles in all divisions will be listed. If you have only one division and use AA for all of your units, the report will also include all of your vehicles that are in the file. You may choose to print the listing or show it on the CRT screen. There are three versions of the report, two wide ones and a condensed one. Only the condensed report will fit on the screen. The condensed report can also be printed. If you choose the wide Page 28. report for your printer there will be more information about a vehicle. If you choose the wide report AND have set up for a wide printer, you will get even more information on the printed report. M)ail list for bids produces a list of vehicles suitable for mailing to people interested in a sale of your used vehicles. Before you sell a vehicle, you must edit the description file for that vehicle to enter it's ending odometer. Do that BEFORE you produce the sale listing. You will be presented with several options. Generally, you just follow the screen prompts. The ready-to-mail report is printed on regular 8 1/2 x 11 or 8 1/2 x 14 paper at 10 characters per inch. You can generate a list of units to be included in the sale, print from an existing list or work directly from the keyboard. For a short list, the keyboard works very well but if you make a mistake and enter the wrong vehicle number, you have to start over. The best way is to generate a file list of the vehicles you want to sell and, when you have the list correct, let TRUCK produce the report from that file. The B)ill of Sale selection does just that - it produces a BILL OF SALE for one of the vehicles. Notice that all of the names, addresses, etc will be printed in upper case. Only the "date of the sale" is case sensitive. Type this in to match the text of the bill - July 15, 1993 - for example. Check the wording of the bill with your attorney. It has been used in some locations. You must determine whether it is adequate for your operation. It is included for whatever good it may be in your own circumstance. No assurance is made for the legality of the wording but we do feel that it includes the essential information. The S)chedule review selection will print a listing of the maintenance schedule for vehicles by division. This is a fairly wide report. If you are using an 8 1/2" printer, the report will be made in two sections - a left side and a right side. With a wide printer, the report is printed on wide paper with all of the information for each vehicle on a single line. It is a handy way for your fleet supervisor to review the schedules particularly when the vehicle odometer readings are at hand - say when monthly reports are made for personal use or whatever. Finally, the last selection prints an EXCEPTION REPORT for vehicles by district. It will list only those units that are due for the regularly scheduled work. Normally, TRUCK compares today's date with the due date in your schedules. You may want to see what will be due by some other date. The default date is set to today's date as indicated by your computer but you may type in any other date for the report date. For the exception report to work properly, you must have valid entries in the maintenance schedule and you must have up-to-date information in the file for each vehicle odometer reading. If you use TRUCK's repair or fuel entry functions, the odometer will be updated as the entries are recorded. Otherwise, you must update Page 29. the file with the vehicle's current odometer reading. ( Don't include a comma in the entry - just run it together - use [ 27000 not 27,000 ] ). Units that are not due are not included in the report. Items included in the maintenance schedule for a vehicle will not be used for this report if such item is left with a zero odometer or blank date entry in the schedule. Q)UIT returns to the Main Menu