Some properties have dedicated staff, such as a Planner/Manager, that assigns your fixed route vehicles to each block of work for the next service day. If your property uses this process, use the Vehicle Assignments tab to set up those assignments. myAvail uses this information to populate the Pullout tab for each day's vehicle assignments. If you have permission to create vehicle assignments, myAvail displays the Vehicle Assignment top-level tab. After you click this tab, the screen below is displayed.
If your dispatchers assign different vehicles to each block every day based on where the vehicle is parked in the yard/garage or when the driver arrives, then you might need to assign all of your vehicles each morning using the Pullout tab, which is described in Yard Map Grids.
For more information about assigning vehicles and operators, please see Reassigning Operators and Vehicles.
To create standard vehicle assignments:
- Select the service level that you want to work on from the Service Level drop-down list. After you select a service level, myAvail populates the Vehicle Assignments grid with the blocks that are active on that service level and orders them by pullout time.
- Select a vehicle from the Vehicle column
- Click in the column and select from the drop-down list of all vehicles
- Or type in the vehicle number.
- After you have all the assignments made for this service level, click Save in the upper right-hand corner.
If you have the same vehicle assigned to more than one block in this service level, myAvail displays an error that indicates which vehicle and blocks are in error. You must correct these errors before you can save the data. If you try to navigate away from this tab with unsaved changes, myAvail asks whether you want to navigate away and lose your changes or cancel the navigation so you can click Save. You must complete the assignments for all service levels in your schedule.
All changes that you make to vehicle assignments go into effect the next time myAvail creates the pullout grid (usually the next service day). The blocks shown for each service level are based on the current schedule only. Consequently, all vehicle assignments that need to change due to schedule change in the future schedule must be made after the schedule is published.
If you need to make many vehicle assignment changes, clear all the current assignments first by clicking the Clear icon in the upper right-hand corner. 'Clear' sets all the vehicle assignments to 'None' for the service level that you selected.
Yard Management:
myAvail also includes a Yard Management feature that is often used in conjunction with Pullout Management Tools and Vehicle Assignments. The Yard Map in Yard Management Tools displays the location of vehicles in the yard and their availability, which is color-coded for ease. Use this information to assign vehicles to blocks, tell operators where their assigned vehicle is located, and identify vehicles down for maintenance. See more information about Vehicle Locations in How to Use the Vehicle Locations Tab.