Drayage Appointments: Port and Terminal Appointments

Book a port or terminal time window for a drayage order — by hand or with auto booking — then reschedule, complete, or rebook it from one page.

A truck can only enter a port terminal with an appointment: a time window booked at that terminal for that container. This page — Drayage → Appointments (/drayage/appointments) — is where you book and manage those terminal windows for your drayage orders. It is about ports and terminals only; warehouse dock appointments live in WMS and transport appointments in TMS, and they are separate things. The page is organized in three sections: To book, Scheduled and Missed.

The page at a glance: To book, Scheduled, Missed#

• To book: drayage orders that are quoted or dispatched and do not have a scheduled appointment yet. Each waiting order is a card with its order number and container number.
• Scheduled: appointments already booked, one row each with time window, terminal, appointment number, gate number, container, linked order and status.
• Missed: appointments marked as missed. They stay visible here so you can rebook instead of starting over.

Step 1: Book an appointment by hand#

1. From a To book card, click “Book” — the form opens with that order and its container number already filled in. Or click “+ New appointment” at the top right to start from a blank form.
2. Fill in the Terminal and the Appointment time — both are required. Add the Window end if the terminal gave you a window rather than a single time.
3. Fill in the Appointment no. and Gate no. the terminal issued, and the Container no. if it is not already there.
4. The linked order is optional in the form: leave it empty for an appointment that is not tied to one order, or pick the order from the list. Click Save — the appointment lands in the Scheduled section.

In the Scheduled table, the order number is a link: click it to open that drayage order (Drayage → Orders) and check its pickup and delivery details before the truck rolls.

Step 2: Let auto booking find a slot#

1. On a To book card, click “Auto book”. In the dialog, choose the booking Platform and type the Terminal, then click “Recommend slots”.
2. Recommended slots for the next few days come back with a score and a reason tag — off-peak, before cut-off, no conflict, or first morning slot. Pick the one that fits.
3. Click “Book this slot”. On a platform marked AUTO, the appointment is created right away and appears in Scheduled. On a platform marked SEMI-AUTO, the dialog prepares the slot details and opens the platform’s booking page in a new tab for you to confirm there by hand.

Step 2b: On a semi-auto platform, book there — then write the confirmation back here#

1. On a platform marked SEMI-AUTO — eModal, PierPass / terminal systems, or Dray Dog — pick a recommended slot and click “Book this slot”. The dialog shows the details prepared for you, assembled from the order and its bill of lading: container number, bill of lading number, booking number, carrier, vessel and voyage, container size and seal number. If the dialog lists something as missing, that detail is not on the order yet — type it in by hand on the platform page.
2. Click the open-booking-page button to jump to the platform in a new tab, and finish the booking there. Copy the appointment number the platform gives you.
3. Back in the dialog, fill in that appointment number, the window start (and end if you have it) and the gate number if any, then click “Booked — write back confirmation”. The appointment lands in Scheduled, the order itself gets the appointment time and number, and the write-back is kept on the order timeline. Writing the same appointment number twice is safe: the second time simply tells you it was already recorded, and nothing is booked twice. If that appointment was cancelled, writing it again creates a new scheduled appointment; if the number already belongs to another order, the system warns you and does not copy it onto this order.

Step 3: Work the Scheduled list#

• The status pill shows where each appointment stands: Scheduled, Completed, Cancelled or Missed.
• When a scheduled appointment’s time has passed and it has not been completed, its row shows a red “Past window” tag — a clear signal to wrap it up or mark it missed.
• Each scheduled row has three everyday actions on the right: Reschedule, Complete and Cancel. “Mark missed” appears as well once the time has passed.

Step 4: Reschedule, and rebook what was missed#

1. Reschedule: click “Reschedule” on a scheduled row, change the terminal, time or window, appointment number or gate number, and save. The appointment goes back to Scheduled with the new details.
2. Missed the window? Mark it missed from the Scheduled list (or leave it flagged Past window), then go to the Missed section and click “Rebook”: the new-appointment form opens linked to the same order, so you only need to pick a new time.
3. When the truck has been through the gate, click “Complete” so the appointment leaves the active list and the record stays clean.

Docklify features used in this article#

• Three-section appointment page (To book / Scheduled / Missed) — Drayage → Appointments (/drayage/appointments)
• Manual booking form (terminal, time window, appointment no., gate no., container, linked order) — Drayage → Appointments → Book / + New appointment
• Auto booking with recommended slots and platform modes (AUTO / SEMI-AUTO / SIMULATED) — Drayage → Appointments → Auto book
• Semi-auto write-back: prefilled details from the order and bill of lading, jump to the platform, then one-click confirmation write-back (appointment number, window, gate) — Auto book dialog on SEMI-AUTO platforms (eModal, PierPass, Dray Dog)
• Reschedule, complete, cancel and mark missed — Scheduled section row actions
• Rebook a missed appointment for the same order — Missed section → Rebook