Drayage Chassis: Chassis Pool and Assignments

Keep one list of every chassis you can use — number, owner, size, location, status and maintenance due date — and assign an available one to an order from Dispatch.

A container cannot move without a chassis under it. The Chassis page in Drayage is your chassis pool: one row per chassis, showing its number, owner, the container size it fits, where it is now, whether it is available, in use or in maintenance, and when its maintenance is due. Keep this list current and dispatching gets easy — the Dispatch board only offers chassis marked available, so the pool here is the single source for every assignment.

Step 1: Add a chassis to the pool#

1. Open Drayage → Chassis (/drayage/chassis) and click + New chassis at the top right.
2. Enter the chassis number — this is the only required field, and it is the name everyone will pick from later.
3. Fill in what you know: Owner (whose chassis it is), Size (the container size it fits, for example 40FT), Location (where it is parked now), and Maintenance due (the next maintenance date).
4. Click Save. The new chassis appears in the list with status Available, ready to be assigned.

That list is not just a record: Docklify reads the same pool on the Dispatch board (Drayage → Dispatch), where the assign dialog lists only available chassis by number. A chassis missing from this page can never be assigned, so add it here first.

Step 2: Read the list and filter by status#

• Available — free to take a job. Only these appear in the Dispatch assign dialog, and the Dispatch board counts them at the top so you can see at a glance how many chassis you can still send out.
• In use — already out on a job. It is not offered for a new assignment, and its Deactivate button is hidden while it is in use.
• Maintenance — in the shop. Keep a chassis in this status while it is being repaired or inspected so nobody dispatches it by mistake.
• Use the status dropdown above the list to show only one status — handy when you just want the available pool before a busy day.

Step 3: Edit a chassis and watch the maintenance date#

1. Click Edit on the row. The chassis number is locked — it identifies the chassis everywhere, including on orders — but owner, size, location, maintenance due date and status can all be changed.
2. Update Location whenever a chassis moves to a different yard or terminal, so the next dispatcher knows where to send the driver.
3. Save, and the list refreshes with the new values.

The Maintenance due column helps you catch expiries before they bite: when 30 days or fewer remain, the date is highlighted and shows the days left (for example “(12d)”); once the date has passed, it turns bold. Docklify’s Chassis page (Drayage → Chassis) does this counting for you — a quick scan of that column each week is enough to book maintenance in time and flip the status to Maintenance while the chassis is in the shop.

How assignments work: from the pool to an order#

1. On the Dispatch board (Drayage → Dispatch), open the assign action for an order that needs a chassis.
2. Pick the driver, then pick the chassis — the chassis dropdown lists only chassis whose status is Available, shown by chassis number. Chassis is optional in the dialog: leave it empty if the driver brings their own or the move does not need one from your pool.
3. Confirm the assignment. The order detail page then shows the assigned chassis number next to the driver, so anyone opening the order can see which chassis went out with it.

Deactivate a chassis you no longer use#

Click Deactivate on the row to take a chassis out of service — for example one you returned to its owner or sold. A chassis that is In use cannot be deactivated from the list (the button is hidden), so finish or reassign its job first. When in doubt, set the status to Maintenance instead: the chassis stays on your books, visible to everyone, but out of the assignable pool.

Docklify features used in this article#

• Chassis pool (list, owner, size, location, maintenance due date) — Drayage → Chassis (/drayage/chassis)
• Status filter and maintenance countdown (highlight at 30 days or fewer, bold when overdue) — Drayage → Chassis (/drayage/chassis)
• Assign an available chassis to an order — Drayage → Dispatch (/drayage/dispatch)
• Assigned chassis shown on the order — Drayage → Orders → open an order (/drayage/orders)