TMS Shipments: Consolidating Orders into Shipments

Pick two or more pending-dispatch transport orders in TMS → Shipments and consolidate them into one shipment that travels together — then advance it step by step to Delivered and Billed on its detail page.

Several small transport orders going the same way are cheaper and simpler as one load. A shipment (SH-) is exactly that: two or more transport orders consolidated so they travel together, share one status, and are costed as one load. You build and run shipments in TMS → Shipments (/tms/shipments): consolidate on the new-shipment page, then work each shipment on its own detail page.

Step 1: Create a shipment from pending-dispatch orders#

1. Go to TMS → Shipments and click “+ New shipment” — this opens the new-shipment page (/tms/shipments/new).
2. The page lists only orders that are still pending dispatch, each with its route (origin → destination). Orders already dispatched are not offered — they have already left this stage.
3. Tick the orders that travel together — you need at least two. The Create button shows how many you have picked, for example “Create (3)”.
4. If your company has set up custom fields for shipments, they appear below the order list — fill in the required ones before creating.
5. Click Create. The shipment is created and you land on its detail page, where the work continues.

Step 2: Read the shipments list#

• Each row is one shipment: shipment number (with the carrier name under it when one is set), status, route summary (origin → destination), how many orders are inside, total pallets, total weight in lb, quoted cost, carrier, and when it was created.
• Find a shipment by typing part of its number in the search box, or filter by status, then click Search — the filters apply only when you click it. Reset clears them.
• The status filter covers the full trip: Planned, Dispatched, Picked up, In transit, Out for delivery, Delivered, Billed, plus Cancelled.
• Click the shipment number to open its detail page — that is where you advance the shipment and check its orders, costs and stops.

Step 3: Advance the shipment on its detail page#

The detail page opens with the shipment number and its status, and buttons at the top right offer only the steps that make sense next — labelled “Next step: …”. You cannot skip a stage: a shipment that has only been dispatched cannot jump straight to Delivered.

1. From Planned, advance to Dispatched when the load is assigned — or Cancel the shipment if the plan falls through.
2. From Dispatched, advance to Picked up once the truck has collected the freight — cancelling is still possible at this stage.
3. Then it is one step at a time: Picked up → In transit → Out for delivery → Delivered.
4. From Delivered, advance to Billed to close the shipment out once its freight is settled.

Orders, costs and stops on the detail page#

• Header totals: route, carrier, total pallets, total weight, total pieces and the number of orders — the whole load at a glance. A timeline panel on the right repeats the current status.
• Cost summary card: the total of the quoted costs of the orders inside, the shipment’s own quoted cost, and a Total line. The orders table under it lists every order in the shipment — click an order number to open that transport order.
• Stops panel: for multi-stop loads, add stops with a type (Pickup or Delivery), a location, an address, a scheduled time and an appointment number, then mark each stop Arrive and Complete as the truck works through them — or delete a stop that is no longer needed.
• Custom fields, when your company has defined them for shipments (TMS → Settings → Custom fields, /tms/settings/custom-fields), are shown on the detail page and can be edited there with the Edit button.

Docklify features used in this article#

• Shipments list with number search and status filter — TMS → Shipments (/tms/shipments)
• New shipment: consolidate 2+ pending-dispatch orders — TMS → Shipments → + New shipment (/tms/shipments/new)
• Shipment detail with Next-step status buttons, cost summary and orders table — TMS → Shipments → click a shipment number (/tms/shipments/:id)
• Stops panel for multi-stop loads — shipment detail page → Stops (/tms/shipments/:id)
• Shipment custom fields — defined in TMS → Settings → Custom fields (/tms/settings/custom-fields), filled on create and edited on the detail page