How to create a dock job - Cargoflow Support

Summary

A dock job is the loading or unloading of a truck at a specific dock, done by an operator. Everything that happens at the dock —the time, the photos, the verification checklist, the link to the receipt or shipment, the driver’s exit— hangs from that job. There are three ways to create it:

By assigning a driver who registered at the gate kiosk. This is the normal way: the driver’s and truck’s data are already captured.
With the Create Job button on the board, when the driver did not use the kiosk or when it is an internal move.
From the yard, when a parked trailer moves to a dock.

There is also a full-page form that currently has faults; it is explained at the end so you can recognize it.

Before you start

Docks module enabled for the warehouse.
Write Docks permission (Supervisor, Admin and Super Admin roles by default). Without it, the Create Job button and the bell are not available.
Active docks set up in the warehouse.
Operators: people with the Read Own Jobs permission in this warehouse.
Customer set up, if the job belongs to a customer. To link a receipt or shipment, the warehouse also needs the Receiving or Shipping modules.

Which way to use?

Situation	Way
The driver arrived and registered at the kiosk or with the QR code.	Assign them from the bell.
The driver doesn’t want to or can’t use the kiosk.	Open the kiosk for them from Drivers and register them; then assign them from the bell. That way the record is complete, with photo and truck data.
You are in a hurry and only have name, company and phone.	Create Job.
A move without a customer truck (reshuffling, clearing a door).	Create Job with type Internal, or a special job if it does not use a dock.
A trailer that was in the yard moves to a dock.	From the yard screen (see below).

Assigning a driver who registered

When the driver fills in the kiosk registration (see Driver registration), they appear in the dock board’s bell and, if you have the board open, the Assign Driver window opens by itself. There you pick customer, dock, operator and notes, and optionally link the receipt or shipment. The job type (delivery or pickup) comes from what the driver chose when registering.

The window has several details worth knowing (the customer confirmation, the text message, the waiting area, drivers another supervisor already assigned), so it has its own article: Assigning a driver from the bell.

Creating the job by hand (Create Job)

Use the Create Job button in the board’s top bar. The Create Internal Job window opens. It is called that because the system internally creates an internal-type driver record with the data you enter, even if the job is a normal delivery or pickup.

Every field in the window

Field	Required	What it accepts and what happens if left empty
Full Name	Yes	The driver’s name (or whoever does the move). Without it, the window will not save.
Company Name	Yes, unless your installation does not collect the company	The carrier. It is copied to the receipt or shipment as the carrier.
Phone Number	Yes	Free text up to 20 characters. The format is not validated here, but if you want the driver to get messages when you change their dock, write it with `+` and the country code, no spaces.
Job Type	Yes	Delivery, Pickup, Visit or Internal. It defines which document can be linked, whether there is a verification checklist and how the trailer ends up when finished (empty or loaded). See Internal jobs for the Internal type.
Select Dock	Yes	The warehouse’s active docks (internal yard docks are not offered). By default all are offered, even busy ones.
Assign User	No	The operator. If left empty, the job does not appear in anyone’s app until you assign it. People who have a live job but can no longer receive jobs appear greyed out and cannot be picked.
Client	No	Who owns the goods. Without a customer, the job is measured against 120 minutes and no receipt or shipment can be linked or created.
Trailer Number	No	Only for Delivery and Pickup. It shows on the board, in the yard and on the linked document.
Pickup Number	No	Only for Pickup. It helps find the right shipment.
Notes	No	Instructions for the operator; they see them in their app as Job Notes.

Important: the Visit job type currently cannot be saved: the system responds with an error. For a visit that is neither loading nor unloading, use the Visitors module, or choose Internal.

Linking the receipt or shipment

If you choose Delivery or Pickup and a customer, and the warehouse uses Receiving or Shipping, a box appears with that customer’s open documents: receipts for a delivery, shipments for a pickup. You can check one or several, or ask for a new one to be created. The system marks the closest one as Suggested. The full detail —which documents appear, what is copied and what to do if it fails— is in Linking the job to its receipt or shipment.

When you save

Click Create Job. If a required field is missing, you see Please complete all required fields.
If you picked a customer on a Delivery or Pickup, the system asks you to confirm it: Assigned client: "…". The linked receipt/shipment and its number will be generated under this client’s identity. Confirm?
If you did not pick a customer and the warehouse uses Receiving or Shipping, it asks whether you want to assign without a customer: in that case no document will be created or linked.
You see Job created successfully. The job appears at the dock as Assigned and joins the end of the operator’s queue (counting both their dock jobs and their special jobs).

This way no message is sent to the driver, and the job has no arrival time and no driver photo.

Jobs that start in the yard

When a yard trailer moves to a dock there are two cases:

The original job is still open (for example, it was in Pending Yard): the same job changes dock and goes back to Assigned.
The original job is already closed: the system asks for the Job Type at Dock (usually Load) and creates a new dock job with the original driver’s data. That new job starts without an operator and without a customer: open it on the board and assign them.

A yard job can also be sent back to dock management with Move to dock management. All of this is explained in From the yard to the dock and back.

The full form

The full dock job form. It is not in any menu and has known faults.

There is a full-page form, Create New Dock Job, that asks for work type, worker, customer, dock, an existing visit record, the initial status and the assignment and arrival times. It does not appear in any menu; you only get there by typing its address.

Important: this form has known faults: the New and Flagged statuses cannot be saved, the customer, trailer and pickup number you enter are not saved, and when it finishes it takes you to the job list, which can error out if some job has no operator. Create jobs from the bell or with Create Job.

What happens next

Board: the job appears on the dock’s card as Assigned and in the FIFO View.
Operator app: they see it in My Work, as the current job if it is first in their queue, or under Upcoming Jobs.
Documents: if you linked a receipt or shipment, its screen shows the dock job card with driver, carrier and trailer; the receipt or shipment changes status when the operator starts.
Visitors: if the warehouse uses Visitors, the driver (internal ones too) shows in the visitor log as on site.
Closing: the operator starts, works and finishes; the supervisor releases or sends the trailer to the yard. See The life cycle of a dock job.

To see how it connects with receiving and shipping end to end, read From notice to stock and From order to departure.

Example

Carlos Ruiz arrives to pick up goods for Valley Distributors, but the kiosk is offline. The supervisor clicks Create Job and enters: Full Name Carlos Ruiz, Company Ruiz Freight, Phone +528112345678, Type Pickup, Dock 6, User Luis Pérez, Client Valley Distributors, Trailer TR-5520, Pickup Number PU-88412. The link box shows shipment EMB-00231 marked as Suggested because its pickup number matches. They confirm the customer and save: dock 6 turns red, Luis sees the job as next in his queue and shipment EMB-00231 shows the linked dock job.

Messages you may see

Message	What it means and what to do
Please complete all required fields	Name, company, phone, type or dock is missing.
Error creating job: …	The system rejected a value. The text says which one. If it says the type is invalid, you chose Visit.
That person cannot be assigned jobs in this warehouse. Choose someone from the operations team.	The chosen operator no longer has permission to receive jobs in this warehouse. Pick someone else or have their role checked.
Assigned, but the WMS link failed: …	The job was created; the document could not be linked. Link it later from the job details.
The request took too long. Check your connection and try again.	The network dropped. Before retrying, check the board: if the job already appears, don’t create it twice.

Best practices

Ask drivers to register at the kiosk: they arrive with phone, trailer, photo and visit type captured, and the job keeps the real arrival time.
Always pick the customer: without one, the receipt or shipment cannot be linked and times are not measured correctly.
Assign the operator when you create the job, especially for Internal ones (see Internal jobs).
Write in Notes what the operator needs to know before opening the trailer (fragile goods, special inspection).

Troubleshooting

The operator doesn’t see the job in My Work.

The job was created without an operator: open it from the board, pick the operator and click Update Job.
They have other jobs ahead in their queue: it will appear under Upcoming Jobs. Change the order from the FIFO View if it is urgent.

The box to link the receipt or shipment does not appear.

It only appears with type Delivery or Pickup and a customer selected, and if the warehouse has Receiving (for deliveries) or Shipping (for pickups).

The dock I want is not in the list.

It is inactive or it is an internal yard dock. If your installation only offers free docks, it is busy.

Frequently asked questions

Can I create the job without an operator?

Yes, but it will not show up in anyone’s queue until you assign it. It is useful when you don’t know yet who will handle it; don’t forget to assign it later.

When does the driver get a message?

When you assign from the bell and answer yes to Do you want to notify the driver?, and when you change a job’s dock and agree to notify them. Jobs created with Create Job send no message when created. See Driver notifications by SMS and WhatsApp.

How do I delete a job I created by mistake?

It is not deleted from the board: open it and use Cancel Job. The job disappears from the board, the driver is checked out and linked documents go back to their previous status.