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Defaults and Settings Maintenance

This screen is used to store overall Lading Manager Lite defaults and settings.

Lading Number Settings
The lading number is used to track each bill that you create. You can control how this number looks on your bill by providing an optional prefix to the number, a starting number, an optional suffix to the number, and how many digits to display for the number itself.

Prefixes and suffixes are not required and can be up to 5 characters in length (each). Use these to customize the lading number to your business. Also use these fields if you have multiple installations of Lading Manager Lite. They will help you keep track of which PC created the bill.

The actual number portion can be between 4 and 16 digits in length. Give this number plenty of room to grow as your business grows. (Six digits or more is recommended.)

You will notice that as you set these fields, a exact sample of what the overall number looks like will be displayed for you. This is exactly as it will appear on your bills.

You will also notice that as you change this information, the Save button appears. Please press this to save your changes in the system before proceeding to a different screen.

As each new bill is added to the system, the lading number will automatically increment (by one) for you. Therefore, once you initially establish this number, you should not need to bother with this set-up again.

General Settings
Please answer the We are a third party shipper statement. Third party bills will not print C.O.D. information, but rather "Bill-To" information. Each individual bill may be set as a third party bill or not. This statement is used to default each new bill when they are initially created.

The lbs or kg is an overall setting that will appear on all bills in the "Weight" column.

The reference number (or purchase order number) will print on the bill. You can simply have this number print on the bill or you may have it prefaced with a "Ref./PO:" tag.

Check the Print Timestamp on BOL box if you want a timestamp printed on the bill.

Check the Print Consignee on Right box if you want the consignee name and address to print on the right side of the bill.

Mark the Default BOL Layout to Use to the desired bill of lading style you wish to print. The layouts are:
  • Normal. Traditional straight bill of lading form.
  • More detail lines, no legal statements, no COD 3rd party. This is ideal for in-company deliveries where you do not need legal statements on the BOL.
  • 1/2 BOL: 5.5". This is a specialized form created for a dot matrix printer that is printing on 5-1/2" paper.

    The BOL edit screen will default to whatever you set here, but may be changed on the BOL edit screen before printing.

    On New Bills ....
    There are a number of settings to make for how new bills are to be set up.

    Set Origin to: 
    Nothing means that when you add a new bill, no origin (shipper) will be selected for you.

    Home means that the Origin that has the Origin Number of "Home" will be selected for you when you add a new bill. This is the recommended selection.

    First means that the very first Origin in the file will be selected for you when you add a new bill.

    Set Carrier to:
    Nothing means that when you add a new bill, no carrier will be selected for you.

    Home means that the Carrier that has the Carrier Number of "Home" will be selected for you when you add a new bill.

    First means that the very first Carrier in the file will be selected for you when you add a new bill.

    Set "Signature of Consignor" to:
    Blank means that when you add a new bill, it will require a signature of the consignor.

    Shipper's Name means that when you add a new bill, it will print the Shipper's Name in the "Signature of Consignor" area.

    Use:
    "Vehicle Number" means that when you add a new bill, it will default to printing "Vehicle Number" under the Consignee name and address.

    "Pick-Up Date & Time" means that when you add a new bill, it will default to printing "Pick-Up Date & Time" under the Consignee name and address.

    For either choice, you may further specify a default value in the Default Value field immediately to the right of this field.

    Use:
    "Route" means that when you add a new bill, it will default to printing "Route" under the "Vehicle Number" box.

    "Delivery Date & Time" means that when you add a new bill, it will default to printing "Delivery Date & Time" under the "Vehicle Number" box.

    For either choice, you may further specify a default value in the Default Value field immediately to the right of this field.

    Email Settings
    If you email BOLs or forms, then the information on this screen needs to be completed. 

    (If you use Microsoft Outlook or Outlook Express, the blue text indicates the Outlook Express field name and location that is the equivalent. To copy Outlook data, choose "Tools - Accounts," select the default mail type, and press Properties.)

    Address is the email address to which the email would reply. (i.e. bob@mycompany.com) (General - Name)

    "From" Name is the name to display that the email is from. (i.e. Bob Jones) (General - Reply Address)

    Organization Name is the name of your company. This is optional. (General - Organization)

    Outgoing Mail Server is the address of the outgoing SMTP server. (i.e. mail.mycompany.com) (Servers - Outgoing mail (SMTP))

    SPTP Port is usually 25. If your email provider requires a different outgoing mail port number, then you will need to change this.

    If your mail server requires authentication, then indicate as such and fill in the User Name and Password fields. (Servers - Account name and Servers - Password)

    Default Email Message
    This is the default message that would be prefilled for you when you send a form via email.

    Bill of Lading Copy Naming
    This will allow you to print a different name on each copy of the bill of lading. For example, "Copy 1: Original, Copy 2: Carrier, Copy 3: Consignee". If you choose to name your copies, follow these steps:

    1. Mark the "Name the copies as specified below" option.

    2. In the white box below that, type in your copy names. Each line represents a different copy. For example, for printing 3 copies, you would enter items into the box as follows:

    Copy 1: Original
    Copy 2: Carrier
    Copy 3: Consignee

    Whatever you type in the box will print. (Try not to make it too long.) The lines in the box are not numbered, but the first line is for copy #1, the second line is for copy #2, etc. Use the Enter key between lines, just like you would in your favorite word processor.

    3. On the bill of lading screen, make sure you indicate that you want 3 copies. The bill of lading generator will create all of your pages and copies for you. Do NOT change the number of copies on the bill of lading print window unless you want multiple printouts of all of those copies.

    Where to go Next
    Don't forget to click the save button to save your changes.

    The next step is to input your company (shipper) information. Please go to Tools - Shipper Maintenance from the pulldown menu and then click here to proceed.