Accounting and payroll systems should capture situations where employees switch activities.  P&D and linehaul drivers, when working the dock, should have that dock time identified, and both labor expenses and hours worked should be segregated as such.  This is critical in proper unit cost development.  If certain terminals cannot provide a breakdown of labor between P&D, linehaul, and dock activities, some options are available in the system as follows:

1.   If wages in the general ledger are not allocated between local P&D and dock, but you can obtain a correct breakdown of hours worked, then there is a setting found in the CIS Profile Maintenance when processing the general ledger file:

Split P&D - Dock Wages  

Set this option to Yes, and all labor expenses (wage and fringes) will be prorated based on the entered hours.  To limit this to certain terminals, create the file CONVERT.HR, in the main CIS directory, listing the terminals.

2.  If neither wages nor hours allocated between P&D and dock are available in your accounting system, conduct a survey by terminal to obtain the percent breakdown between P&D and dock hours.  This can be either a total breakdown or just a breakdown of drivers doing dock work.  Create the file CONVERT.DK in the main CIS directory with a record for each terminal where an allocation is required as follows:

Dock ratio is the ratio of dock handling hours included in the P&D hours.  For example, if, at terminal ABC, we had drivers doing dock work with no general ledger breakdown, and a survey determined 35% of their time was spent on the dock and the other 65% making local pickups and deliveries, then the file CONVERT.DK should have a record:

ABC    0.35

The system will, when the general ledger is processed, split both P&D wages and P&D hours at terminal ABC to reassign 35% to dock.  If these were all of the employees at terminal ABC, then all wages and hours should be assigned to P&D.

3.  If linehaul drivers perform dock work at freight terminals, and this information is not in the general ledger nor in terminal hours, a secondary file can be provided, LINEHAUL.DK, with the following fields: 

This file may be accessed and maintained manually via the CIS maintenance software (contact TCG).

Unit Costs depend on the accurate separation of these activities to accurately reflect your operations when costing freight.

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  Updated February, 2005