What's going on?!?

mypie · Mar 27, 2009

Has anyone else been noticing a substantial difference between what C-Link and the VRU say what has been going out from an express center?

We're sitting in Louisville. Yesterday VRU said 11 Cs, 4 (I think) Ds - C-Link said 4 Cs and 2 Ds. The same thing is happening today. What's the discrepancy? Even if its WG -vs- Surface - It's never mattered before. All show up on C-Link.

I've now called dispatch twice and can't seem to get a decent answer.

Any other Express Centers experiencing a discrepancy, and has anyone else been able to get a better answer than "I don't know"?

TeamCaffee · Mar 27, 2009

You are looking at two different things. The VRU is loads dispatched from an Express Center and C-Link is trucks checked into a Express Center.

mypie · Mar 27, 2009

So you're saying that all these trucks have been dispatched from other express centers? I have never seen this much of a difference before in any other express center. There might be 1 or 2 trucks that do not show up on the C-Link but that's all. Besides, the C-Link also shows the number of trucks that have checked out too.

TeamCaffee · Mar 27, 2009

This is something that drives me nuts as when you call into the VRU and you hear all of the loads that have been dispatched it sounds great and you want to move to that Express Center. The loads dispatched on the VRU can be relocates and also trucks from other Express Centers with more dwell time, a less than 75 or a have truck that meets the load requirements.

When you check the C-Link and there are less trucks but they do not show dispatched this can be due to the fact they were dispatched out of a different express center or they checked out on their own and moved.

Doggie Daddy · Mar 27, 2009

mypie,the c-link numbers and the vru numbers have never matched in the nearly 7 years that we have been with the fed.

It really used to bother us quite a bit too,and we would call also only to get the same lame excuses that you are getting.

We finally just gave up on the notion that that these two systems should be accurate (the c-link every 3 hrs and the vru in real time)so we try and go about it differently.

After we unload and send in our 07,but before we check into the express center we call in and get the up to the minute count of units in that express center.Then we know exactly how many are ahead of us and what they are.Then we send our 08.

Then we mostly just go by what c-link tells us every 3 hrs,with occasional checks on the vru (option 2 then 9) to keep track of what position we are in on the dwell time.

Is doing it this way perfect? I don't believe so but it does keep me busy during the day.

nightcreacher · Apr 5, 2009

The C link tells you what loads go out of that ex center,may not be trucks from that ex center.If your on 75 status,and lets say your in Trenton NJ,and a load comes up out of Philadelphia,even if trucks are in Philadelphia,if you can make the pick up on time,you will be offered the load,and if you take it,c link will show load out of Philadelphia,but VRU will show Trenton.
When I check into an ex center,I first see how many trucks are there,then if I check in there,the VRU will then show me there,#9 thru the vru system will show how many have more dwell time.
Back to the VRU C link,Vru shows trucks out,C link show loads out

aileron · Apr 5, 2009

nightcreacher said:
The C link tells you what loads go out of that ex center,may not be trucks from that ex center.If your on 75 status,and lets say your in Trenton NJ,and a load comes up out of Philadelphia,even if trucks are in Philadelphia,if you can make the pick up on time,you will be offered the load,and if you take it,c link will show load out of Philadelphia,but VRU will show Trenton.
When I check into an ex center,I first see how many trucks are there,then if I check in there,the VRU will then show me there,#9 thru the vru system will show how many have more dwell time.
Back to the VRU C link,Vru shows trucks out,C link show loads out

The other way around, c link shows trucks out, vru shows loads out, it says so on the vru, that annoing voice: 'loads dispatched: a -- there were none, b -- there were none, ----'

jansiemoo · Apr 6, 2009

wait...
clink says trucks checked in and dispatched(??)
vru says (opt 6) loads dispatched, or (opt 8) trucks/units checked in
so... if a D unit takes a C load, the vru and clink should show one D unit dispatched or no longer checked in, BUT one C LOAD dispatched, right??
Of course, that's assuming the truck and the load originated from the same express center...
Did I help re-confuse anyone? I'm gonna stop drinking caffine this late at night...

TeamCaffee · Apr 6, 2009

The VRU would show one C LOAD dispatched and the C-Link would show one D UNIT dispatched.

interstategar · Apr 7, 2009

I've even run across numbers on the VRU wern't in real time. I called my CC and they said sometimes the system will take time to update. I asked if there was a certian day or time the VRU numbers wouldn't be in real time and she said she didn't know, but sometimes on the weekend there's a delay on the VRU for both units ck's in and dispatched.

I've also seen viewing the loads online a delay from when the truck was actually dispatched and when it showed up online, and the delay was about 30 minutes.