Dispatch units (convoys)

What it’s for — a dispatch unit groups the machines that move together as a single convoy for one job movement — for example a tractor head, a trailer, a set of dollies and an escort vehicle. Instead of assigning each machine separately, you build and release them as one unit.

When you’d use it — heavy transport moves where several machines have to travel together and arrive together, and you want the safety gate and the paperwork to treat them as one convoy rather than four unrelated bookings.

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A dispatch unit groups its members — prime mover, trailer, driver — on the job's Dispatch tab. Each member carries its own safety-gate status.

Requires the Transport operations module

Dispatch units are part of the Transport operations module. If you don’t see the unit builder in Dispatch, ask an owner to enable it in Settings.

How to build a dispatch unit

1. Open Dispatch and start the unit builder.

2. Pick the job the convoy is moving for.

3. Add the member assets — the tractor head, trailer, dollies, escort vehicle, or whatever the move needs.

4. Optionally set a day rate for each member. Leave it blank and the asset’s own base rate applies instead.

5. Save the unit.

Releasing a unit

Releasing is what actually sends the convoy out. Click Release on the unit and Craneye runs the safety gate across every member at once — not just one machine.

• If any member fails a Tier-1 (hard-stop) check — an expired certificate, an expired registration, anything statutory — the whole convoy is blocked, not just that one machine.
• A manager can override the block with a typed reason, same as a single-machine assignment. The override is recorded to the job’s audit trail.
• Once released, the unit’s members become real job assignments — they bill exactly like any other assigned machine, on their own dates and rates.

Why the whole convoy blocks together

A convoy only makes sense if every part of it can legally travel — there’s no point releasing a tractor head whose trailer is uncertified. The gate treats the unit as one decision.

Cancelling a unit

Cancelling a dispatch unit removes only the assignments it created. Any standalone assignment already on the same job — a crane booked separately, say — is left untouched.

Common questions

• Can members have different rates? Yes — set a per-member day rate when building the unit, or leave it blank to fall back to that asset’s base rate.
• What happens on release if one member is out of service? The whole convoy blocks until it’s resolved or a manager overrides with a reason.
• Does a convoy show up differently on the job once released? No — released members appear as regular job assignments on the Cranes tab and bill the same way.
• We don’t see the unit builder in Dispatch. The Transport operations module isn’t enabled for your workspace yet — ask an owner to turn it on in Settings.

Related

Multi-asset jobs How individual machines of any type get assigned to a job.

Dispatch & the safety gate The gate that a convoy release runs across every member.

Trailer route trips What the driver does once the convoy's trailer is released.