Home → Star Bill of Lading → Setup → System/Shipper Setup Properties

5.1. System/Shipper Setup Properties

The initial setup of this system is not very difficult, but it is very important to spend a little time to understand everything that is required to properly setup the system for normal use.  Failure to set this up properly can cause problems that can cause extra work to correct the problems.  Here are the basics to correctly setting up the system.

After installation of the program, run the BOL program.  

The first area you want to set up is the Shipper information. This is done by selecting the menu option Setup, then click on System/Shipper Setup Properties. Pressing F4 (Function 4 key) works too. 

This will display the Control Setup/Shipper Selection screen. Here are the fields that are displayed on this screen with a short description of their meanings and uses.  These need to be filled in with your pertinent information.



Shipper:
This is the name of the Shipper who is processing the shipments.

Address:
Shippers permanent address lines 1,2,3.

Phone/Fax
Phone number and Fax number of the Shipper.  These fields are optional.  They are printed on the BOL on the bottom left hand corner of the form only if entered.

E-mail
This is an optional field that will print on the bottom left hand corner of the BOL if entered.

Emer. Contact/24 Hour Number
This is the Emergency Contact Name.  Here you would put in the name or company that is responsible if there is an emergency during the shipment.  This is mainly used for the transportation of Hazardous material and is required for this type of shipment. If using the Canadian Option, it will display 24 Hour Number for the heading as this is what is used for the Canadian bills.

Emergency #
Emergency Phone number.  This is where you enter the Emergency Phone number that is to be called in case of an Emergency situation.  This is mainly used for the transportation of Hazardous material and is required for this type of shipment.

Registered Company
This is a default value for the Shipper, and will be loaded to all New BOL's if Entered.

Dft. Carrier.
This is a default value for Carrier.  If a value is entered here, then it will be used when creating new Bills.  This field also contains a lookup feature to load a Carrier that is already in the system.  You can access this drop down selection by either clicking on the eclipse to the right of the field, or pressing the F2 key while the cursor control is in the field. 

Dft. Route.
This is a default value for Route.  If a value is entered here, then it will be used when creating new Bills.  The name on this field can change if you updated the Field Settings section of the Setup Options screen.  Then it will reflect those changes.  Otherwise the default is for the Route field. 

Dft. Special Instructions.
This is a default value for Special Instructions.  If a value is entered here, then it will be used when creating new Bills.  This field also contains a lookup feature to load a Special Instruction that is already in the system.  You can access this drop down selection by either clicking on the eclipse to the right of the field, or pressing the F2 key while the cursor control is in the field.  The name on this field can change if you updated the Field Settings section of the Setup Options screen.  Then it will reflect those changes.  Otherwise the default is for the Special Instructions field

Dft. Message
If you enter a Message here, it will print on every Bill of Lading.

Modifiable BOL#
This check field is used to change the way the system handles the creation of the Bill of Lading numbers.  If you check this field, then each Bill that is created, you will be prompted to enter a BOL number.  Each one of these must be unique for each shipper in the system.  If you are using the system wide BOL number option then this number must be unique for the system.  If it is unchecked, then the system will automatically create the BOL numbers for each shipper.  If you are using the system wide BOL number option, then this number will be will be automatically created for the system sequentially.

Dft. Declared Value
This is the default declared value for the items being shipped. (ex. 2.00 - for $2.00 per)

Per
This is the default declared value per for the items being shipped (ex. LBS)

This is where you need to figure out a few things.  

Last BOL#
This field is used to display and keep track of the Bill of Lading numbers.  For system setup you can enter any number to start with.  This number will change with each BOL created.  Do not change this after initial setup unless necessary.

# of Copies
This is the default number of copies of the Bill of Lading that will print on each print command.  This can be between 1 and 6.  

Label Printer & Type
The type of shipping labels and printer that is used to print them.  Here is a short description of the different labels used in this program.

Laser Printer labels:
  Avery type 5168 labels:  4 to a page
  Avery type 5163 labels:  10 to a page
  Avery type 5164 labels:  6 to a page
  Avery type 5165 labels:  1 to a page - 11" x 8 1/2"
  Avery type 5526 labels:  2 to a page
  Bar Code Type Thermal Printer Labels:  6" x 4" labels
  Bar Code Type Thermal Printer Labels:  3" x 4" labels

For more information about processing the Shipping Labels see the Shipping Label Processing.

Dft. Prepaid/Coll.3rd
This is the system default that defines new BOL's as whether they are to be set up as Prepaid, Collect of 3rd Party billing options.  This can be changed on each BOL, as this is only a default.  You can also setup each Consignee/Customer with their own default setting which will override this setting when you select the Consignee during entry of the BOL.

Printed Weight Description
This field is used to select the Printed Weight Description on the Bills.  You have an option of either LBS, KG or Blank.

Default Bill to Address Button  
This is an optional field that will allow you to enter a default Bill to Name and Address.  This will print on each BOL if entered.  This is very useful if all of your bills are 3rd Party or if you require payment to be sent to a different address.

Default Section 7 Signature Name
This is an optional field that if filled in will Auto Sign the Section 7 Signature section of the BOL with the Name you enter into this field.

Copy 1 Caption
This is the caption that is printed on the top of the Bill of Lading - this will print on Copy 1

Copy 2 Caption
This is the caption that is printed on the top of the Bill of Lading - this will print on Copy 2

Copy 3 Caption
This is the caption that is printed on the top of the Bill of Lading - this will print on Copy 3

Copy 4 Caption
This is the caption that is printed on the top of the Bill of Lading - this will print on Copy 4

Copy 5 Caption
This is the caption that is printed on the top of the Bill of Lading - this will print on Copy 5

Copy 6 Caption
This is the caption that is printed on the top of the Bill of Lading - this will print on Copy 6

Logo
This is the shipper logo that can be used if you desire one.  This will print on each BOL on the right side of the BOL next to the Shipper information.  You can load a logo into the system by using your mouse.  Just right click on the logo area, you will be displayed a menu.  To load a logo, just click on Load.  This will prompt you to load a logo file.  You can use any Bitmap file and it will be saved into the system for the selected shipper and will print on all BOL's for this shipper.  If you would like to delete a logo, just follow the same selection, but select delete instead of load.  

Shipper #
Each Shipper that is entered into the system needs to be assigned a shipper number.  This is an alpha-numeric field that can contain just about any code.  The system is setup and installed with 10 predefined shipper records, they range from 01 - 10.  These do not need to be changed unless you feel it necessary.  If you create a new record, you will have to key in a code for each one you create.  You will be prompted if you forget to enter a code.

Default Shipper
If you click on the check mark, it will define the selected Shipper as the Default Shipper.  What this means is the selected shipper will be loaded as the shipper each time you start the program.

To ADD a new Shipper, click on the + sign at the bottom left hand of the screen.  This will add a new Shipper record that you will need to fill out the information in.

Setup Options
This button should also be clicked on to setup other options when you first install.  For more information about this just check out the Custom Options Setup Screen

Shipper Selection Grid
The grid that is displayed at the top of this screen can be used to select a specific Shipper by double-clicking on the selected shipper.  You can also sort the Shipper records by clicking on the grid headers to sort the records by either Name, Address, or Shipper number.

After initial setup, you can start loading your default files for use.  This would include your Consignee's/Customers, Carriers, Descriptions/Items, etc.