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TMS User Guide

Alpha Cargo TMS covers goods from dispatch to delivery: keying in waybills, planning trips, drivers scanning status back, and finally getting paid.

This guide is for the people doing that work. If you need to call the API, read the Developer Guide.

Who uses what

RoleMostly lives in
Data entry / supportWaybills: creating, importing, looking up, printing labels
DispatchDelivery: planning, assigning drivers, watching tracking
DriversThe mobile scanner; delivery confirmation happens in LINE
FinanceBilling: rate cards, invoices, payments, reconciliation
AdminsSettings: organization, services, sub accounts and permissions
RecipientsThe public tracking page — no account needed

Two parallel threads

Once goods enter the system two records run alongside each other: the waybill says what the goods are and where they are going; the delivery says which vehicle, which driver, which trip took them. One delivery usually carries many waybills.

Get those two straight and the menus stop looking confusing.

Two more terms are easy to read backwards. On screen they are:

  • Contractors — the people who hand you freight to move. Your upstream.
  • Subcontractors — the people you hand freight to. Your downstream.

Where to start

What you want to doRead
Just got an accountSigning up and signing inFinding your way around
Learn the vocabularyCore concepts
Enter, find and label goodsThe waybill chapter, starting at the waybill list
Plan trips and assign driversDelivery planning
Get drivers goingDriver scanning and delivery confirmation
Look up what a status meansWaybill status reference
Manage customers and carriersThe partners chapter
Invoice and get paidHow the money moves
Configure services, permissions, automationThe settings chapter
StuckFAQ
Look up a termGlossary

Can't see a menu?

TMS menus sit behind two gates:

  1. Plan features — what your organization has. Anything not included is hidden from everyone, admins too.
  2. Account permissions — what you personally were granted. Also hidden if you don't have it.

So two people in the same organization can see different menus. If something is missing, ask your organization's admin rather than assuming you clicked the wrong thing.