What Is a Dock?

A Dock in Opendock is a designated area within your warehouse where appointments are scheduled for loading or unloading. Each dock can be customized with specific settings to match your warehouse’s operations.

How to Add a Dock

To add a new dock to your warehouse, follow these steps:

1. Click on the Create Dock button.
2. Enter the Dock Name for easy identification.
3. (Optional) Provide a Dock Number for tracking purposes.
4. Select the Load Types that this dock services (e.g., Full Load, Partial Load).
5. (Optional) Add any Instructions for users related to this dock.
6. Email Subscribers:
   • Add email addresses to notify when an appointment is created or changed for this dock.
7. Scheduling Portal Availability:
   • Enable or disable your warehouse on the Scheduling System to control visibility for carriers.
8. Set Carrier Scheduling Restrictions:
   • Appointment Scheduling Time: Set a minimum number of hours between the booking of an appointment and the appointment itself.
   • Appointment Editing/Canceling Time: Set the minimum number of hours between the booking and when a carrier can edit or cancel the appointment.
   • (Note: If disabled, the system will default to the above values.)
   • Scheduling Lead Time: Set the maximum number of days in advance that carriers can schedule an appointment.
9. Dock Schedule:
   • Set the hours that the dock is available to accept appointments by clicking on the individual 30-minute tiles.
   • You can either create a custom schedule for this dock or copy the warehouse's operating hours.
   • Ensure the dock’s operating hours are within the warehouse’s hours of operation—appointments cannot be scheduled outside the warehouse's hours.
   • For more details about Dock Schedule and how to set this up, please see this article. 
10. Click on Save Dock at the bottom to finalize the dock creation.

Once these steps are completed, your new dock will be ready for scheduling appointments.