Transport

• Truck Maintenance
• Truck SOPs
• How to Print the Transport Schedule
• Transport Scheduling

Truck Maintenance

Registration and Inspection:

• Renew Registration - Due December 2025
  • File paperwork in glove compartment
  • Replace the sticker
• MA Inspection due in February each year.
  • Have garage do an inspection of truck.
  • Have garage change oil.

General Maintenance:

• Check oil monthly.
  • Oil changed when truck is inspected.
• Check windshield washer fluid monthly.
• Wash the truck after winter.
• Remove trash from the cab after each use.
• Wash windshield as needed (windshield should be clean inside and out to provide good vision without excessive glare)
• Wipers should be replaced as needed
• Remove snow and ice

Truck SOPs

Supplies:

Ensure the following are on the truck:

• Tool backpack
  • Dots
  • Screwdrivers
  • Adjustable wrench
  • Zip-Lock bags to transport hardware
  • Plastic wrap
  • Soft-blow hammer
  • Marking pen
• Bin #1 - Tie-down Straps
• Bin #2 - Approximately 6 moving blankets
• Bin #3 - Empty (to be used to transport fragile items such as small lamps)

Prepare to drive the truck:

• Obtain key from top file cabinet drawer
• Walk-around: ensure tires are inflated and no visible damage.
• Check that all lights are working
• Ensure mirrors are in position
• Review Transport Schedule

Driving:

• Obey all MA driving laws (seatbelts, speed, etc).
• After starting the truck, disengage the towing feature.
  • The light should be off.
• Use the parking brake and tire chock when parked on a severe incline.
• Transport Assistants - Navigate and call donors when en route.
• Check Fuel level. If below 1/4, refuel

Communication with Donors:

• The Transport Assistant calls the donor before arrival.
• Greet Donors and introduce yourselves.
• Confirm donated items.
• If there are many items, do an initial walk-through and develop a loading plan.
• Inspect donations and confirm items are acceptable. (page 3)
  • Butt check - sit on couches and chairs to ensure adequate support.
  • Lift cushions to ensure no damage.
  • Determine if the effort to clean or repair is excessive.
  • Size - reject items which are impractical for an apartment.
  • Use - reject items which are special purpose and thus, impractical.
  • Weight - If an object is too heavy to safely carry, reject the item.
  • Location - If the item is located somewhere that makes it impractical to move, reject the item.
• If items must be rejected, use a statement such as; “I’m sorry, but we will pass on this because…”. Use acceptance guidelines on our website
• Secure the load using tie-down straps. Furniture should not be loose in the truck.

Unloading:

• Position the scissor lift in the UP position.
• Place the chock on white spot, 6 feet in front of the scissor lift.
• Back up the truck against the chock.
• Secure parking brake.
• Turn off the ignition.
• Unload the truck using carts and by raising and lowering the lift to match the truck height and dock height.

Wrap-up:

• Remove all trash.
• Sweep out the truck as needed.
• Replenish supplies as needed.
• Back truck into a parking space which does not have tree branches or light poles.
• Make sure all windows are closed and the doors are locked.
• Return key to file cabinet top drawer.
• Return clipboard with Transport Schedule and envelope with donations and review with front desk.
  • If the name or addresses on checks do not match the Transport Schedule verify which pick up gave the check/s.
  • Point out any items listed that were not picked up and reason why- no longer available or did not meet our standards?
• Check Fuel level
• Inform front desk of the truck status: Includes Fuel level (and any other issues (windshield wiper if they need replacement, cleanliness if the truck needs to be washed, oil change if the mileage is getting close to the recommended change on the sticker, etc)

How to Print the Transport Schedule

Start a web browser
Log into your FSFB account
Click on the Call Center app button
Click on the Donations group button
On the black menu bar at the top of the screen, you should see "Transport Schedule".  Click on that.

Transport Schedule will only appear for users who have the Transport Admin privilege.

You will see a display showing available transport dates. Click on the appropriate date.
Click on the Print button at the bottom of the screen.

If you use ^P, it will print too small.

 

Transport Scheduling

Description

This guide describes how to view the transportation schedule, set the route, and schedule new transport slots.

Viewing the Transport Schedule

You can view the transport schedule by going into the Call Center app and selecting the Donations group. There will be a black navigation bar at the top of the page. If your FSFB account has the "Transport Admin" privilege, you will see a "Transport Schedule" link on the black menu bar. Clicking on that link will display a page similar to this:


 
This shows the date of the transport, an optional title, the towns we will be picking up from, the overall duration of the transport, how many pick-ups have been scheduled, and the amount of time available for pick-ups.

If you click on one of the dates, it will display the details for that pick-up:

You can edit any of the fields on the form.  Press Update to save your changes.

• The "Close Transport" button appears when a transport date has passed.  Clicking on this will remove it from the list of available transport dates and mark the tickets associated with the pick-up as having been completed.
• The "Cancel Transport" button will send an email to all of the tickets associated with the transport, letting them know that their pick-up has been canceled.  The associated tickets will have the transport canceled, and their status will be set to Unknown.
• The "Reopen Transport" button will appear if a transport has been closed.  As you may be able to guess, this will reopen a closed transport.

At the bottom of the page, under the list of pick-ups, you will find the following buttons:

• The "Print" button generates a printout that properly scales to the paper. Using ^P to print will generate something too small.
• The "Map Route" button opens Google Maps with a route based upon the order of the tickets shown above it. See the "Transport Schedule Routing" section to arrange the route.
• The "Email Donors" will cause an email to be sent to each donor letting them know an approximate time that we will be there. That time is based upon the duration of each pick-up and the start time.  The owner of the ticket will be sent a similar message.
• The "Email Team" will cause an email to be sent to each member of the Transport Team with a list of pick-ups.

Interaction with the Donations Team

A day or two before the schedule gets set, someone needs to review the details of what's getting pick up.  If there are open slots, send an email to the donations team (donations@freshstartfurniturebank.org) to let them know that there's an open slot.

If a donor cancels, creating an open slot, send an email letting the donations team know.

Sometimes a pick-up duration gets extended past the the standard of 0:45.  This can leave gaps in the schedule that the won't get filled in.  We plan for (4) 0:45 pick-ups, and if someone extends a pick-up to 1:00, there will be a 0:30 slot available.  In this case, you can check to see if any of the existing pick-up can be shortened to 0:30, or you can send an email out to the donations team, letting them know that there's a 0:30 slot available.  Quite often we get requests for pick-ups that don't meet our minimums, but in this case, can be filled in with a 0:30 slot.

Transport Schedule Routing

To arrange the pick-up schedule:

1. Use the above section to open the transport schedule for a given date. Typically, we do this on the Thursday (Friday at the latest) before the pick-up.
2. Press the Map button at the bottom of the page.
3. Use Google Maps to arrange the pick-ups in an order that makes sense.
4. We like to schedule the furthest away pick-up first and then work our way back towards the store. That way if we have to drop off furniture at the store mid-route, we're closer to the store.
   
5. Note the order of the pick-ups.
6. Return to the browser page you opened in step 1 and drag the tickets, using the cursor, into the same order you did in step 4. Note that you can't do this with a tablet/phone, as you don't have a mouse.
   
7. Press the Map button to make sure that the order is correct.
8. If appropriate, use the Send Email buttons to notify the donors and the team.

Creating a New Transport Slot

At the bottom of the Transport Schedule display, there is a button labeled "Schedule New Transport".  Click on that and you will see:

• Click on the calendar icon in the Date/Time field, and select a date.  Set the time to whenever the pick-up should start (typically 9:00 AM). 
• Set the duration to however long the pick-up should last. The typical duration is 3:00 hours.
• Select a zone for the pick-up.
  • We typically alternate between zones 4 and 5.
  • Zone 99 is reserved for special pick-ups that aren't constrained by ZIP code.
• If a volunteer job has been scheduled for the date in the Date/Time box, one or more jobs will appear in the Job drop-down menu. Typically you will pick the "Transport" job.  If volunteers have signed up for that job, the Transport team field will populate with the divers and movers signed up.
• Press Update to save your changes.