What it is
An Equipment Type is a template — “Tri-Axle Dump”, “End Dump”, “Belly Dump” — that holds capacity and unit of measure (UoM). Equipment is the actual truck or trailer in your yard, attached to one Type. Types come first; Equipment inherits from them.
Why it matters
Capacity and UoM live on the Type. Drop them and Tread cannot calculate tons hauled, cubic yards delivered, or material balances. Equipment without a Type runs, but the numbers downstream are blank.
How Tread models it
- Equipment Type — name, default capacity, UoM (tons, cubic yards, loads, hours). Set once per fleet shape.
- Equipment — truck or trailer record. Fields include name (used on tickets and invoices — keep it consistent), VIN, license plate, and the Type it belongs to.
- Sharing — Equipment can be shared with Vendors that operate it, so vendor dispatchers see the same truck record.
| Field | Lives on | Why |
|---|
| Capacity | Equipment Type | Drives material tracking |
| UoM | Equipment Type | Determines how loads are counted |
| Truck name / number | Equipment | Appears on every ticket and invoice |
| VIN, plate | Equipment | Compliance and reporting |
Common pitfalls
Skipping Equipment Types kills material tracking. Equipment created without a Type has no capacity and no UoM. Tons hauled report shows zero. Material balances do not reconcile. Settle the Types first, even if you only have two or three.
Truck names are billing data. A complex multi-entity hauler runs all customer billing through truck numbers. Renaming a truck mid-month re-keys invoices. Lock naming conventions before importing.
