 September 30, 2000 Keystone Systems, Inc. Volume 2000 Number 3 140 South Arthur, Suite 515, P.O. Box 206, Spokane, Washington 99210 Sales: (888) 863-9833 Fax: (509) 535-0520 Support: (888) 863-9797 Web Site: www.KeystoneTruckSoftware.com E-mail: sales@KeystoneTruckSoftware.com |
| WHAT ARE MY OPTIONS? |
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As we discussed last quarter, as clients get settled into using their Keystone Truck Software, they sometimes wonder, "This works so well, what other options are available to help me save even more time?" Keystone has a growing variety of add-on software to help your dispatchers and office staff be even more productive. In our last newsletter, we covered Additional Users, Dispatch Central, Maintenance & Shop Inventory, Fuel Service Interface, Advanced Rating, and Intermodal. We will highlight some of the other add-on software options in this article: |
 Mileage Database Interfaces: Quick! I need a load hauled from Schenectady to Spokane, what will you charge? Does it help if I tell you it is 2620 miles? Where do you look for quick access to accurate mileages? We support ALK's PC*Miler and Prophesy's ProDriver shortest and practical mileage databases. KSI Mileage History Database: Need a low-cost but effective alternative to one of the national databases listed above? Now you can build your own database of routes (with state miles) from your own load experience. Even save multiple routes between locations. Call today to see if this inexpensive tool will meet your needs.Quickly access your miles, from the billing screen, trip miles screen, or from the menu, for a ad hoc query such as the one above. |
.gif) Payroll ACH Direct Deposit: Tired of drivers or spouses hanging around the payroll office on payday? Easily deposit checks to employee's payroll checks to their own bank. You transfer a data file to your bank and they do all the work! This is especially great if your drivers are out on the road a lot. They no longer need to worry about having money in the bank to pay the mortgage! |
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Drivers Log Auditor: An old favorite, Keystone's Log Auditor is back with an attitude! All the old capabilities, updated to take advantage of Windows' power and ease of use: drop-down lists, flexible data entry (including the new mouse-click grid), easy on-screen access to any prior daily log, quick reports to the screen or paper. Flexible, efficient, accurate data entry and timely reports make a great combination! See the article on Page 2 for special pricing on the Log Auditor program for existing users! |
.gif) Bulk Commodity (Chip): High-volume contract loads can generate a lot of paperwork at a low margin. You need an efficient and accurate way to bill (or audit) your customers and pay your drivers. With Keystone's Bulk Commodity option, set up the contract by customer, site and commodity. Identify details such as billing description, bill rate and method, wait charges, employee pay types and rates, sub-contractor (owner-operator) pay types and rates, and loaded and empty miles by state. Now recording a ticket is easy as ticket number, customer, site, commodity, gross & tare weights, and any waiting time. |
.gif) Less-Than-Truckload Interline Billing (LTL): Interline billing is another high-volume, low-dollars-per-ticket activity that needs to be handled efficiently and accurately. With one entry, process the pro, be it inbound, outbound, prepaid or collect. Tariff-based zip-to-zip, commodity class rating is included. Automatically posts to payables and receivables for interline loads. |
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To get more information on any of these options, give Chris a call on his direct sale line at 1-888-863-9833, send him an e-mail at chrisb@KeystoneTruckSoftware.com, or visit our web site at www.KeystoneTruckSoftware.com. We have a demo CD and printed materials available. |
| DRIVER LOG AUDITOR FOR WINDOWS® |
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Tired of long visits from the DOT auditors? Want to get in good with your insurance agent (and maybe even save some on your insurance premiums)? If you ever had to go to court over an accident involving one of your trucks, wouldn't it be great to have an accurate, up-to-date, concise record of each driver's log records, along with documentation that any violations have been accurately and clearly noted and reviewed with the driver? Get a handle on these perennial headaches of the trucking industry. KSI has taken the power of our MS-DOS-based Log Auditor and moved it to the world of Windows. The system is easy to set up and start using within minutes. It supports 60/7 and 70/8 rules, or you can define special rules for any groups of drivers. You enter the driver totals, one simple grid and note any procedural violations ("forgot to sign log sheet", etc.). |
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Then, let your computer earn its keep! It calculates all hours-based violations and reports them on an easy-to-read report. It lists summary hours for each day along with the description, time and DOT paragraph number of any violations. There is even a place for the driver to sign-off that he/she has reviewed the report. Need a quick entry so you can check available hours for a driver? You have the option of completing only the summary hours for each day. The more detailed violations will not be picked up until later, when you enter the grid, but the program will show available hours for dispatching purposes. |
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| We are excited about the new Driver Log Auditor for Windows, and we know you will be too. Response from the end-users who have had the opportunity to try it has been very positive. This great new tool sells for just $450. If you have our current DOS-based Log Auditor, you can purchase the Windows version for $200, through December 31, 2000. If you have purchased the Log Auditor since April 1st of this year and would like to switch to the Windows version, just give Tanya a call and we will ship it out at no charge! |
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| IS YOUR ACCOUNTING CURRENT? |
.gif) When was the last time you had financial statements by the 10th of the month? If you are not getting current financial statements from your bookkeeping department, maybe it's time to find out why not. While most of our clients are anxious to close out the previous month and be able to look at current financial statements, it never fails to amaze us when a client calls because they are getting a message that they cannot enter a transaction dated after the 5th of the month. This message would be worrisome enough, but the really scary part is this means you are eight months behind in your accounting! |
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The responsibility for making sure good accounting practices are being maintained falls on the shoulders of the manager or owner of a business. If you are not getting current financial statements, that probably means good accounting practices are not being followed in your office. While your Keystone software allows you to enter transactions in future months, the intention is to allow you to finish the previous month's business while staying current with today's work. Once all the transactions for the previous month are entered, the individual packages should be closed and posted to the General Ledger. Once all the batches are posted to the GL, preliminary financial statements can be run and any routine or adjusting entries should be posted so final reports can be processed. Part of the monthly closing procedure should be balancing the subsidiary ledgers to the General Ledger. This means that all transactions effecting Cash, Accounts Receivable and Accounts Payable should be done only in the AR and AP packages. At month end, the balance in the General Ledger accounts should match the report totals on the AR and AP Aging Reports and the Bank Reconciliation. Following good accounting practices and having access to up-to-date financial reports is vital to the success of any business. Your Keystone software gives you the tools to make sound financial decisions so make sure you are getting what you paid for! |
| FOURTH QUARTER 2000 HOLIDAYS |
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Keystone will be closed: October 9 - Columbus Day November 11 - Veteran's Day November 23 & 24 - Thanksgiving December 25 - Christmas Day January 1 - New Year's Day |