Since every business has unique ways of assessing charges to their customers, OnTime employs a powerful technology throughout the system called modifiers. Simply put, a modifier adjusts a given base price. That makes modifiers an excellent choice for any extras that may be assessed to an order such as a fuel surcharge or an additional weight charge.

Modifiers are created at a global level, meaning that once created they can be used anywhere in OnTime and can apply to any customer. This saves the time of re-creating the same modifier for each customer. This also make it possible to change a modifier across a lot of price sets, which is helpful in the case of frequently changing global accessorial charges such as fuel surcharges.

In this article

Classification of modifiers   Types of modifiers   Adjusting prices with actions

Classification of modifiers

Modifiers can be classified into two categories: customer and driver.

They are both used in a similar manner to change pricing, but one is designed to work with employee/sub contractor pay and the other for customer billing. Selecting one or the other keeps the two types of modifiers separate, making it possible to access the appropriate set of modifiers when creating customer or driver price sets.

Types of modifiers

There are different types of modifiers to accomplish particular tasks, such as charging extra for cash on delivery or signature capture. The different type include:

• Other: Most accessorial charges fall under this category. When the Other type is used, the modifier will appear to the dispatcher in the check box list of available options for the service level/price set selected.
• Signature Required: This type is tied directly to the check box on the order form labeled Digital Signature Required. Modifiers of this type will not appear to dispatchers in the check box list of Available Options.
• C.O.D.: Standing for Cash On Delivery, this type is tied directly to the check box on the order form labeled Require COD. Modifiers of this type will not appear to dispatchers in the check box list of Available Options.
• Distance Base Price: This type is tied directly to the distance base price on the order form. Modifiers of this type will not appear to dispatchers in the check box list of Available Options.
  
  A distance base price modifier type is useful in cases where the base price needs to be accessed base on distance instead of using zone to zone pricing. Since OnTime calculates the total cost of an order as a base price plus adjustments from any selected modifiers, the special distance modifier type acts as a base price on top of which all other modifiers are applied. Since the distance base price is defined as a price modifier, this makes it possible to create several pricing scenarios for distance based orders.

Adjusting prices with actions

Modifiers have an action property, which simply indicates the type of math to be applied when calculating the cost of the modifier. The cost of the modifier is always based on the base price of the order which can be defined on a zone to zone, distance, or flat rate basis. The price of a modifier is never compounded against other modifiers.

• Flat Amount: A specific amount to apply to the base price if the modifier is selected at time of order. This can be a positive or negative number and may contain decimal places. Examples: 10, -10, 9.95
• Flat Percentage: A percentage to apply to the base price if the modifier is selected at time of order. This can be a positive or negative number and may contain decimal places. Examples: 10, -10, 9.95
• Flat Overage Amount: A specific amount to apply to the base price if the modifier is selected at time of order and the watch value field exceeds the value specified by the threshold field. The value can be a positive or negative number and may contain decimal places. The charge calculated by this modifier action is only applied once upon exceeding the threshold.
• Flat Overage Percentage: A percentage to apply to the base price if the modifier is selected at time of order and the watch value field exceeds the value specified by the threshold field. The value can be a positive or negative number and may contain decimal places. The charge calculated by this modifier action is only applied once upon exceeding the threshold.
• Incremental Overage Amount: A specific amount to apply to the base price if the modifier is selected at time of order and the watch value field exceeds the value specified by the threshold field. The value can be a positive or negative number and may contain decimal places. The charge calculated by this modifier action is applied every time the threshold is exceeded by one (1).
• Incremental Overage Percentage: A percentage to apply to the base price if the modifier is selected at time of order and the watch value field exceeds the value specified by the threshold field. The value can be a positive or negative number and may contain decimal places. The charge calculated by this modifier action is applied every time the threshold is exceeded by one (1).