DockSlot help

A practical guide for running dock appointments.

Use this guide to set up your warehouse, share your booking link, review carrier requests, create appointments, and keep your dock queue current throughout the day.

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Getting started

DockSlot starts with an invite.

Accept your invite

DockSlot accounts are created by invite. Open your invite link, create your account or log in, and then continue into the warehouse app.

Use your daily workspace

The dashboard is where your team reviews new requests, sees today's dock work, and moves appointments through the dock process.

Keep the queue current

Update appointment statuses as trucks arrive, start loading, finish, cancel, or miss their scheduled time.

Warehouse setup

Set the rules carriers will book against.

Guide

Setting up your warehouse

Start with your warehouse location. Add the warehouse name, timezone, and any instructions carriers should see before they request a dock time.

  1. Open the warehouse app after accepting your invite.
  2. Complete the first location setup.
  3. Use booking instructions for receiving rules, check-in notes, or required reference details.

Guide

Adding dock doors

Dock doors are the physical doors your team can schedule. Active doors are used when DockSlot builds available appointment slots.

  1. Go to Settings, then Dock doors.
  2. Add each door carriers can be assigned to.
  3. Keep a door active when it should be available for scheduling.

Guide

Creating appointment types

Appointment types describe the kind of work being scheduled, such as inbound or outbound loads. Each type has a duration.

  1. Go to Settings, then Appointment types.
  2. Create a type with a clear name, direction, and expected duration.
  3. Add instructions when carriers need extra context for that type of load.

Appointments

Manage requests, manual entries, statuses, and history.

Guide

Reviewing carrier appointment requests

New carrier requests appear in the dashboard queue. Open a request to review the load details before deciding what to do next.

  1. Open the request from the dashboard.
  2. Confirm the requested time when it works for your team.
  3. Reject the request when it does not work, or reschedule it to a different available slot.

Guide

Viewing uploaded documents

Carriers can attach BOLs, packing slips, or other load paperwork when they submit through the public booking link. Those files are private to your warehouse team.

  1. Open the appointment detail page.
  2. Find the Documents panel.
  3. Use Download to open a private file link.
  4. If no documents were submitted, the panel will say none were uploaded.

Guide

Creating appointments manually

Use manual appointments when a carrier still calls or emails. DockSlot lets you enter the appointment yourself and keep it in the same daily queue.

  1. Choose New appointment from the warehouse app.
  2. Select an available slot.
  3. Enter carrier, contact, and reference details, then create the appointment.

Guide

Viewing the daily schedule

The Schedule page shows one warehouse day grouped by dock door, so your team can see where each appointment fits.

  1. Open Schedule from the warehouse app navigation.
  2. Use Previous day, Today, Next day, or the date picker to change days.
  3. Open any schedule card to review the appointment detail page.

Guide

Updating statuses

Statuses help everyone on the warehouse side understand where the load is in the dock process.

  1. Mark confirmed appointments as arrived when the truck checks in.
  2. Move arrived appointments to loading when dock work begins.
  3. Mark appointments completed, cancelled, or no-show when that is the correct final outcome.

Guide

Understanding appointment history

Each appointment keeps a history of important changes so your team can see what happened and when. DockSlot also summarizes dwell and detention evidence from the appointment timestamps.

  1. Open any appointment detail page.
  2. Review the timeline for requests, confirmations, reschedules, status updates, and internal notes.
  3. Use email delivery history to see whether appointment messages were sent or failed.
  4. Review dwell evidence when arrival, loading, and completion timestamps are available.

Guide

Exporting and sharing reports

Reports help you share filtered appointment activity without sending screenshots. Warehouse admins can use built-in presets, save tenant-wide views, download CSV files, or create read-only links.

  1. Open Reports, Appointments, or Insights from the warehouse app.
  2. Use a built-in preset or saved view when you want a common filter quickly.
  3. Choose the date range and filters you want.
  4. Download a CSV or create a report link for read-only sharing.
  5. Turn off report links from the Reports page when they should no longer be available.

FAQ

Common questions

Do carriers need to log in?

No. Carriers use your public booking link to request an appointment. They do not need a DockSlot account. They can optionally upload BOL or load paperwork during the request. After submitting, they can use their private status link to view the appointment status.

What documents can carriers upload?

During public booking, carriers can upload up to 3 PDF, JPG, or PNG files. Each file can be up to 10 MB. Uploaded documents are visible to your warehouse team on the appointment detail page.

Is a carrier request automatically confirmed?

An appointment request is not confirmed until your warehouse team reviews and confirms it.

How do I change an appointment time?

Use the appointment detail page to reschedule a requested or confirmed appointment to another available slot.

What if a carrier calls or emails instead?

Use the manual appointment form. It is designed for requests that arrive outside the public booking link.

Where do I find older or future appointments?

Your dashboard focuses on today's dock work. The Schedule page shows one day by dock door. The appointment list helps you search and filter by carrier, reference, date, door, type, source, or status.

How does detention evidence work?

DockSlot compares arrival-to-completion dwell time against the free-time setting for your account. It shows evidence to support a conversation, but it does not calculate charges or create invoices.

Can I export or share appointment reports?

Warehouse admins can use built-in presets, save tenant-wide views, download CSV exports, and create read-only report links from Reports, Appointments, or Insights. Shared report links expire, show the full copyable link only when first created, can block public CSV download, and can be turned off earlier.

Can we control request emails?

Go to notification settings in the warehouse app. Warehouse admins can turn public booking request emails on or off for the account.