YR Rental — BOL & Equipment Tracking Workflow

What This Is

This document reflects the finalized BOL workflow for Zoho CRM, updated with all decisions confirmed through July 2, 2026. It covers how BOL records are created, what triggers what, and which fields CS enters vs. what Zoho fills in automatically. Please review and flag anything that doesn't match how CS actually works.

Goal: one place in Zoho where CS can see where every ramp is, which order it's tied to, full movement history, and lifetime freight costs — without a separate spreadsheet.

Confirmed Decisions

✓ When is the Zoho BOL record created? At delivery — when the ramp arrives and signed paperwork is back. The physical BOL is created in Google Drive at dispatch. Zoho entry happens at delivery, not dispatch.
✓ How does CS create the BOL in Zoho? From the Sales Order record — clicks New BOL as a related record. The SO lookup auto-populates. All fields entered in one shot at delivery time.
✓ What fields are entered at delivery? Carrier, Ship Date, BOL Number, Delivered Date, Freight Cost — all known at delivery. Attach signed BOL from Google Drive at the same time.
✓ Who enters BOL data in Zoho? CS only. Sales does not enter BOL records.
✓ What does "Available" mean? Rental complete — ready to assign to the next order. Does not mean the ramp is at a hub. Most ramps ship customer-to-customer. Location is tracked separately on the equipment record.
✓ Where does ramp location live? On the YR_Equipment record (Current_City, Current_State). Auto-updated by the return BOL when CS creates it. No separate manual equipment record update needed.
✓ Where do signed BOLs currently live? Created in Google Drive at dispatch. Returned either as a physical copy or via email when signed. CS attaches from Drive when creating the Zoho BOL record.
✓ Freight cost — track it in Zoho? Yes — replaces the spreadsheet. Entered by CS on the BOL record at delivery (cost is known then). Rolls up to the Sales Order (delivery leg) and YR_Equipment (lifetime total).
✓ Hub transfers? No hub-to-hub transfers in this operation. All BOLs are Delivery to Customer or Return from Customer.
✓ Who fills in Rental_Pickup_Requested_Date? Whoever takes the customer's call or email — Sales or CS, no dedicated role.

Full Rental Lifecycle — Step by Step

1

Order Created — Equipment Assigned

CS or Sales creates an Initial Order Sales Order and assigns a ramp via the YR_Equipment field (slots 1–4 for multi-ramp orders).

Equipment: Checked Out — set automatically

⚡ Automated — YR1 (live)

2

BOL Created in Google Drive — Ramp Ships

CS or management creates the BOL document in Google Drive at dispatch. The ramp ships.

No Zoho entry at this point. The Zoho BOL record does not exist yet — it is created later at delivery when signed paperwork is back.

Equipment: Checked Out (unchanged during transit)

No Zoho action — handled in Google Drive

3

Ramp Arrives + Signed BOL Returned → CS Creates BOL Record in Zoho

Once the ramp is at the customer's location and signed paperwork is back (email or physical copy), CS opens the Sales Order in Zoho and creates a new BOL record from the related records panel.

All fields entered in one shot:

BOL Type = Delivery to Customer
Carrier, Ship Date, BOL Number, Delivered Date
Freight Cost (known at delivery — required)
Attach signed BOL from Google Drive

At this same time, CS invoices the order:

Invoiced checkbox → checked
Date Marked As Invoiced → filled in
SO Status → Complete

Equipment: Checked Out — confirmed at this step

✏️ Manual — CS creates BOL record from Sales Order

BOL record creation = delivery confirmation. No "Created → Delivered" status transition needed. The record existing means it was delivered.

4

Rental Period — Monthly Charges Running

Ramp is at the customer site. Monthly Charge SOs are generated automatically (YR3).

When the customer gives notice, CS records Notification of Contract End on the Initial Order SO. Rental status formula changes to Available – Pending Return.

Equipment: Checked Out

⚡ Monthly charges automated — YR3 (live)

5

Pickup Scheduled

Most pickups are not known in advance. Typical flow: customer gives notice → Standard 30-Day window → freight scheduled reactively.

When a firm date exists, CS or Sales (whoever takes the call) fills in Rental_Pickup_Requested_Date.

YR4 auto-escalation: If Pickup Type = Standard 30-Day and the Pickup Required By date is 10 days away, Zoho automatically changes it to Customer Hard Date.

✏️ Manual — CS or Sales (whoever takes the call)

6

Ramp Picked Up + Signed Return BOL Received → CS Creates Return BOL in Zoho

When the ramp ships out and signed return paperwork is back, CS opens the Sales Order and creates a second BOL record.

BOL Type = Return from Customer
Origin address (customer site) → destination address (hub or next customer site)
Carrier, Ship Date, BOL Number, Delivered Date
Freight Cost (if applicable)
Attach signed paperwork from Google Drive

Automation fires on Return BOL creation: Equipment is automatically updated — no separate manual edit to the equipment record needed.

Rental_Status → Available
Current_City / Current_State → destination from this BOL
Last_Move_Date → today
Current_SO → cleared

✏️ Manual — CS creates Return BOL from Sales Order ⚡ Equipment auto-updated by automation

Available ≠ at a hub. Ramps typically ship customer-to-customer. "Available" means the rental is complete and the ramp is ready to be assigned to the next order. Where it physically is at that moment is tracked on the YR_Equipment record (auto-updated by the return BOL).

Customer-to-Customer Moves

Equipment does not always return to HPI between rentals. When a ramp ships directly from one customer site to the next, there is no return BOL from the previous customer — only a delivery BOL for the new order.

The flow in Zoho:

Equipment leaves Customer A's site and heads directly to Customer B
No return BOL is created for Customer A's SO. Equipment does not enter "Available" status.
Equipment record in Zoho is updated with Customer B's new order information
Delivery BOL created on Customer B's SO when ramp arrives and signed paperwork is back
Automation: Equipment → Checked Out, location updated to Customer B's site

Equipment never goes "Available" in a customer-to-customer transfer. The Available status is only set when a return BOL is created (i.e. equipment returns to HPI or is formally released). Origin/destination addresses on each delivery BOL tell the full movement story.

New Zoho Module: Bills of Lading To Be Built

One record per shipment, created from the Sales Order by CS at delivery (or at return). Gives complete movement history for every ramp.

Field	Type	Req?	Notes
Equipment	YR_Equipment lookup	Required	Auto-pulled from Sales Order on creation
Sales Order	SO lookup	Required	Auto-populates — CS creates BOL from SO
BOL Type	Picklist	Required	Delivery to Customer / Return from Customer / Other
Carrier	Text	Required	Free text — multi-vendor
Freight Cost	Currency	Required	Entered at creation time. Replaces freight spreadsheet. Rolls up to SO + YR_Equipment lifetime total.
BOL Number	Text		Physical BOL number from paperwork
Carrier Reference / PRO #	Text		Carrier's tracking or PRO number
Ship Date	Date		When freight picked up (known at delivery — entered retroactively)
Delivered Date	Date		Confirmed delivery date
BOL Attachment	File		Signed BOL — attached from Google Drive at time of record creation
Notes	Text area		Anything CS needs to flag

No Status field needed. BOL record creation = delivery confirmed. The only edge case is a cancelled shipment — if needed, a simple Cancelled checkbox handles that without a full status workflow.

YR_Equipment Module — New Fields To Be Added

These give CS a real-time snapshot of where each ramp is and its freight history — mostly auto-populated by BOL automation.

Field	Type	How it's set
Current_City	Text	Auto-updated from return BOL destination when CS creates Return BOL. Already exists in Zoho — currently unpopulated.
Current_State	Text	Same — auto-updated from return BOL. Already exists in Zoho — currently unpopulated.
Current_SO	SO lookup	Auto-set on Delivery BOL creation. Auto-cleared on Return BOL creation (automation). CS can also clear manually.
Last_Move_Date	Date	Auto-updated to today whenever any BOL is created for this equipment.
In_Service_Date	Date	Auto-set from first Delivery BOL — only if currently blank. Manual entry wins.
Total_Freight_Cost	Currency (rollup)	Sum of all Freight_Cost values across all BOLs linked to this equipment. Lifetime freight spend per ramp.

Existing fields not changing: Name/Serial Number, Genius_ID, Rental_Status (Available / Checked Out). CS still assigns Checked Out via SO assignment (YR1). Rental_Status flips to Available automatically when Return BOL is created.

Automation Summary — What Happens When

BOL-A — On Delivery BOL Created

To Build

TriggerNew BOL record created with BOL Type = Delivery to Customer

Actions Set Current_SO on YR_Equipment → this BOL's Sales Order
Set In_Service_Date on YR_Equipment → Delivered Date (only if currently blank)
Set Last_Move_Date on YR_Equipment → today

BOL-B — On Return BOL Created

To Build

TriggerNew BOL record created with BOL Type = Return from Customer

Actions Set Rental_Status on YR_Equipment → Available
Set Current_City on YR_Equipment → destination city from this BOL
Set Current_State on YR_Equipment → destination state from this BOL
Set Last_Move_Date on YR_Equipment → today
Clear Current_SO on YR_Equipment

ResultCS creates the Return BOL — equipment record is fully updated automatically. No separate manual edit needed.

What stays manual: Only the BOL data entry itself (Carrier, dates, freight cost, attachment). Everything on the equipment record is handled by automation.

Freight Cost — Where It Lives

Entered once on the BOL record — surfaces in two places for reporting.

Where	What it shows	Use
BOL Record	Cost for this specific shipment	What did it cost to move this ramp on this date?
Sales Order	Delivery freight cost for this rental. Return freight is on its own BOL tied to the departing SO.	What did it cost to deliver the ramp to this customer?
YR_Equipment Record	Lifetime total freight cost across all BOLs	How much have we spent moving this ramp over its service life?

What's Already Live in Zoho

Automation	Trigger	Status
YR1 / YR1b / YR1c / YR1d	Equipment assigned to SO → set Checked Out (all 4 slots)	Live
YR2	Notification of Contract End entered → set Available (all 4 slots)	Live
YR2b	Cancellation cleared before pickup → revert to Checked Out	Live
YR3	Monthly Charge SO auto-generation	Live
YR4	10 days before Pickup Required By → escalate to Customer Hard Date	Live
Bills of Lading module	Full movement + freight cost layer	Not Built Yet
BOL-A (Delivery auto-update)	Current_SO, In_Service_Date, Last_Move_Date on delivery	Not Built Yet
BOL-B (Return auto-update)	Available + location update + Current_SO clear on return	Not Built Yet

Open Questions for Alexis

Everything else is confirmed — just these remaining items before we build.

1. Does "Return from Customer" BOL always exist?

In a customer-to-customer move, is there always a return BOL created for the departing customer — or does the ramp just get assigned to the new SO without a formal return BOL? This affects how the Available status gets set.

2. Destination city/state on the return BOL — how is it captured?

For the auto-update to work (Current_City/State on YR_Equipment), the return BOL needs a destination address or city/state fields. Should those be free-text fields on the BOL, or pulled from the Sales Order the ramp is going to next?