Lesson 3 of 6
Freight units, freight orders and planning
10 min
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In TM, transport demand and transport supply are separate objects. The freight unit is the demand: a set of goods that must move together from a source to a destination in a time window, created from a sales order, purchase order, stock transport order or delivery. The freight order is the supply: a truck (or other means of transport) with a carrier, stops, dates and charges, to which freight units are assigned during planning. LE-TRA mixed both ideas in the shipment.
Order-based or delivery-based
TM can create freight units from orders (order-based transportation requirements) or from deliveries (delivery-based transportation requirements). Order-based planning starts earlier: freight units exist as soon as the sales order is saved, so planning can reserve capacity days ahead, and TM can propose deliveries from the plan. Delivery-based planning starts later and is closer to LE-TRA, where shipments were built from deliveries. The choice is made per document type in the integration settings, using a logistics integration profile, and it is one of the first design decisions.
| Approach | Freight unit created from | When planning can start | Contoso use |
|---|---|---|---|
| Order-based | Sales order, purchase order, stock transport order | When the order is saved | Replenishment to Toledo (stock transport orders) |
| Delivery-based | Outbound or inbound delivery | When the delivery is created | Customer outbound from 1710 and 1720, as today |
Contoso's choice keeps customer outbound close to today's process and plans replenishment earlier.
Freight unit building
A freight unit building rule decides how a document is split into freight units: one per document, per item, or by quantity limits such as weight or pallet count. For Great Lakes Fleet Services' delivery 80001234 (50 × CMC-ALT-100 on two pallets and a carton), a rule of "one freight unit per delivery" keeps it together; a rule with a pallet limit could split it. Splits matter because each freight unit can land on a different truck.
Step by step: planning in the transportation cockpit
- Open the Transportation Cockpit with a profile that selects freight units for shipping point 1710, tomorrow's pick-up window, and the Grand Rapids and Flint destinations.
- Review the freight unit list: weight, volume, dates, ship-to (17100006 Grand Rapids depot for delivery 80001234).
- Select the freight units for Grand Rapids and assign them to a new freight order on the Detroit–Grand Rapids lane, or to an existing order with capacity left.
- Check the freight order: stops, sequence, dates, total weight against the vehicle resource capacity.
- Run carrier selection (next lesson) or assign Midwest Freightways directly.
- Save; the freight order now appears in the document flow of the delivery and the sales order.
- Order or delivery savedLogistics integration profile decides TM relevance
- Freight units builtFreight unit building rule splits or combines
- PlanningTransportation cockpit, manual or rule-based
- Freight orderStops, dates, capacity, carrier
- Execution and settlementEvents, goods issue, charges, settlement document
Master data TM needs
LE-TRA got by with routes and forwarding agents. TM needs a small network model, and most of it is new to the project. Missing master data shows up in testing as freight units nobody can plan, so build it early and test it with counts.
| Master data | What it is | Contoso example |
|---|---|---|
| Locations | Places where transport starts, stops or ends, derived from plants, shipping points and business partners | Shipping point 1710, Grand Rapids depot 17100006, Toledo 1810 |
| Transportation zones | Groups of locations or postal codes | Michigan West, Michigan East, Ohio North |
| Transportation lanes | Valid connections between zones or locations, by means of transport and carrier | Detroit to Michigan West by truck, Midwest and Keystone |
| Means of transport and vehicle resources | Truck types with capacity limits | 53-foot trailer, 26 pallets, 20 t |
| Carriers | Business partners in the carrier role | Midwest Freightways, Keystone Carriers |
| Freight agreements | Contracts with rates | Midwest 2028 agreement, lane rates and fuel surcharge |
Illustrative course data: TM master data for Contoso's network.
Location master data is usually generated from S/4HANA objects (plants, shipping points, business partners), so a wrong customer address becomes a wrong transport location. The Great Lakes depots must carry correct addresses and postal codes, or zone determination and distance calculation fail silently.
What would you do?
Delivery 80001234 is split into three freight units because the freight unit building rule limits each unit to one pallet. Two units are planned on Monday's truck and the carton on Tuesday's. Great Lakes expects one arrival. What should Derek change?
- Freight units are demand; freight orders are supply with carrier, stops and charges.
- Freight units come from orders (earlier planning) or deliveries (closer to LE-TRA).
- Freight unit building rules decide splits; test them on real deliveries.
- Plan in the transportation cockpit; check TM relevance for every document type.
Check your understanding · not graded
Lesson check
1. What does a freight unit represent?
2. What decides how a delivery is split into freight units?
3. Which approach lets planning start when the order is saved?
4. A new delivery type shows no freight units. What is the likely cause?