Gate Configuration
A gate is a named crossing point. Before anyone can check an asset in or out, at least one gate has to exist — the Gate screen has nothing to work with otherwise.
Gates are managed by an Admin from Admin Configuration.
Creating a Gate
| Field | Required | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Name | Yes | What operators see in the gate selector. Use the name the gatehouse actually uses — "North Gate", "Scale House". |
| Direction | Yes | inbound, outbound, or bidirectional. Controls which actions the operator is offered at this gate. |
| Site | No | Ties the gate into your existing site hierarchy, so crossings can be attributed to a facility. |
| Associated location | No | A default yard location this gate assigns arrivals to. Saves the operator a step when a gate always feeds the same area. |
| Active | Yes | Inactive gates stay in history but disappear from the operator's selector. |
Direction
Direction is about what the gate is for, not a hard restriction on traffic:
- Inbound — an arrivals gate. Operators check assets in here.
- Outbound — a departures gate. Operators check assets out here.
- Bidirectional — one crossing point handling both, which is the common case for smaller yards with a single entrance.
Pick the one that matches how the gatehouse is staffed. A single bidirectional gate is simpler to operate than two one-way gates covering the same physical lane.
Associated Location
If a gate always feeds the same part of the yard — an arrivals apron, a staging row — set it as the gate's associated location. Arrivals default to it, and the operator only intervenes when an asset is going somewhere else.
Leave it unset when destinations genuinely vary; a wrong default that operators have to correct on every check-in is worse than no default.
Deactivating vs Deleting
Deactivate a gate that is out of service — closed for the season, under construction, or retired. It vanishes from the operator's selector, and its crossing history stays intact and reportable.
Delete only a gate created in error. History that references a deleted gate loses the ability to resolve its name.
Deactivating is almost always the right choice.
Practical Notes
- Start with one gate. Most yards need exactly one. Add more when you genuinely have separate staffed crossing points, not to model lanes at the same gatehouse.
- A gate is not a location. The gate records the crossing; the location records where the asset ends up. An asset checked in at North Gate and parked in Row 12 has both.
- Deactivate rather than rename when a gatehouse changes purpose. Renaming rewrites how past crossings read.