order-this is easy to understand. Sorts are trickier for text fields, but not once you understand how it works. The general collating sequence for text fields is:
*Low .......................................................................................................................... High*
\[space\]!"#$%&'()*+,-./ 0 through 9 :;<=>?@ A through Z \[\\]^_` a through z \{|\}~
Notice that _most_ characters are on the low end of the scale, with the space character being the lowest. On the number scale 0 comes before 9; therefore 0 is less than 9. Likewise, the letter A comes before Z; therefore, A is less than Z. 
When it comes to computer sorting sequences, keep in mind that numbers are lower than letters, and uppercase letters are lower than lowercase letters. This sequence has some major implications in the way you "number" vehicles, departments, customers, parts, tires, equipment, and pumps. For example, any vehicle starting with _1_ will be less than any vehicle starting with _9{_}. This means that not only are vehicles _1_ and _2_ displayed or printed before vehicle _9{_}, but vehicle _1999_ will also come before vehicle _9_ because the first character in _1999_ is less than the first character in _9{_}. _ABC123_ comes before _abc123_ because _ABC123_ starts with uppercase letters. If there are 200 vehicles in your fleet and you want them listed in "numeric" order, you'd need to use leading zeroes, numbering the vehicles from _001_ to _200{_}; if you have 2000 vehicles in your fleet, you'd need to number your vehicles from _0001_ to _2000{_}.