An alternate meter may be another meter such as an engine or component hour meter OR it may represent items transported by this vehicle such as passengers, cases, boxes, tons, yards, and pallets. A total of 40 alternate meter types can be defined in the RTA system; up to four alternate meters can be defined per vehicle.
Alternate meters can be used to help determine when PM services are needed. For example, if this vehicle has a standard odometer and an hours meter, the hours meter can be set up as an alternate meter and the PMs can be set up to be tracked by days, miles, and hours.
The Setup:
The Procedure:
Up to 40 various types of alternate meters can be defined in RTA. Up to four alternate meters can be tracked per vehicle. To set up alternate meter types, do the following:
To set up alternate meters for a vehicle, do the following:
Alternate meters can be updated in the Work Order and Fuel Inventory modules. They can also be updated directly in the vehicle record as well, but we suggest using that option only to make corrections since updating the meter reading there does not automatically update the accumulated units for the periods.
To update an alternate meter, bring up the Update Alternate Meters window using one of the methods listed.
Update Alternate Meter Program
This program is designed specifically for updating alternate meters and does nothing else. It's the quickest way to update alternate meters. To use this method:
Quick Fuel Entry Program
This method lets you update alternate meters while inputting fuel transactions. To use this method, do the following:
Work Orders and Batch Work Orders
This method lets you update alternate meters while inputting work orders. To use this method, do the following:
Regardless of which method you use to bring up the Update Alternate Meters window, the next portion is the same. All alternate meter readings set up for the specified vehicle are displayed along with the previous meter reading. Update the alternate meters either by inputting the Net Change or the New Meter Reading.
Lower alternate meter readings cannot be entered through in the Update Alternate Meters window. If an incorrect alternate meter reading was entered, corrections must be made through the vehicle record. To make corrections, do the following:
The following vehicle cost per unit and history reports can base the costs printed on one the of alternate meters, thus allowing you to see how much your vehicles are costing per hour, yards of cement hauled, passengers carried, etc.