Customize the Order object: add the fields your loads need

The situation

A flatbed carrier books steel coil, lumber, and precast concrete. Half the loads need a step deck, some need tarps and chains, and the order form has nowhere to say so. Dispatch writes “STEP DECK” in the notes, the planner misses it on a busy morning, and a flatbed shows up for a load that will not fit. The customer waits a day, the reload costs a driver’s afternoon, and the board still cannot answer “which of tomorrow’s orders need a step deck?” because notes are not a column.

The workflow

1. Click Settings in the left nav, then Objects under Builders. In the Object name list, click Order. Object Builder opens with Available fields on the left.
2. Click Create custom field. In Field details, set Field name to Required Equipment. The Unique Identifier fills in with the __c suffix; leave it, it cannot change later.
3. Under Properties, set Field type to Select. Click Add option for each value your fleet runs: Flatbed, Step Deck, Conestoga, RGN. Leave Allow multi-select off so every order has exactly one answer.
4. Tick Mark this field as required so an order cannot be saved without it. Click Create. All roles can see the new field until you narrow that in Settings › Roles.
5. In the data panel, open the section where planners look first and click Add beside Required Equipment in the field list. Drag it above the notes. Click Save changes. The record now carries the field.
6. Open the Orders board, click Configure, then Columns, and move Required Equipment into Shown fields. Save the view. Add a filter, Required Equipment is Step Deck, and save it as a Step Deck tomorrow view so the planner opens the answer instead of asking for it. Views are covered in board views.

The order form now asks the question, the record shows the answer, and the board filters on it. The same six steps add a customer PO, a yard-check toggle, or a tarp-count number.

Extend it

• Freeze it once dispatched. Build an Rocket Engine rule with Block Save so Required Equipment cannot change after the order is dispatched unless an admin does it, the same pattern as protecting invoiced orders.
• Match the trailer. Add a Connection field from Order to Trailer and a Lookup that pulls the trailer’s type, then compare the two in a formula to flag mismatches before the driver rolls.
• Show it to the right people. Give drivers the equipment field and hide the rate with role-specific order views and detail view permissions.
• Put it on the paperwork. Any custom field is available to Document Builder, so the rate confirmation and the BOL print the equipment the load needs.