Shipment Comments
Why Use Shipment Comments?
Shipment Comments provide a much-needed collaboration feature that enables supply chain teams to track and communicate shipment updates efficiently. By centralizing comments directly within the shipment details, this feature enhances visibility, collaboration, and operational transparency.
Key benefits
- Fills Communication Gaps: Addresses the lack of native commenting capabilities in the platform for monitoring and coordination.
- Streamlines Collaboration: Makes it easier for team members to share updates and context with each other in one place.
- Improves Visibility: Helps users keep up with shipment progress and any related discussions or issues.
- Centralizes Documentation: Users can attach supporting documents to comments, improving context and audit readiness.
Customer Access
This feature is available only to customers in the Plus and Premium tiers.
How It Works
Accessing the Feature
- Navigate to the Shipment List and then the Shipment Details of an individual shipment.
- Click on the Comments tab to view or add comments to the shipment.
Adding Comments
- Users with the appropriate permissions can type a comment into the text field (max. 1,000 characters).
- Once the user clicks ‘Send’, the comment is added and becomes visible in the stream.
- Comments cannot be edited or deleted after submission.
Attachments
- Users can attach supporting documents to a comment.
- Supported file formats: PDF, DOCX, XLSX, JPG, PNG.
- Max file size per file: 10 MB.
- Limits: 5 files per comment, 50 files per shipment.
- Files are downloadable directly from the comment stream.
Viewing Comments
- Comments are sorted chronologically (newest at the bottom).
- Each comment includes:
- User’s full name and email (visible on hover)
- Comment text
- Date and time of submission
Refreshing Comments
- The comment feed auto-refreshes every 5 minutes.
- A ‘Refresh’ button is available to manually retrieve the latest comments.
- A Last Updated indicator shows the most recent update time.
Comment Limit
- A maximum of 1,000 comments can be added per shipment.
Permissions
Permissions are role-based and must be explicitly granted:
- Add Shipment & Alert Comments – Allows users to add comments to shipments and alerts.
- View Shipment & Alert Comments – Allows users to view comments.
Note: These permissions apply jointly to both shipment and alert comments.
By default, Admin and General users can add and view shipment comments.
- Permissions can be modified under the ‘Manage Roles’ section.
- Editors can add and view all shipment and alert comments.
- Contributors and Viewers cannot view or add any comments.
- Permissions can also be managed via the ‘Shipment Access’ page.
- Shipment comment availability is tied to organizational access.
Even with correct permissions, users cannot use this feature if their organization lacks access.
Feature Limitations
- Comments are permanent: No editing or deletion is allowed by any user, including Admins.
- No Notifications: The system does not send notifications when a comment is added.
- No Threads or Reactions: Comments are listed linearly without support for threads or emoji-style reactions.
Key Points to Know
- Permissions are role-based and must be explicitly granted (Add/View Shipment & Alert Comments).
- Admin and General users can add/view shipment comments by default; permissions can be managed.
- Shipment Comment availability is tied to both role permissions and organizational access.
Best Practices
Optimizing Usage
- Use comments to log updates, issues, or decisions related to a shipment for future reference.
- Attach supporting documents (e.g., SOPs, BOLs, evidence of reefer settings) to enhance clarity and documentation.
Collaboration Tips
- Designate team roles carefully to ensure the right individuals have comment access.
- Use the refresh button for real-time updates during active discussions.