Alternate Meters

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:

Set up alternate meter types (one-time setup).
Set up vehicle records for tracking alternate meters.

The Procedure:

Update alternate meters through the Work Order and Fuel Inventory modules.
Print vehicle cost reports based on alternate meters (e.g., cost per hour, ton, passenger).

Setting Up Alternate Meter Types

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:

Select Master > Vehicle > Alternate Meters from the RTA main menu (MVA).
Enter the alternate meter types on all your vehicles, up to six characters each.

Setting Up Alternate Meters

To set up alternate meters for a vehicle, do the following:

Select Master > Vehicle > File Maintenance from the RTA main menu (MVM).
Enter a vehicle number or press F1 or select a vehicle from the lookup list.
Select Edit > Alternate Meters from the menu or click on the Alternate Meters tab.
Select a meter type from the drop down list.
Enter the current meter reading.
Enter the number of accumulated units for period to date, year to period, and life to period (optional). These figures are automatically updated each time alternate meter readings are updated.

Updating Alternate Meters

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:

Select Fuel > Fuel Entry > Alternate Meter Input from the RTA main menu (FFA).
Enter a vehicle number or press F1 to select a vehicle from the lookup list.

Quick Fuel Entry Program
This method lets you update alternate meters while inputting fuel transactions. To use this method, do the following:

Select Fuel > Fuel Entry > Quick Fuel Entry from the RTA main menu (FFQ).
Enter a vehicle number or press F1 to select a vehicle from the lookup list.
At any point, before or after fuel data is entered, choose Post Alt. Meters.

Work Orders and Batch Work Orders
This method lets you update alternate meters while inputting work orders. To use this method, do the following:

Select WOs > WOs or WOs > Batch WOs from the RTA main menu (WW, WB).
Create a new work order or bring up an existing one. Refer to Work Orders if necessary.
From the Posting Information dialog box, choose Alt. Meters.

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.

Correcting Alternate Meters

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:

Select Vehicle > Master > File Maintenance from the RTA main menu (MVM).
Enter a vehicle number or press F1 to select a vehicle from the lookup list.
Select Edit > Alternate Meters from the menu or click on the Edit Alt Meters icon in the toolbar.
Enter the corrected values for the current meter reading, period to date, year to period, and life to period.
Choose OK to return to the main vehicle screen.
Save the vehicle record.

Reviewing Vehicle Costs by Alternate Meters

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.