Basic Concepts

The Maintenance & Repair (M&R) Module is designed to record and manage all job, expenses, and related financial documentation for container servicing and repair. It operates from the perspective of the service recipient (the container carrier or operator) rather than the service provider. In practice, the module tracks every repair or maintenance task — called a job — and groups them into expense records for billing. This provides a clear, organized view of all container maintenance activities and associated costs.

Preliminary Estimate

  • Condition Assessment: When containers are sent to a repair facility, an initial inspection is performed to assess their condition and identify any damage.

  • Estimate Creation: Based on this inspection, a list of required repair and maintenance tasks is prepared. In the system, this preliminary task list is called an estimate.

  • Customer Document: The estimate is typically presented to the customer as a document listing all proposed work and spare parts.

  • Estimate Import: The system supports importing estimate documents to streamline data entry (see the Parse Estimate article). Imported estimates automatically create the corresponding jobs and expenses in the M&R Module.

Jobs and Expenses

  • Job: An individual repair or maintenance operation on a container, such as replacing a component or cleaning. Each job records what work was done, on which container, and any parts used.

  • Expense: A group of jobs performed in a single service session, usually for one container. After work is completed, all jobs from that session are grouped into an expense record for cost tracking.

Incoming Invoices

  • After jobs are completed and grouped into expenses, the system generates an incoming invoice:

    • Represents financial obligations from the service provider.

    • Aggregates costs of all jobs and related expenses.

    • Uses a simplified payment model: invoice status (e.g., ‘Paid’) is updated manually, without complex accounting transactions.

Port Container Expenses

  • Port Container Expense: In addition to repair costs, the M&R Module also tracks port-related expenses for containers, such as storage fees and terminal handling charges.

  • Terminal Invoices: These port container expenses are recorded and billed via special ‘Terminal’ invoices. The module ensures that all terminal and storage costs associated with container handling are captured alongside repair charges.

Services and Outgoing Invoices

In addition to incoming invoices, the module supports outgoing invoices for customers of the container operator. Outgoing invoices are based on services rather than detailed jobs or expenses and follow a simplified charging model.

Services simplify billing by applying fixed rates without linking to detailed job records.

Rate Types for Services

  • Per Day — Fixed charge per day;

  • Per Container — Fixed charge per container;

  • Per Sublease Day — Charge for each day of subleased container usage;

  • Lumpsum — One-time fixed charge.

Summary

The M&R Module provides end-to-end management of container servicing: from initial estimates and individual repair jobs, through grouping into expenses and issuing invoices, to finalizing payments. By integrating all these steps, the module gives container operators complete visibility into maintenance workflows and costs.

At any time, users can see each container’s upcoming or completed repair tasks, any port-related charges, and the status of invoicing. This unified approach ensures the organization maintains a comprehensive, real-time view of its container maintenance activities and associated expenses.