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Cargo beta testing

Posted: Wed Jul 24, 2019 1:00 am
by joefremont
I cargo is almost ready for testing, I just have to finis the doc on how to use it. I want a few people to test it before I open it up to everyone, If your interested send me a PM and when its ready I will send you the link to the new client.

Re: Cargo beta testing

Posted: Wed Jul 24, 2019 4:47 pm
by joefremont
I think I have the cargo system ready to the point where I am ready to open up to limited beta testing. If your interested in trying it out send me a PM or support ticket and I will send you the link to the beta client.

For now you must use https://beta.fsairlines.net to test the cargo system, If you add packages to an aircraft you won't be able to fly it using the old client.

The Basics:

The new cargo system is centered around the idea of 'Packages', Packages are containers of various sizes that need to be delivered to a specific airport. You can claim a package by loading it into an aircraft, once claimed you are responsible for delivering to its destination. Once claimed you have four days to deliver a package before the payment begins to decrease. It will continue to decrease until the end of two weeks (the amount of payment can go negative). At the end of two weeks if the package is not delivered the airline is charged an amount equal to what they would have earned had it been delivered on time.

There are ‘priority packages’, with these the payment is twice as much as normal packages but you have half the time to deliver them.

You can load packages onto an aircraft up to the cargo capacity of the aircraft but the system will reserve enough cargo space so that a full load of passengers can be carried with there baggage.

You do not have to deliver a package in a single flight, after flying it to a different destination, you can transfer the package to another aircraft, or to a warehouse, or continue to another destination. Once the package arrives at its destination all the flights that helped get it there will receive a share of the payment based on the distance they carried it. (Example if a package would pay 1000 v$ and the first of two flights carried it 1000nm and the second flight carried it 3000nm the first flight would be payed 250 v$ and the second 750 v$).

The sizes of the different packages, and the types of aircraft that can carry them.

40 kg
- Distance Range: 100-500 nm
- Carried by any aircraft than carry it. Aircraft with a payload capacity of less than 40kg are assumed to not be able to carry commercial cargo.

200 kg
- Distance Range: 300-4,000 nm
- Carried by any aircraft that can carry at least 400 kg of cargo.

2000 kg
- Distance Range: 500-12,000 nm
- Dedicated cargo aircraft and wide body jets that can carry at least 4000 kg of cargo.

20,000 kg
- Distance Range: 1,000-12,000 nm
- Carried by specialized cargo aircraft that have either nose or tail doors than can carry at least 20,000 kg of cargo. These include the 747F, L-100(C-130), IL-76, etc.

100,000 kg
- Distance Range: 2,000-12,000 nm
- Special very large cargo aircraft that are limited to the AN-124 and AN-225. These package are here really as a bonus to those who operate the large Antonov's. I have not included the 747F here, because there are too many of them around. These packages represent those rare large bulky items that you really need specialized aircraft to transport.

Warehouses:

Airlines can now establish warehouses at airports where they can store packages. Maintenance centers will have small warehouses added to them so they can store a limited amount of cargo.

Things you can do

Load them into an aircraft:

A pilot at an airport may load packages into an idle aircraft if they have permission to fly that aircraft. If an aircraft is booked only the pilot who has booked that aircraft can move cargo on or off it.

Transfer it to a warehouse:

A pilot at an airport can transfer packages to a warehouse if they have permission to fly aircraft of that fleet.

Deliver packages:

If a package is close to its destination you can deliver it using ground transportation. You have to be within 100nm of the destination and the cost of doing so is 1% of the value of the package for each nm travelled.

Release packages:

It may turn out packages have been selected that you don’t really want or are unable to deliver. If the package is still at is starting point you may release the package within for days of claiming it. If released within the first 2 hours there is no penalty, but after that you will pay a penalty that will increase until four days when the penalty is the same as the package payment.

Where to do it:

Book Flight -> Select Packages

After booking a flight from the briefing document there is a ‘Select Packages’ option on the right side options menu. This screen shows available packages at the departure airport whose destination airport is close to the destination airport of your flight. This is a simplified page intended for pilots about to go on a flight.

VA -> Packages

This page is a more advanced page for maintaining packages at an airport.

At the top you can select the airport you want to manage,
Then you select the action you want to do, choose an aircraft or warehouse you want to load, release or deliver packages.
Below that you can select packages in aircraft or warehouses or available packages that are not yet claimed.If you have booked a flight only packages going to you destination are shown but you can search for packages going to any destination from the airport,

DB- >Packages

This is a search tool that allows you to search by size, location or destination and distance from them. So if your AN-124 needs a 100,000 kg package to transport, you can find it here,

Known Issues:

When the client shows the income at the end of the flight, the totals do not include income from package delivery.

Re: Cargo beta testing

Posted: Thu Jul 25, 2019 6:50 pm
by Cat
Very interesting. It seems to work as advertised. I sent you a message Joe giving you details of my first test. I am now testing the aircraft transfer process on this next flight. I picked up packages in a Dash 8 and will transfer them (or attempt to anyway) to a CRJ7 for final delivery. This is really going to increase the "gameplay" facet of FSAirlines for sure. Well done Sir Joe!

Re: Cargo beta testing

Posted: Thu Jul 25, 2019 7:29 pm
by Harvester
I made three flights today and i'm hooked (or 100% fedexed).
MD-11F from UBBB Baku to EDDP Leipzig with some packages for EDDP and EKRN Bornholm.
Fired up the Dash 7 Combi for the next leg from EDDP to EKRN, package transfer was good.
Then back from EKRN to EDDP with some packages for LGAV Athens.
I have a warehouse at EDDP now and i transfered the packages to it, but it is still empty. Do i need a maintenace center, too?
I'll fly to Athens tomorrow, again with the MD11 because i didn't check the max package size on the B739. :shock:
The ZFW read out is great and there was no need for reserve fuel today.
Thank you very much, Joe!

Re: Cargo beta testing

Posted: Fri Jul 26, 2019 12:42 am
by joefremont
Harvester wrote:
Thu Jul 25, 2019 7:29 pm
I have a warehouse at EDDP now and i transfered the packages to it, but it is still empty. Do i need a maintenace center, too?
I see four packages at 'Meridian Airways Leipzig EDDP'', is that what you transferred? If so where did you not see them when you expected to? If not could you give more detail.

Re: Cargo beta testing

Posted: Fri Jul 26, 2019 2:13 am
by Harvester
joefremont wrote:
Fri Jul 26, 2019 12:42 am
I see four packages at 'Meridian Airways Leipzig EDDP'', is that what you transferred? If so where did you not see them when you expected to? If not could you give more detail.
Sorry, i looked at the wrong place (Fleets/Meridian Airways Leipzig/Maintenance Centers/Info).

Re: Cargo beta testing

Posted: Sun Jul 28, 2019 11:27 am
by sabahassani
cool :D

Re: Cargo beta testing

Posted: Sun Jul 28, 2019 2:44 pm
by Cat
OK - looks like the financial bugs have been resolved. No more duplicate postings on my last test.

Here are the numbers - showing it is very much to airline operators' advantage to employ the new package system as far as making more money.

I flew a 733 from San Jose to Las Vegas with packages on board for Phoenix. Then I flew a 738 from Las Vegas to Phoenix to deliver them. I also flew the same route with the same fuel using only "generic cargo" to show the income differences with even a modest amount of package cargo added.

B733 KSJC-KLAS pre package delivery income: $351,700 after packages delivered to destination: $438,975 -- 3527 lbs of package freight

B738 KLAS-KPHX generic cargo only: $381,275 same flight with 3527 package freight (same fuel as well) $448,475

TEST PARAMETERS: Multiplier 25x (standard)

Only thing I can see is the package generator needs to ramp up quantities once it goes live as everyone will want to be in on this!

It should be noted that operators who track their own finances separate from FSA will have to be aware the flight income on "connecting package flights" WILL CHANGE once the packages have been delivered. Nobody gets paid for package freight until the packages have reached their final destination within the delivery window.

It's a cool system, very cool. Well done Sir Joe!

Re: Cargo beta testing

Posted: Sun Jul 28, 2019 3:13 pm
by sabahassani
So first bug we found is that we can manage loaded packages after light taking off from ground and access to those packages and change their status. but at this time the flight is not yet finished after that i will report if packages are in destination or not. Also about permissions. they work in airport package page but in va package base everybody has access and can manipulate others packages.

Re: Cargo beta testing

Posted: Sun Jul 28, 2019 5:12 pm
by joefremont
sabahassani wrote:
Sun Jul 28, 2019 3:13 pm
So first bug we found is that we can manage loaded packages after light taking off from ground and access to those packages and change their status. but at this time the flight is not yet finished after that i will report if packages are in destination or not. Also about permissions. they work in airport package page but in va package base everybody has access and can manipulate others packages.
Good spot, once the pilot pushes 'fly' in the client it should be locked, i'm on it.

Re: Cargo beta testing

Posted: Sun Jul 28, 2019 5:50 pm
by joefremont
Cat wrote:
Sun Jul 28, 2019 2:44 pm
OK - looks like the financial bugs have been resolved. No more duplicate postings on my last test.
Yeah!
Cat wrote:
Sun Jul 28, 2019 2:44 pm
Only thing I can see is the package generator needs to ramp up quantities once it goes live as everyone will want to be in on this!
This does concern me but may not know the answer until it goes live. Every day the generator creates over 100k packages and places them around the world, almost 42 million kg worth (over 92 mil lbs). It's not hard to adjust those numbers but that will cause more work on the server and database. They stay for two weeks but if nobody claims them in that time they are removed. Its true for those who just want to fly between a few major cities, it's likely they will run out, but there will be lots more out there if your willing to expand your circles and work in teams, at least thats my hope.
Cat wrote:
Sun Jul 28, 2019 2:44 pm
It should be noted that operators who track their own finances separate from FSA will have to be aware the flight income on "connecting package flights" WILL CHANGE once the packages have been delivered. Nobody gets paid for package freight until the packages have reached their final destination within the delivery window.
Still trying to figure out the best way to handle this, maybe a flag on the flight list page showing its been amended, or even a different page or VA interface endpoint showing updated reports?
Cat wrote:
Sun Jul 28, 2019 2:44 pm
It's a cool system, very cool. Well done Sir Joe!
Thank you and thanks for all your help testing.

Re: Cargo beta testing

Posted: Sun Jul 28, 2019 7:41 pm
by joefremont
joefremont wrote:
Sun Jul 28, 2019 5:12 pm
sabahassani wrote:
Sun Jul 28, 2019 3:13 pm
So first bug we found is that we can manage loaded packages after light taking off from ground and access to those packages and change their status. but at this time the flight is not yet finished after that i will report if packages are in destination or not. Also about permissions. they work in airport package page but in va package base everybody has access and can manipulate others packages.
Good spot, once the pilot pushes 'fly' in the client it should be locked, i'm on it.
This should be fixed now.

Re: Cargo beta testing

Posted: Sun Jul 28, 2019 8:30 pm
by Cat
Still trying to figure out the best way to handle this, maybe a flag on the flight list page showing its been amended, or even a different page or va interface endpoint showing updated reports?
At this time we are simply going to make an addendum to our airline SOP requiring pilots to declare package freight in flight comments section... example: 'picked up 3752 lbs package freight at KSLC bound for KPHX.' That comment will alert our finance staff to the fact the flight in question will get a revised income once the packages reach KPHX.

This issue only concerns "connection" flights where the packages are handled but not taken direct to final destination.

Because package freight is not the only freight - there still is generic freight out there, it is not so vital like in other VA programs to grab every box one can find just to make a profit. This system is more like a "bonus program".

Flag on the flight list page would work too, very basic and simple just a visual saying hey 3rd party accountants, this has changed!

OH one more thought: Is this tied to the airline reputation at all? Maybe set a "minimum reputation" level to "unlock" the package delivery option?

Re: Cargo beta testing

Posted: Mon Jul 29, 2019 3:22 am
by sabahassani
joefremont wrote:
Sun Jul 28, 2019 7:41 pm
joefremont wrote:
Sun Jul 28, 2019 5:12 pm
sabahassani wrote:
Sun Jul 28, 2019 3:13 pm
So first bug we found is that we can manage loaded packages after light taking off from ground and access to those packages and change their status. but at this time the flight is not yet finished after that i will report if packages are in destination or not. Also about permissions. they work in airport package page but in va package base everybody has access and can manipulate others packages.
Good spot, once the pilot pushes 'fly' in the client it should be locked, i'm on it.
This should be fixed now.
thank you. it is fixed. once i started the second flight packages are locked and can not be tampered with. I'm so exited :D

also there is another thing about warehouses. is it possible to make it available that they can take charge of certain packages until we can transfer an aircraft to load them? at this time it is only possible to exchange packages between aircraft an warehouse but no way to take packages from an airport and put it in warehouse until an aircraft is available to transfer them.

great work :D

Re: Cargo beta testing

Posted: Mon Jul 29, 2019 5:47 am
by joefremont
sabahassani wrote:
Mon Jul 29, 2019 3:22 am
also there is another thing about warehouses. is it possible to make it available that they can take charge of certain packages until we can transfer an aircraft to load them? at this time it is only possible to exchange packages between aircraft an warehouse but no way to take packages from an airport and put it in warehouse until an aircraft is available to transfer them.

great work :D
Actually you can transfer directly to the warehouse, guess I should investigate that.