Brokers, Steamship Lines & Container Sizes¶
Maintain the three small reference lists that feed dropdowns on your orders: Brokers, Steamship Lines and Container Sizes.
Overview¶
These lists are simple: each entry has a name, an office and, for steamship lines and container sizes, a description and an Active checkbox.
- Brokers (Manage Brokers): a list of broker names that you can pick as the Broker on a Dry Van order and as a payee in Order Expenses. Available to Admins and Managers.
- Steamship Lines (Manage Steamship Lines): the shipping lines offered in the Steamship line field of container orders. Admins only, intermodal accounts only.
- Container Sizes (Manage Container Sizes): the sizes offered in the Container size field of container orders. Admins only, intermodal accounts only.
- Every entry belongs to an office. Each list shows the entries of the office you are currently working in.
- Changes are recorded (when change history is turned on for your account; ask UTX support) and can be viewed with Actions → View History.
- A broker can be deleted only while no order and no expense uses it. Steamship lines and container sizes are retired by unchecking Active.
Three different things are called \"broker\"
UTX Freight uses the word broker in three unrelated places. They are separate records and are not linked to each other:
| What | Where you manage it | What it is used for |
|---|---|---|
| Broker records (this page) | User menu → Manage Brokers | The Broker field on Dry Van orders, and the Broker group of payees in Order Expenses |
| Customer companies flagged Broker | Customers → edit a customer → Broker checkbox. See Managing Customers | The Transport Company / Broker field on Dry Van orders, the blue Broker label and the Brokers filter on the Customers list |
| Mobile users with the Broker role | Mobile Users → Drivers, Brokers & Yard. See Mobile Users | People who sign in from a phone. They have exactly the same rights as a Driver and appear in the driver lists |
Adding a name on Manage Brokers does not create a customer or a mobile user, and checking Broker on a customer does not add it to Manage Brokers.
Quick Start¶
- Click your name at the top of the screen to open the user menu.
- Click Manage Brokers, Manage Steamship Lines or Manage Container Sizes.
- Click Add a new Broker (or Add a new Steamship Line, Add a new Container Size) at the top right.
- Enter the Name, check the Office, and click Save Changes.
The new entry is now available in the matching dropdown on your orders.
Access & Permissions¶
| Role | Manage Brokers | Manage Steamship Lines | Manage Container Sizes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Admin | Full access | Full access | Full access |
| Manager | Full access | No access | No access |
| Dispatch | No access | No access | No access |
| Accountant | No access | No access | No access |
| All other roles (Customer, Customer Service, Garage) and mobile users | No access | No access | No access |
How to get there:
- Click your name at the top of the screen to open the user menu, then click Manage Brokers, Manage Steamship Lines or Manage Container Sizes.
These items sit in the user menu with the other Manage … items (Manage Cities, Manage Zones and so on). They are not inside the Settings page. A menu item only appears for users who have access to it.
Intermodal only
Manage Steamship Lines and Manage Container Sizes only appear when your account is set up for intermodal (container) work. This is switched on by UTX; ask UTX support if you need it. Manage Brokers appears for every account.
Multi-office
Each Manage … page shows the entries of the office you are currently working in. When you create or edit an entry, the Office dropdown lists the offices you belong to. See Multi-Office.
The dropdowns on the order itself are not limited the same way: the Steamship line and Container size fields of the order form, the Broker field of the dispatch form and the Broker group of Order Expenses list the entries of every office. Only the quick pickers on the Orders and Dispatch lists are limited to your current office. Giving entries distinct names per office avoids confusion.
Manage Brokers¶
The Brokers page (subtitle Management of Brokers) lists every broker of your current office, sorted by name, on a single page.
Columns¶
| Column | Description |
|---|---|
| Name | The broker name |
| Orders | The number of orders that have this broker in their Broker field |
| Charges | The number of expense lines (in Order Expenses) that have this broker as the payee |
| (Expense report) | The Expense report button. See Expense report |
| (Actions) | The Actions menu: Edit, View History, Delete |
Creating a Broker¶
- Open the user menu → Manage Brokers.
- Click Add a new Broker.
- Fill in the Broker Information form (see the table below).
- Click Save Changes. You return to the Brokers list.
Click Cancel to go back to the list without saving.
| Field | Required | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Name | Yes | The broker name (placeholder broker name) |
| Office | Yes | The office the broker belongs to. Lists the offices you belong to; no blank option |
Brokers have no Active checkbox and cannot be disabled.
Editing a Broker¶
Actions → Edit opens the same form, titled Edit Broker. Change the Name or Office and click Save Changes.
Renaming a broker changes the name everywhere it is shown, including on existing orders and expenses, because they point to the broker record rather than storing a copy of the name.
Expense report¶
The Expense report button opens the Expenses page (subtitle Tracking of expenses for brokers) with Expense payment status set to Unpaid Only. Choose the broker in Select a filter and click Search to review what you still owe that broker.
On the Expenses page you can refine the list with:
| Filter | Options |
|---|---|
| Select a filter | No Filter, or one payee. Payees are grouped by type: brokers (group Broker), mobile users and expense types |
| Order status | All statuses, or one order status |
| Expense payment status | Paid and Unpaid, Paid Only, Unpaid Only |
Click Search to apply the filters. An expense counts as paid once it is attached to a check. See Order Charges & Expenses.
The Expenses page and its Select a filter list are not limited to your current office.
Deleting a Broker¶
Actions → Delete asks Are you sure? and then removes the broker permanently.
The Delete item only appears when both the Orders and Charges columns are 0. A broker used on any order or any expense line cannot be deleted. There is no way to hide such a broker; rename it if you need to (for example, add (old) to the name).
Deleting cannot be undone
A deleted broker is gone from the list and from every dropdown. Only delete brokers that were created by mistake.
Where Broker records are used¶
- Broker field on Dry Van orders: on the dispatch form, in the Delivery Information panel, next to Special Note. It is only shown for Dry Van orders. See Dispatch.
- Order Expenses: the payee dropdown (the first field of each expense line) has a Broker group listing your brokers. Order Expenses is shown to users who can manage rates. See Order Charges & Expenses.
- Expenses page: the Select a filter dropdown has a Broker group.
Manage Steamship Lines¶
The Steamship Lines page (subtitle Management of Steamship Lines) lists the steamship lines of your current office.
Columns¶
| Column | Description |
|---|---|
| Name | The steamship line name |
| Description | The optional description |
| Orders | Shows - on this page |
| Active | A green when active, a red when inactive |
| (Actions) | The Actions menu: Edit, View History |
Creating or Editing a Steamship Line¶
- Open the user menu → Manage Steamship Lines.
- Click Add a new Steamship Line, or Actions → Edit on an existing line.
- Fill in the Steamship Line Information form.
- Click Save Changes (or Cancel to go back without saving).
| Field | Required | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Name | Yes | The name shown in the Steamship line dropdown on orders (placeholder Shipping Line) |
| Office | Yes | The office the line belongs to. Lists the offices you belong to |
| Description | No | Free text (placeholder Steamship Line description) |
| Active | No | Checked by default. Hint: Only active shipping lines will be visible for new orders |
Where Steamship Lines are used¶
- The Steamship line field on Container Import, Container Export and Container Transfer orders. See Order Form.
- On the Orders and Dispatch lists, users who can change the container status can click an order's steamship line to pick another one (window Select Steamship Line).
Manage Container Sizes¶
The Container Sizes page (subtitle Management of Container Sizes) lists the container sizes of your current office.
Columns¶
| Column | Description |
|---|---|
| Name | The container size name, as shown on orders (for example 40HC) |
| Description | The optional description |
| Orders | Shows - on this page |
| Active | A green when active, a red when inactive |
| (Actions) | The Actions menu: Edit, View History |
Creating or Editing a Container Size¶
- Open the user menu → Manage Container Sizes.
- Click Add a new Container Size, or Actions → Edit on an existing size.
- Fill in the Container Size Information form.
- Click Save Changes (or Cancel to go back without saving).
| Field | Required | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Name | Yes | The name shown in the Container size dropdown and on the order lists (placeholder Container size) |
| Office | Yes | The office the size belongs to. Lists the offices you belong to |
| Description | No | Free text (placeholder Container size description) |
| Active | No | Checked by default. Hint: Only active container sizes will be visible for new orders |
Where Container Sizes are used¶
- The Container size field on Container Import, Container Export and Container Transfer orders. See Order Form.
- On the Orders and Dispatch lists, users who can change the container status can click an order's container size to pick another one (window Select Size).
Keep names consistent
Some automatic features fill these fields by matching the Name: orders created from scanned documents look up the container size by a standard size code (such as 20, 40DV, 40HC, 45HC), and container tracking fills an empty steamship line or container size by matching the carrier name or size reported for the container. When no entry matches, the field is left blank. Use standard names and avoid near-duplicates.
Active vs. Delete (Steamship Lines & Container Sizes)¶
- Delete is not offered for steamship lines or container sizes.
- To retire an entry, Edit it and uncheck Active.
Existing orders are not affected
Existing orders keep their steamship line or container size when you uncheck Active.
View History¶
Every list on this page has Actions → View History. It opens a History window without leaving the page.
History is only recorded while change history is turned on for your account (ask UTX support). Changes made while it was off do not appear, and an entry with no recorded changes shows an empty table.
| Column | Description |
|---|---|
| User | The name of the person who made the change. Changes with no recorded user show System |
| Changes | One line per field that changed, with the field name (for example Name, Description, Active, Office) and its value |
| When | The date (for example Oct 10, 2026) with the time underneath (for example 2:15 pm) |
How to read the Changes column:
- The most recent change is at the top.
- An edited value shows the old value in red, an arrow (->), and the new value in green.
- When the entry was created, its values are shown in green only.
- The Office is shown by office name. Active is shown as
trueorfalse. - Fields that were empty (or unchecked) both before and after are not shown.
- Edits that changed nothing are not listed.
Click Close (or the ×) to close the window.
Same window everywhere
The same History window is used on other lists, such as zones, cities, terminals, charge types, expense types, taxes, equipment and document types.
FAQ / Troubleshooting¶
I can't see Manage Steamship Lines or Manage Container Sizes¶
Solution
Both are available to Admins only, and only when your account is set up for intermodal work (ask UTX support). Managers can open Manage Brokers but not these two lists. Ask an Admin. Also make sure you are looking in the user menu under your name, not on the Settings page.
There is no Delete option for a broker¶
Solution
Delete only appears when the broker's Orders and Charges columns are both 0. Remove the broker from those orders and expense lines first, or keep the broker and rename it.
How do I delete a steamship line or a container size?¶
Solution
Steamship lines and container sizes are not deleted. Edit the entry and uncheck Active. Past orders keep their value.
I added a broker but I can't find it in the Transport Company / Broker field¶
Solution
The Transport Company / Broker field lists customer companies with the Broker checkbox checked, not the entries of Manage Brokers. Edit the customer and check Broker (see Managing Customers). The entries of Manage Brokers appear in the Broker field of the Dry Van dispatch form and in the Broker group of Order Expenses.
I added a broker but they can't sign in on their phone¶
Solution
A broker record is just a name in a list; it has no login. To let a broker use the mobile app, create a mobile user with the Broker role under Mobile Users → Drivers, Brokers & Yard. See Mobile Users.
The Expense report doesn't show paid expenses¶
Solution
The Expense report starts on Unpaid Only. To include expenses that have already been paid by check, choose the broker in Select a filter, set Expense payment status to Paid and Unpaid and click Search.
Best Practices
- Set up steamship lines and container sizes once, when your account is configured, using the names your customers and terminals use.
- Retire old entries by unchecking Active rather than renaming them to something else, so past orders keep the right value.
- Use Manage Brokers for the third parties you pay on Dry Van moves, and the customer Broker checkbox for transport companies that carry the freight. Do not mix them up.
- Before deleting a broker, check View History to confirm it really was created by mistake.