Today's Update 352 begins adding controls and analytics that let you control maximum traffic flow to your customers.

This is an option.   This option will be of interest to those who have an intense small railroad or to those with larger railroads where car transit-times are large and may vary.

The new option is within a new pane on the car-order page for a customer.  This pane shows the number of cars already flowing in the traffic to a customer.  There is also a datafield where you can enter the maximum number of cars allowed in the traffic to that customer.

For example, suppose you have a customer who orders 5 car-loads every "day".   Because a car ordered typically is empty the car must travel to the loading point (in staging?) then travel back to the customer.  That total travel time is at least two "days" and if the railroad is large may be four or five days, or longer.  Say four days.  That means there will be, on average, "four-days times 5 car-loads" = 20 cars in transit on any one "day".   However some cars in transit, because of the way trains interact, may get ahead (or behind) - and on any one day you may have 7 or 8 cars trying to occupy the space intended for those 5 cars.   This is normal.  But could be aggravating to those not familiar with your railroad.  And with time the situation will smooth out.

This new option allows you to limit this occurrence.  Instead of allowing 20 cars to be ordered and running at any one time, enter (say) "15" in the new datafield.  Once ProTrak finds 15 cars running in this traffic >no< more cars will be ordered to this customer.

This is just one more level of control you have.

OK?

                   Jim