Suspend Route

A route’s delivery can be suspended for a period of time. For example, bad weather might prevent some routes from being delivered on a given day. When a route is suspended, it will not appear on distribution reports, and its draw will not be included in AAM reporting. Subscribers on suspended routes will be temporarily stopped for the number of days the route is suspended. The carrier may or may not be charged/credited for the draw on the suspended days.

Note: The Suspend transactions created by the Suspend Route utility are processed only during non-final Transaction Processing runs.

Required Setup

The following setup must be in place before using this option:

• At least one reason code each must be set up for the Suspend and Unsuspend transaction types in Reason setup. These will be used as the reasons for the route’s suspension and reinstatement.

• The Suspend reason code must also be set up for the transaction type of Stop, and the Unsuspend reason code must also be set up for the transaction type of Restart. For example, if you define a reason code of “SUSPEND” for the transaction type of Suspend, you must also define a reason code of “SUSPEND” for the transaction type of Stop. Similarly, if you define a reason code of “UNSUSPEND” for the transaction type of Unsuspend, you must also define a reason code of “UNSUSPEND” for the transaction type of Restart.

• For the Stop and Restart reason codes, the Update Draw, Print On Bundle, and Print Code On Bundle fields all must be set to “n.” This is required because the temporary stops and restarts created by the suspend and unsuspend processes should not affect the draw and are not printed on bundle tops (bundle tops are not produced for a route while it is suspended).

• Business Rules must be set up to handle special circumstances, such as perm-stopping a subscriber on a suspended route. See Suspends in Customer Service for information.

To suspend a route:

• Select Suspend Route from the Utilities menu.

  
• Click Add and complete the following fields.

  Field	Type	What to enter
  SUSPEND/UNSUSPEND INFORMATION
  TRANSACTION TYPE	predefined	Indicate whether you are suspending or unsuspending (reinstating) routes.
  SELECTION TYPE	predefined	Indicate whether routes should be selected for suspension/reinstatement by district, route, or account.
  PRODUCT	open (8)	Enter the publication for which you are suspending or reinstating routes.
  SELECTION	setup	Depending on what you entered in Selection Type, enter the district, route, or account that should be suspended or reinstated. You can also multi-select. If you select districts, all routes in the selected districts will be suspended or reinstated. If you select accounts, all routes associated with the accounts will be affected.
  ROUTE TYPE	predefined	Indicate whether single copy or home delivery routes will be suspended or reinstated.
  SOURCE	setup	Enter the source code for the suspension or reinstatement.
  REMARKS	unlimited	Enter any remarks pertinent to the suspension or reinstatement.
  SUSPEND
  SUSPEND DATE	date	Enter the date on which the routes will be suspended.
  ROUTE REASON	setup	Enter the reason code for the suspension. The reason code must be a Suspend reason code.
  CHARGE/CREDIT ACCOUNT?	yes/no	If you are suspending home delivery routes, indicate whether carriers should be charged/credited for the draw on the suspended day. Single copy routes will never be charged or credited for a suspended day.
  ROUTE DRAW TYPE	predefined	If you selected Charge/Credit Account, indicate the draw types for which carriers should be charged/credited on the suspended day, or multi-select draw types. The valid draw types are carrier collect, office pay, paid comp, unpaid comp, service, and sample.
  SUBSCRIPTION REASON	setup	Enter the reason code for the temporary stop transactions that will be created by the system for subscribers on the routes selected. The reason code must be a Stop reason code.
  UNSUSPEND
  UNSUSPEND DATE	date	Enter the date on which the routes will be reinstated.
  REASON	setup	Enter the reason code for the reinstatement. The reason code must be an Unsuspend reason code.
  SUBSCRIPTION REASON	setup	Enter the reason code for the restart transactions that will be created by the system for subscribers on the routes selected. The reason code must be a Restart reason code.

• Click OK and then Continue to complete the suspension (or reinstatement). A Suspend transaction will be created for the route. This transaction, when processed during non-final Transaction Processing, will create temporary stops for subscribers on the route. Once processing is complete, a report will display details about the process.

Note: If a route has subscribers delivered by other routes (e.g., different weekday and weekend routes), the route cannot be suspended unless the other route(s) delivering to its subscribers are also selected for suspension. Likewise, a route cannot be reinstated unless all other routes delivering to its subscribers are selected for reinstatement.

Reinstating a Route

Once delivery can be resumed, routes are reinstated using the Suspend Route option with a Transaction Type of “Unsuspend.” An Unsuspend transaction will be created for each route that is reinstated. When processed by Transaction Processing, the Unsuspend will create restarts for the subscribers on the route.

For example, if a route is suspended on the 6th and reinstated on the 9th, subscribers on the route will have a temporary stop dated the 6th and a restart dated the 9th. This means that the route was suspended on the 6th, 7th, and 8th, and the subscribers will have their expire dates extended by three days.

Suspends in Route Service

If a route is suspended, a draw of zero will be shown for the suspended days and a suspend message will be displayed in the Route Service window. The route will also have a Suspend transaction. If this transaction is for a future date, it can be deleted, which would cancel the suspension.

When the route is reinstated, the suspend message will no longer appear, and the route will have an Unsuspend transaction. Again, future Unsuspend transactions can be deleted, which would cancel the reinstatement.

Suspends in Customer Service

If a subscriber is on a suspended route, a message will be displayed in the Customer Service window. The subscriber will also have a Suspend transaction; this is the temp stop, but it is called “suspend” to distinguish it from ordinary temp stops.

When the route is reinstated, the suspend message will no longer appear, and the subscriber will have an Unsuspend transaction, which is the restart.

Notes:

• If a start or restart is entered for a subscriber on a suspended route, it will be processed normally, but a temp stop (Suspend) will be created for the same date.

• If a stop is entered for a subscriber on a suspended route, a restart (Unsuspend) transaction will be created when the stop is processed, so the subscriber will be unsuspended but stopped. The Business Rule, What is the reason code to use when a suspended subscription is restarted to process a stop? (Customer Services section), identifies the reason code to use for these Unsuspend transactions. This must be a Restart reason code defined with the Update Draw and Print On Bundle fields both set to “n.”

• The temp stop (Suspend) and restart (Unsuspend) transactions are processed when they are created; therefore, they cannot be modified or deleted. However, if the subscriber really does want to temp stop, the Restart field in the temp stop can be set to “n” so that another temp stop will be created when the route is reinstated. This is an alternative way to enter a stop for the subscriber. The Business Rule, What is the reason code for the temp stop created when an unsuspend subscription is overridden? (Customer Services section), identifies the reason code to use for these temp stops. This must be a Stop reason code with the Update Draw and Print On Bundle fields both set to “n.”

• If a component of a combo subscription is suspended, and the combo has Must Stop Together checked in Combo setup, Suspend Route will use the Business Rule—For combo subscriptions, should the suspend route process override the combo's setup for 'must stop together?’ to determine how to handle the rest of the combo. If the Business Rule is set to “No,” the other components of the combo will also be suspended.

Suspends in Publishing

As mentioned, suspended routes will not appear on any reports (bundle tops, truck manifest, AAM reports, etc.). Subscription messages for the route will be retained, however.

When the route is reinstated, all of the subscription messages that have accumulated over the suspended period will appear on the route’s bundle top.

Suspends in Account Billing

If an account is to be charged/credited for some or all of the draw on suspended days, draw records will be kept for the draw types that should be billed. The draw, however, will be given a draw type of “suspend,” so that it will be ignored by most Circulation options.

Billing, however, will pick up suspended draw and bill it. It will be billed at the normal rate. If an account will not be charged/credited for suspended draw, no draw records will be kept.