Asset PINs Overview

Asset PINs (also called "dumpster PINs" or "rental PINs") are unique identifiers assigned to each physical asset in Docket, whether that's a dumpster bin or other rental equipment. 

PINs serve as the critical link between your physical equipment in the field and its digital record in Docket. When you assign PINs to assets and keep them updated as assets move, Docket can tell you exactly which dumpster is where, when a rental is actually complete, and how much inventory you have available at any time.

Asset PINs also power features beyond basic tracking, like QR codes your drivers scan through the mobile app instead of entering them manually.

Please Note: PINs are case-sensitive so your drivers must enter them exactly as they appear in Docket, including upper-/lower-case letters and spaces.

Before You Start

Here are a few things to know before you continue:

• We recommend only giving edit permissions for completed tasks to the Employees who absolutely need them. Editing a completed task changes your task history, so an accidental edit can throw off your reports.
• Using the pencil icon to edit a PIN on a completed task only changes what displays on the task, it won't fix a PIN issue.
• Removing duplicate PINs automatically marks earlier rentals using that PIN as complete. This doesn't affect invoices, but it removes those rentals from your Open Rentals page.

Create and Edit PINs

Most of the time you'll be creating PINs when you add new assets to your account, but if you haven't been adding PINs to your assets up to this point it's very easy to add them retroactively. Click here to learn more about adding new dumpster assets.

If you're manually adding a new Dumpster or Rental asset, you'll simply enter the PIN into the form.

If you're bulk importing a lot of new Dumpster or Rental assets using a spreadsheet, you'll add the PINs into the corresponding column.

To create a PIN for an asset that's previously been added or edit an existing PIN, just follow the instructions below:

1. Click into "Assets" from the left menu.
2. Click into the "Assets" tab.
3. Click on the asset you want to add/edit the PIN for.
4. Add to or edit the PIN field.
5. Click "Update Details" to save the PIN.
   
   

Please Note: If you're editing a PIN that you previously used to generate a QR Code, you'll need to re-generate a new QR Code for the edited PIN and re-order/re-make the appropriate tag for the associated asset. Click here to learn more about QR Codes.

Fix Incorrectly Entered PINs

Depending on the settings you've configured for the mobile app, you'll either require your drivers to manually input the correct asset PIN when completing a task or select it from a drop-down list. If you require your drivers to scan a QR Code, no PINs will be entered incorrectly which is why we suggest using this method.

Regardless of the input method, mistakes can happen and the wrong PIN could be added to a task as it's being completed. Fixing these incorrectly entered PINs is a high priority so your assets stay organized/tracked properly and your reports remain accurate.

To fix an incorrect PIN, just follow the instructions below:

1. Open the task and either write down or screenshot the Completed Time. You'll need to enter this later and it's important to use the exact date/time for reporting accuracy.
   
   
   
   Please Note: Clicking the pencil icon next to the PIN on a completed task DOES NOT update the asset's location or history, it simply changes what PIN shows on the task. Because the whole point of using asset PINs (and QR Codes) is to track your assets in the field, you don't want to use the pencil icon to fix incorrectly entered PINs.
2. Then click on the "Actions" button.
3. Click "Mark as Not Complete" next.
   
   
4. Click "Confirm" on the prompt that appears to re-open the task.
   
   
5. Click on the "Actions" button again.
6. Click "Mark as Complete".
   
   
7. Select the correct PIN for this task's asset.
8. Click "Use Scheduled Time" to potentially auto-populate the original date/time the task was completed OR manually enter it from your previous notes/screenshot. If you don't do this, the task will be marked complete with the current date/time you're editing it on.
9. Click "Confirm" to re-close the task.
   
   

You'll now see the completed task with its original date/time and the correct PIN. 

The next step is to update the location for the previously associated asset tied to the incorrect PIN that was originally added to the completed task.

To do that, just follow the instructions below:

1. Click into "Assets" from the left menu.
2. Click into the "Assets" tab.
3. Search for the INCORRECTLY entered PIN that you had to fix.
4. Click on the asset associated with that incorrectly entered PIN.
5. Click into the "History" tab.
6. Click "Delete" to remove its association with the task.
   
   

Doing this will ensure that all of your assets stay organized and tracked against their actual location/tasks. 

Fix Duplicate PINs

A duplicate PIN means that the same asset PIN is attached to more than one open rental (Drop Off task) at the same time. 

When that happens, Docket can't tell which rental is actually still active and that throws off your asset tracking which can cause tasks to be completed incorrectly.

Duplicate PINs can happen for 2 reasons:

1. A Pick Up task wasn't linked to its matching Drop Off task, so Docket thinks the rental is still open.
2. The driver entered the wrong PIN when completing a task, so it appears across multiple rentals.

TIP: The fix depends on what caused the duplicate PIN issue, so it helps to identify the cause before you start changing anything.

To find and review rentals with duplicate PINs, just follow the instructions below:

1. Click into "Assets" from the left menu.
2. Click into the "Open Rentals" tab.
3. In the Open Rentals with Duplicate Asset PINs section, click on one of the flagged PINs. This will auto-sort the list to just the rentals associated with that PIN.
   
   
4. Click on each rental one-by-one to review their details and figure out what caused the duplicate PIN issue.

If the duplicate PIN issue was caused by an incorrectly entered PIN, follow the instructions in the section above.

If the duplicate PIN issue was caused by a Pick Up task not being connected to the original Drop Off task, Docket will think the rental's still open even if the dumpster's already been picked up and is in your yard.

You can fix that by following the instructions below:

1. Find the Pick Up task and confirm its ID number.
   
   
2. Find the original Drop Off task and open it.
   
   TIP: You can find tasks in a client's profile, on the Schedule page, and/or on the Dispatch page.
3. Click to expand the Scheduling section.
4. Enter the Pick Up task ID into the Assign Next Task field and click the search icon.
5. Click "Assign" to connect the Pick Up task to the Drop Off task.
   
   

Your changes will save immediately and you'll now see the connection at the top of each task.

Resolve All Duplicate PINs Immediately

If you don't need to know exactly why each duplicate PIN happened and don't care about clean asset tracking or accurate reporting, Docket can clean up all your duplicate PINs immediately. Just click on the "Remove Duplicate PINs" button from the Open Rentals list.

Docket will look at each open rental (all tasks) using the same PIN, identify the most recent rental (Drop Off task) based on the asset's current location, and mark the rest of the rentals as complete while keeping the most recent rental open.

Docket will also remove the duplicated PIN from each of those earlier rentals (tasks) so they no longer appear on your Open Rentals list. Invoices associated with the earlier rentals (tasks) will not be affected. 

Please Note: If a driver entered the wrong PIN on a task and that PIN gets removed, you won't be able to easily find the task in the future to add the correct PIN.

We don't recommend using the "Remove Duplicate PINs" button if you need to preserve your rental (task) history.

Force Duplicate PIN Resolution

Sometimes a duplicate PIN sticks around even after you've fixed the underlying issue. 

If that happens, try disconnecting and reconnecting the Pick Up and Drop Off tasks to force Docket to recognize the correct task assignments.

If that still doesn't remove the duplicate PIN issue from your Open Rentals list and you're absolutely positive that the asset is no longer onsite for an active rental, you can manually mark the rental complete to remove it.

To manually mark an open rental as complete, just follow the instructions below:

1. Click into "Assets" from the left menu.
2. Click into the "Open Rentals" tab.
3. Find the rental that needs to be completed and click on the "Actions" button.
4. Click "Mark Rental Completed".
   
   
5. Click "OK" on the prompt that appears.
   
   

PIN-Related Settings

There are a few settings in your Docket account that'll help you manage your asset PINs and they live in 3 different places:

• Dumpster Management
• Rental Management
• Task Settings

TIP: If you only rent out dumpster bins to client and not other equipment, you can ignore the Rental Management settings.

Dumpster Management PIN Settings

There is one setting related to asset PINs in the Dumpster Management section of your account.

To get there, just follow the instructions below:

1. Click on “Account” in the bottom left corner.
2. Click on “Settings” at the top.
3. Click on “View” on the Dumpster Management card.
   
   
4. Click to expand the "Mobile App" section.
   
   
5. Find the Allow Create PIN setting.
   
   

This setting is OFF by default. 

When enabled, this setting makes a new button appear in the mobile app for your drivers. 

Using this button, they can add a new dumpster asset with a PIN of their choosing to your Docket account and the job they're currently handling.

Rental Management PIN Settings

There is one setting related to asset PINs in the Rental Management section of your account.

To get there, just follow the instructions below:

1. Click on “Account” in the bottom left corner.
2. Click on “Settings” at the top.
3. Click on “View” on the Rental Management card.
   
   
4. Click to expand the "Mobile App" section.
   
   
5. Find the Allow Create PIN setting.
   
   

This setting is OFF by default. 

When enabled, this setting makes a new button appear in the mobile app for your drivers. 

Using this button, they can add a new rental asset with a PIN of their choosing to your Docket account and the job they're currently handling.

Task Settings PIN Settings

There is one setting related to asset PINs in the Task Settings section of your account.

To get there, just follow the instructions below:

1. Click on “Account” in the bottom left corner.
2. Click on “Settings” at the top.
3. Click on “Company” right below.
4. Click on “View” on the Task Settings card.
   
   
5. Click to expand the "Mobile App" section.
   
   
6. Find the PIN Entry Method setting.
   
   

This is set to SELECT by default.

This setting controls how your drivers will be asked to enter dumpster PINs if you use those to keep track of your dumpster assets.

Input: 
This options means that drivers will have to manually type in a dumpster's PIN in order to confirm that the task they're working on has been completed.

Select: 
This option means that drivers will need to select the correct dumpster PIN from a list of all your PINs in order to confirm that the task they're working on has been completed.

TIP: We suggest leaving this setting on Select to minimize operator error.

If you have any questions, please reach out to our Support team through the chat widget on the bottom of this page or by sending an email to support@yourdocket.com!