Learn Port, one clear step at a time.

1. 1
   Remember this is an interactive demo

   You can open every workflow and save test records. Demo activity is shared, logged, and temporary, so use sample information only; the demo database will be reset before launch.

2. 2
   Open the Control center

   This is the home screen. Read the large number cards, then look at Needs attention. These items tell you what may require action first.

3. 3
   Open Container fleet

   Choose a container row to see its identity, condition, current location, customer assignment, and next action.

4. 4
   Open Customers and Leads & orders

   Notice how customer accounts are separate from sales opportunities. A lead is someone who may buy or rent; a customer is an established account.

5. 5
   Open Dispatch

   This is the day’s movement plan. Each card joins the customer, address, container, driver, truck, time, and current stage of the move.

The top bar

Search

Find containers, customers, leads, and orders from one place. On a keyboard, Ctrl+K opens it quickly.

Scan button

Opens the camera QR scanner. If the camera is unavailable, type the four-character fleet code.

Alert mark

Takes you to the Control center, where warnings and exceptions are collected.

Your initials/name

Shows which user is working. For an administrator, this area can also open the team-member invitation form.

Status colors

Quick actions

Use New quote for a rental or sale price, Scan container to open a physical unit, Add customer to establish an account, and Dispatch board to plan or update moves.

Large number cards

Available now

Containers that are currently free and not committed.

On rent

Containers physically assigned to active customers.

Moves today

Today’s deliveries, pickups, and transfers.

Needs action

A combined count of fleet and workflow exceptions.

Lower panels

Dispatch board previews today’s first moves. Needs attention gathers repairs, inspections, orders without containers, and QuickBooks failures. Fleet at a glance shows how the physical inventory is divided. Recent activity records the latest container events and who recorded them.

What each row tells you

Fleet code

Port’s short, unique name for the unit, such as DK38. It also appears on the QR label.

Serial number

The manufacturer’s longer identifier. “Not recorded” means it still needs to be entered.

Size / grade

Length plus condition classification, such as 20′ Cargo worthy or 40′ Wind & water tight.

Status

Where the unit is in its work life: available, reserved, rented, inspection, maintenance, for sale, and so on.

Current assignment

The customer or location presently responsible for the unit.

Next action

The next expected operational step.

Typical rental status path

1. 1
   Filter the list

   Choose Available, Rented, Reserved, Attention, or For sale to focus on a group.

2. 2
   Open a container

   Select a row to see its record and available actions.

3. 3
   Use Update status

   Port only offers the next legal actions, helping prevent an impossible jump in the container’s history.

4. 4
   Print the QR label

   Use the print-ready label for the physical unit. Test the chosen printer and label stock before printing a large batch.

Customer list columns

Customer shows the account name and email. Primary contact shows the person and phone. Type separates commercial / industrial, residential / personal, and agricultural accounts. Rentals counts active work. Open value summarizes operational billing-ready orders. QBO shows the QuickBooks customer sync condition.

QuickBooks customer labels

Not synced

The Port customer does not yet have a confirmed QuickBooks customer link.

Queued

Port saved the customer and is waiting to send or update it in QuickBooks.

Synced

QuickBooks confirmed the customer and Port retained the reference.

Failed

The accounting handoff needs review. The customer record itself is still safely stored in Port.

1. 1
   Search before creating

   Type the company, contact, email, or phone into the customer filter. This helps prevent duplicates.

2. 2
   Choose + New customer

   Enter the company when applicable, a primary contact, phone, optional email, type, and billing address.

3. 3
   Record a customer touchpoint

   Selecting a customer opens the communication form. Record a phone call, internal note, or queued message so the next person has context.

Lead board

Leads move through New → Contacted → Quoted → Won. Select a lead card to advance it one stage. “Won” means the opportunity is ready for the operational commitment; it does not by itself assign a physical container.

Creating a quote

1. 1
   Create the customer first

   A quote belongs to a customer account.

2. 2
   Choose rental or sale

   Select the container size, quantity, delivery zone, and delivery address.

3. 3
   Save the draft

   Port uses active pricing rules and saves a permanent pricing snapshot with the quote.

4. 4
   Create the operational order when accepted

   Use Manage → Order to record the customer’s commitment, requested size, fulfillment method, price, date, and address.

5. 5
   Start the rental only when a unit is chosen

   Use Manage → Rental to connect the order, customer, physical container, start date, monthly rate, and billing day.

Each dispatch card joins together

Time window, move type, customer, address, special instructions, container, driver, truck, and current status. “Unassigned” means one of those operating assignments still needs to be made.

Move types

Delivery ↓

Container moves from the yard or another location to a customer.

Pickup ↑

Container moves from the customer back toward the yard.

Transfer ↔

Container moves between internal or non-customer locations.

Working a move

1. 1
   Add the move

   Choose the order, customer, type, date, address, optional container, driver, truck, time window, and instructions.

2. 2
   Assign

   Complete missing driver, truck, or container details.

3. 3
   Start

   Marks the scheduled move as under way.

4. 4
   Arrive

   Records that the driver reached the stop.

5. 5
   Complete

   Closes the physical move and records the completion time.

Regular synchronization

A new or changed Port customer enters a safe queue. Succeeded means QuickBooks confirmed it. Pending/Retry means Port is waiting and will try safely. Failed/Dead letter needs an administrator. Operational work remains in Port even when QuickBooks is unavailable.

One-time historical onboarding

1. 1
   Connect the correct QuickBooks company

   Only an administrator should do this. Confirm the company before continuing.

2. 2
   Begin history pull

   Port creates a dated onboarding run. No live Port accounts are created yet.

3. 3
   Extract each page

   Port safely stages customers, invoices, payments, credits, receipts, and estimates in manageable groups.

4. 4
   Resolve possible duplicates

   Link the QuickBooks customer to the correct Port account or approve a new account. Port never merges on a similar name alone.

5. 5
   Import approved batches

   Customers become Port accounts. Historical financial documents appear as read-only accounting history—not as orders, rentals, dispatches, or container assignments.

6. 6
   Reconcile totals

   An administrator and accountant compare counts and balances before accepting the migration.

Fleet utilization

The percentage of all recorded containers currently marked Rented.

Average rental length

The average time between rental start and end, or today for active rentals.

Moves completed

Dispatch jobs completed for the selected operating period shown by Port.

Sale inventory

The total asking price of published or reserved sale listings.

Inventory by size

How many physical units exist in each size.

Completed moves by month

A trend chart based on completed dispatch records.

Export fleet CSV downloads the current fleet list for spreadsheet review. Exporting does not remove or change data. On phones, the file may appear in the browser’s Downloads area or sharing menu.

What you can create

Roles in plain language

Installing the PWA

Use your browser’s Install app or Add to Home Screen command. Port then opens in its own window and can have a desktop or home-screen icon. It is still the same secure cloud system, not a separate copy of your data.

Mobile behavior

The left navigation becomes a bottom bar. Forms become full-width panels. Wide tables and the lead board scroll sideways. The scanner requests camera permission and prefers the rear camera; manual fleet-code entry is always available.

Account number

Port’s unique reference for a customer account.

Accounting history

Read-only invoices, payments, credits, receipts, and estimates copied from QuickBooks for context.

Assignment

The link between a particular physical container and an operational order.

Dispatch job

One planned physical move: delivery, pickup, or transfer.

Fleet code

The short permanent identifier printed on a container’s Port label.

Lead

A person or company that may become a customer or place an order.

Order

A customer’s operational commitment, separate from the physical container chosen later.

Pricing snapshot

A permanent copy of the rules and prices used when a quote was created.

PWA

A website designed to install and open like an app while keeping cloud data in one system.

QBO

QuickBooks Online.

Quote

A priced offer that has not yet become an operational commitment.

Rental

The operating period connecting a customer, order, physical unit, rate, and billing schedule.

System of record

The system trusted as the official home for a kind of information. Port owns operations; QuickBooks owns formal accounting.

Sync

A controlled handoff of matching information between Port and another system.

Utilization

The percentage of the fleet currently marked Rented.