About this calculator

Check whole-truck service capacity during a defined demand window. Each compatible door has a service-minute budget and can complete only whole sequential jobs within that budget.

Inputs

How to use this calculator

Alternative operating window

  1. Duration of this demand window (hours)Positive window; analyze peak windows separately, not only a daily average.
  2. Trucks requiring service in this windowWhole non-negative count of comparable door jobs.
  3. Door-occupied minutes per truckMeasured total door service/turnover time for these jobs, not pallet touch time.

Shared inputs

  1. Compatible available dock doorsWhole count with the required equipment and labor assumed available.
  2. Budgeted service share of each door window (%)Greater than 0 through 100. User planning share, not a utilization recommendation.

Enter the shipment or scenario values, then select Calculate result.

Method

Formula and variables

Service-minute budget per door = window hours ×60 × entered share. Whole jobs/door = floor(budget ÷ occupied minutes/job). Capacity = whole jobs/door × entered doors. Discrete doors required = ceil(demand ÷ whole jobs/door), when at least one whole job fits. Fluid workload bound = ceil(total occupied minutes ÷ budget), shown separately.

Duration of this demand window (hours)
Positive window; analyze peak windows separately, not only a daily average.
Trucks requiring service in this window
Whole non-negative count of comparable door jobs.
Door-occupied minutes per truck
Measured total door service/turnover time for these jobs, not pallet touch time.
Compatible available dock doors
Whole count with the required equipment and labor assumed available.
Budgeted service share of each door window (%)
Greater than 0 through 100. User planning share, not a utilization recommendation.

Interpret the result

The discrete door requirement respects whole jobs per door. The fluid workload bound may be smaller and does not establish a feasible arrival or dispatch schedule.

Outputs: Whole-job capacity and doors required by operating window

Identical sequential jobs inside each entered budget, not an arrival/queueing or dispatch schedule. Different windows are alternatives and are not summed. No waiting-time, simultaneity, appointment pattern, labor availability, door compatibility or service-level guarantee. If a job exceeds the per-door budget, no door count alone fixes that model window; revise the budget/window or process.

Worked example

Check the arithmetic

This example uses the starting values shown above. The arithmetic below is calculated independently of the interactive result.

Work through the calculation

  1. Budget per door = 8 hours × 60 × 75% = 360 minutes.
  2. Whole jobs per door = floor(360 ÷ 45) = 8.
  3. Doors required = ceil(40 ÷ 8) = 5. Five entered doors have 5 × 8 = 40 jobs of capacity.

Compare the displayed result

Expected displayed result: 5 doors required

FAQs

Why can the fluid workload bound be too low?

Partial jobs cannot be pooled across doors in the whole-job model. Each door must finish its own jobs inside the budgeted window.

Example inputs and options

Starting values are examples unless a field identifies a dated rule. Unit selectors convert only fields marked for conversion. Rates and model options keep the units and basis shown in their labels.

Duration of this demand window (hours)
Example: 8
Trucks requiring service in this window
Example: 40
Door-occupied minutes per truck
Example: 45
Compatible available dock doors
Example: 5
Budgeted service share of each door window (%)
Example: 75