Skip to content
English
Customer portal
  • There are no suggestions because the search field is empty.

Equipment Assignments

Learn how to schedule one or more operators onto a piece of equipment for specific time windows using the Equipment Assignments calendar and the per-equipment Assignments tab. 

 

Before You Begin

Make sure the following is in place before you start:

  • A user account with permission to view equipment. To add, edit, or delete assignments you also need the Manage Assignments permission for equipment. If the Add Assignment button isn't visible, ask your account administrator to grant it (see Managing Permissions for Vehicle and Equipment Assignments).
  • The equipment you want to schedule is already added to your account and isn't archived.
  • The operators you want to assign are already added as Contacts.

Heads up: Assignments replace the older single-operator "Current Assignee" field. The current operator shown on an equipment record is now automatically updated based on the active scheduled assignment. You can no longer edit that field directly — instead, you add or update assignments on the timeline.

Related articles:

Step-by-Step Instructions

Step 1: Open the Equipment Assignments calendar

The calendar gives you a single timeline view of every piece of equipment in your account.

  1. Sign in to your Expiration Reminder account.
  2. Go to the Equipment Assignments page by entering /equipment/assignments after your account URL in your browser.

You'll see the Equipment Assignments page with each piece of equipment listed as a row in the left column and time across the top. Existing assignments appear as colored bars on the timeline.

Step 2: Choose the time range you want to see

The calendar opens by default in Week view. To switch:

  1. In the upper-right toolbar, click the view selector (it shows the current view's name — for example, Week).
  2. Choose Day, Week, or Month.
  3. To jump back to the current day, click Today.
  4. To jump to a different date, use the Jump to date mini calendar on the right side of the page.

Tip: Use Day view for a detailed look at shift handoffs, Week for planning a typical work week, and Month for longer-range scheduling.

Step 3: Filter and search the timeline

Use the toolbar above the calendar to focus on the equipment or operators you care about:

  1. Click Filter to open the filter panel and narrow the view by:
    • Contact — show assignments for one or more operators.
    • Type — show only certain equipment types.
    • Status — show Started (currently in effect), Stopped (ended), or Scheduled (future) assignments.
    • Date range — override the visible window with a custom date range.
  2. Use the Search box to filter the left column down to a specific piece of equipment by name.

Step 4: Add an assignment

There are two ways to start a new assignment:

  • From an empty timeline cell: Click an empty area on the row of the equipment you want to assign. The Add Assignment dialog opens with that equipment already filled in.
  • From the toolbar: Click the + Add Assignment button in the upper-right corner. The dialog opens with no equipment pre-selected.

In the Add Assignment dialog:

  1. Assigned Equipment — Required. Pick the equipment (already filled in if you opened the dialog from a cell on the calendar or from a specific piece of equipment's Assignments tab).
  2. Operator — Required. Pick the contact who will operate the equipment. Use the type-ahead search to narrow long contact lists.
  3. Start Date/Time — Optional. Pick the date and time the assignment begins. Leave blank if the assignment has always existed (for example, you're back-filling history for a tool that's been with this operator for years).
  4. End Date/Time — Optional. Pick the date and time the assignment ends. Leave blank for an ongoing assignment with no planned end.
  5. Comment — Optional. Add up to 2,000 characters of context — for example, "Day shift only" or "Rented while primary unit is in service."
  6. Click Save Assignment.

A confirmation toast appears at the top of the page, the dialog closes, and the new assignment bar shows up on the timeline immediately.


Step 5: Schedule two operators on the same equipment (multi-operator scheduling)

If your team rotates operators on the same piece of equipment — for example, a morning operator and an afternoon operator on the same lift — you can schedule both at the same time:

  1. With the calendar open, click the cell at the start of the first shift on the equipment's row.
  2. Fill in the Add Assignment dialog:
    • Operator: morning operator (for example, Alex).
    • Start Date/Time: tomorrow at 6:00 AM.
    • End Date/Time: tomorrow at 2:00 PM.
    • Comment: "Morning shift."
  3. Click Save Assignment.
  4. Click the cell at the start of the second shift on the same equipment's row (or click + Add Assignment in the toolbar).
  5. Fill in the dialog again with the second operator and times:
    • Operator: afternoon operator (for example, Jamie).
    • Start Date/Time: tomorrow at 2:00 PM.
    • End Date/Time: tomorrow at 10:00 PM.
    • Comment: "Afternoon shift."
  6. Click Save Assignment.

Both assignments appear on the same row of the timeline. Different operators can have overlapping windows on the same equipment — but the same operator can't be scheduled twice on the same equipment during overlapping times.

Step 6: Edit an existing assignment

  1. Click any assignment bar on the timeline.
  2. The Edit Assignment dialog opens with the existing details filled in.
  3. Change any field — operator, start, end, or comment — and click Save Assignment.

The bar updates on the timeline immediately. If you change the dates so the assignment now (or no longer) covers "right now," the equipment's Current Assignee is updated automatically within a few minutes.

Note: In edit mode you can't change which piece of equipment the assignment is attached to. To move an assignment to a different piece of equipment, delete the old one and create a new one.

Step 7: Use the per-equipment Assignments tab

If you only need to see assignments for one piece of equipment, the per-record tab is often faster:

  1. Open the equipment's detail page (from the Equipment list, click an item's name).
  2. Click the Assignments tab. You'll see a list of every assignment for that piece of equipment, grouped by Status (Started, Stopped, Scheduled) and sorted by Start Date (most recent first).
  3. To add an assignment for that specific piece of equipment, click + Add Assignment at the top of the tab — the equipment is pre-filled.
  4. To edit, click the pencil icon on a row. To delete, click the trash icon and confirm.

The Current Assignee field on the equipment's overview is now read-only — it reflects whichever scheduled assignment is currently active. Click View / manage assignments next to the assignee name to jump to the Assignments tab.

Step 8: Delete an assignment

If an assignment was created in error or is no longer relevant:

  1. Open the equipment's Assignments tab (or the contact's Equipment tab, if you prefer to find it that way).
  2. Click the trash icon on the row.
  3. Confirm the action in the Are you sure you want to delete this assignment? prompt.

The assignment is removed and a success message appears at the top of the page. If the deleted assignment was the active one, the equipment's current operator is recalculated automatically.

Understanding "Always" and "Ongoing"

When you leave Start Date/Time or End Date/Time blank, the assignment list shows special labels in place of dates:

  • Always in the Start Date column means the assignment has no defined beginning — it's been in effect "forever." Use this for long-running assignments where the original start date isn't important to track.
  • Ongoing in the End Date column means the assignment has no planned end date. Use this for current assignments that don't have a scheduled handoff yet.

On the calendar, assignments with no start show a chevron at the left edge of the bar; assignments with no end show a chevron at the right edge.

Tips & Best Practices

  • Plan ahead with future-dated assignments. You can schedule assignments days, weeks, or months in advance. The system flips the equipment's current operator automatically when the start time arrives.
  • Use comments for context. A short note like "Rental — own unit in shop" or "Onboarding — supervised use only" helps the rest of your team understand why the assignment exists.
  • Bookmark the calendar. If you schedule assignments often, add /equipment/assignments to your browser bookmarks for one-click access.
  • Filter by Status before reviewing. When auditing, set the Status filter to Started to see exactly who's using what right now.
  • Filter by Contact for follow-up. If an operator leaves a project or the company, filter the calendar by that contact to see every active or future assignment that needs to be reassigned.

Troubleshooting

  • Issue: The + Add Assignment button doesn't appear.
    Solution: You don't have permission to manage equipment assignments. Ask your account administrator to grant the Manage Assignments permission for equipment. See Managing Permissions for Vehicle and Equipment Assignments.
  • Issue: I get an error: "This contact already has an overlapping assignment for this vehicle/equipment."
    Solution: The same operator is already scheduled on this equipment for an overlapping time window. Either pick a different operator, adjust the times so they don't overlap, or open the existing assignment and edit it instead of creating a new one.
  • Issue: I get an error: "End date must be after start date."
    Solution: Make sure the End Date/Time is later than the Start Date/Time. If you want an open-ended assignment, leave End Date/Time blank.
  • Issue: I changed an assignment but the Current Assignee on the equipment's record didn't update.
    Solution: The current assignee refreshes automatically a few minutes after a change, or as soon as the start/end time of an assignment is reached. If it's still stale after several minutes, refresh the page.
  • Issue: A piece of equipment I expected to see is missing from the calendar's left column.
    Solution: Archived and deleted equipment isn't shown. Also check the Search box and the Type filter — clear them to see everything.
  • Issue: I want to move an assignment to a different piece of equipment.
    Solution: The equipment can't be changed on an existing assignment. Delete the original assignment from the equipment's Assignments tab, then create a new one on the correct piece of equipment.

Related Articles