About Costing Constants

Costing constants are values that are used in the costing routine that do not vary in circumstances specified by your transit site policies and union agreement.

Note: Your Trapeze representative has set up costing constants specific to your transit site when FX was installed. Changes made to the constants are not user dependent but affect data specific to a sign-up period.
Although the costing constants are set up together with the costing routine, the Costing Constants feature provides you with a simple interface to change certain values.
Note: You are not able to type values that go beyond the Minimum and Maximum Values set in your custom costing routine. To apply values outside of the minimum and maximum values set in your costing routine because of policy or union agreement changes, contact your Trapeze representative in order to have your costing routine modified.
The following are commonly used constants:
  • Report/Preparatory Time: The amount of paid time given to operators before commencing a shift at the garage (before pull-out). Typically, this is the time spent inspecting the vehicle before pulling it out of the garage.
  • Minimum Break: The shortest time allowed for a break between pieces that may be paid to an operator.
  • Maximum Break: The maximum time used for a break between pieces. Sometimes, this break is paid to the operator and its calculation referred to, for example, as Intervening Time, Paid Swing, or Paid Lunch in the Costing or Costing Summary dialog boxes.
  • Guarantee: The time that is guaranteed to operators, which affects the calculation of Make-up/Pad time. Not all sites pay make-up time on runs especially part-time runs or extra board.
  • Maximum Work: The maximum total time an operator works in a day before he or she is paid overtime premiums.
  • Overtime Rate: This is the ratio/factor used to calculate overtime premiums often at a time and one half rate. This is usually calculated based on the time after the Maximum Work has been reached.
  • Maximum Spread: Typically, the maximum time from the first Report Time to the last Clear Time that an operator works in a day. This calculation varies between sites. For any amount of time after this constant is reached, an operator is paid a premium.

  • Spread Overtime Rate: A pay rate granted to operators for all the minutes worked over a specified Spread Time.

    This can also be referred to as Spread Penalty.

  • Maximum Tripper Platform: This indicates the maximum part-time or extra board platform, which typically is not paid the same rate as full-time operators. This is useful with the Automatic Runcutting feature.
  • Relief Report: The time an operator may be paid for a road relief where the operator meets the vehicle at a designated time point and takes over the vehicle.

  • Clear/Turn-in: An amount of time (which may or may not be paid) at the end of a run or piece of a multi-piece run (at pull-in time). During this time the operator turns in transfers, receipts, supplies, reports and any other required duties after leaving his or her vehicle.

    Time amounts are entered in minutes, and rate amounts are factors (for example, 1.5 for an overtime rate). What is considered payable time for operators varies among transit sites.