Understanding VST Permissions: Internal vs. Third-Party Users

Internal Users (Parent-Company)

Internal users belong to your main organization and have permissions dictated by their assigned Access Control List (ACL) roles:

Manage MDS / Manage VST: This is the full management role. Users with this permission can access the Edit, Approve, and Export workspace, create manual shift tickets, define custom export templates, and manage the complete approval lifecycle,,.
Read Only MDS: This is a view-only role intended for back-office staff. These users cannot edit or approve tickets. Their access is restricted to viewing data and downloading exports from the Virtual Shift Ticket Summary and Invoice History pages,,.
Visibility: Regardless of whether an internal user has management or read-only access, they can view all invoices and tickets across all brokers when generating reports for a given date range.

Third-party users have a highly restricted, scoped experience designed specifically for hired hauler workflows:

Strictly Scoped Visibility: Third-party users are automatically restricted to viewing only their own company's VSTs and invoices,,. If a broker generates a report on the Invoice History page, the backend automatically filters the results so they cannot see or download invoices belonging to any other brokers.
Blocked Editing Access: Third-party users cannot edit manual shift tickets. If an external user attempts to click a ticket hyperlink from the VST Summary page, or tries to access an edit URL directly, the system's middleware will explicitly block them,,.
The Broker Workflow: Instead of editing tickets in the workspace, third-party users typically interact with VSTs by receiving emailed PDF invoices. They can review their specific tickets and choose to either approve or deny the work (with required comments) directly from their email

Focus: A top-level "how the whole thing hangs together" article.
Why we need it: Customers will understand the individual pages better if they have a map of the entire VST journey.
Contents to include:
- What is a VST: Explain that it is the summary record for a shift, combining load/ton/hour activity, broker, job/phase, and Zone Analysis results.
- The Lifecycle: Walk through the stages: Create (automatic via scale/dispatch or manual), Edit & Validate (Open/Review/Approved statuses), Approve & Invoice (Email/Download PDF), Export (CSV/PDF), and History.

Focus: A business-outcome-oriented article for controllers and IT staff.
Why we need it: Many customers struggle to understand what happens after a VST is approved. This explains how FleetWatcher talks to their other software.
Contents to include:
- Supported Patterns: Explain how data moves via CSV exports, REST APIs, or PowerBI integrations,.
- Custom Templates: Explain that customers can use standard templates or heavily customized templates built for their specific ERP (e.g., Viewpoint Vista, Spectrum).
- Expectations & Limits: Clearly document the performance guidance: exports should be kept at or below 2,000 tickets, and preview exports over 100 tickets may be sent via email instead of a direct download.

Focus: A setup checklist before a customer goes live with VSTs.
Why we need it: Tickets show customers constantly running into issues because foundational data is missing.
Contents to include:
- Permissions: Remind them to assign Manage VST/MMS roles.
- Scale Integrations: Explain that scale integrations (like APEX or Vulcan) must be configured so that Project and Job numbers map correctly into FleetWatcher,. Phase codes must also be mapped or created automatically.
- Zone Analysis Configuration: Remind them that if they use automated VSTs, they must have valid Zone Analysis Rules and exactly one Default Rule Set configured.

Focus: Explaining the backend magic of how a completed shift turns into a billing ticket.
Why we need it: Customers often ask why a ticket generated a certain way, or why some trucks on a shift got tickets and others did not.
Contents to include:
- The Input Data: Explain that a completed shift contains LCA (Load Cycle Analysis) data and scale tickets for each asset.
- The Generation Logic: Explain that when a user generates shift tickets from a shift, the system tries to match each truck's cycle to a Zone Analysis Rule.
- The Rebuild Function: Explain that if a dispatcher updates the shift LCA (like removing a bad geozone), they must click "Rebuild Shift Ticket" to recalculate the VST

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