Overview
Storage account container counts update automatically as items are assigned to containers, removed from containers, or released from storage, so the next invoice stays accurate without manual changes.
On accounts that bill By Container, the office sees a cost message before a container change that affects recurring charges.
When the crew releases storage items, the items leave their containers, empty containers are removed from the storage account, and released oversized items stop being charged.
Before You Start
Available to accounts using SmartMoving Storage.
Automatic container count updates apply to storage accounts that have items assigned to containers. The behavior depends on the storage account's rate type: By Container, By CWT (hundredweight), By Flat Rate, or By Cubic Foot.
Container and charge updates from released items happen when the crew releases items in the Crew App, through a descriptive inventory check or a release work order.
How Storage Container Counts Update
When You Add Items to a Container
Assign items to a container that is not already tracked on the storage account.
On By Container accounts, a confirmation modal appears asking whether to add the container and update recurring charges.
Click Confirm to add the container. The storage account's container count goes up by one, and the recurring charges change to match. Click Cancel to leave the storage account unchanged. The items stay out of the container, and the container count stays the same.
On By CWT, By Flat Rate, and By Cubic Foot accounts, the container count updates automatically with no modal.
When You Remove the Last Items from a Container
On the storage account's Inventory tab, remove the last items from a container. A confirmation opens titled Remove item from container? (or Remove items from containers?).
On By Container accounts, the confirmation shows the message "This account charges by container. This action will remove the empty container from this account and change the cost for the next invoice."
Click Remove from Container (or Remove from Containers). The items leave the container, the empty container is removed from the storage account, and a message confirms the container was removed. On By Container accounts, the message adds that the cost will be updated on the next invoice.
When an Item Is Marked as Oversized (OS)
Marking a storage item as oversized opens the Storage Cost Will Be Updated confirmation, which says the cost for the next invoice will change. Click Yes, I understand the cost will change to add the item's OS Item charge to the storage account's recurring charges. The OS Item charge applies on every rate type.
When the Crew Releases Items from Storage
A storage item is released when the crew confirms it on a release work order and completes the work order in the Crew App, or marks the item on a descriptive inventory check that moves it to Released. When an item is released:
The item leaves its container and no longer shows a container on the storage account's Inventory tab. The item's Activity Log reads "[Item] was unassigned from [Container type] [Number]."
If other items in that container are not released, the container stays on the storage account and continues to count toward the account's containers.
When the last unreleased item in a container is released, the container is removed from the storage account. The storage account's Audit History reads "Container '[Number]' removed."
On By Container accounts, the Containers line on the next invoice counts one fewer container for each container removed this way, once the next invoice amount recalculates.
If the released item was marked oversized, the oversized mark is removed, and the item's Activity Log reads "[Item] oversized mark removed." The item's OS Item: [Name] line no longer appears on the next invoice. This applies to every rate type.
Releasing items in the Crew App removes containers and OS Item charges without a cost message for the office, including on By Container accounts.
When the Crew Undoes a Release
If the crew undoes a Released scan, or abandons the descriptive inventory check, the item returns to Scheduled or In Transit with no container. A removed container and a removed OS Item charge do not come back on their own. To restore them while the item is Scheduled:
Open the storage account and select the Inventory tab.
To put the item back in its container, select the item's checkbox, click Add to Container, and choose the container. On By Container accounts, click Confirm in the cost modal. The container is added back to the storage account and counts on the next invoice.
To restore the oversized charge, open the item's three-dot menu and select Mark as oversized. Click Yes, I understand the cost will change. The item's OS Item charge is added back to the storage account's recurring charges.
An item can be in a container or marked oversized, not both, so restore whichever one applied before the release. Add to Container and Mark as oversized are not available while an item is In Transit.
Key Details
A storage container is removed from the account only after every item in it is released. If even one item in the container is not released, the container stays on the account and stays on the next invoice for By Container accounts.
On a release work order, only items the crew confirms are released. An item the crew marks as not found stays in its container, so that container stays on the storage account.
If the crew undoes a Released scan, or abandons the descriptive inventory check, the item returns to Scheduled or In Transit with no container. A container that was removed is not added back to the storage account, and the item's OS Item charge is not restored. The office can restore both while the item is Scheduled.
When an office edit, or a crew move in the Crew App, takes the last unreleased item out of a container, the container is removed from the storage account even if released items still show that container. In this case, the office does not see the By Container cost message before the change, because the office screen still counts the released items in that container.
Best Practices
On By Container accounts, read the cost message before you confirm a container change, so you know how the next invoice will change.
Container counts on accounts that do not bill By Container update without a cost message. Billing is not affected by container counts on those accounts.
Review the storage account's Audit History after a release to see which containers were removed.
No manual container count updates are needed, including after the crew releases items.
Troubleshooting
A cost confirmation did not appear when I expected one.
Container cost messages only appear for office changes on By Container storage accounts. On other rate types, and when the crew releases items in the Crew App, container counts update automatically without a cost message.
A container came off the storage account without a cost message.
The container's remaining items were all released. The office screen counts released items that still show the container, so it does not show the By Container cost message when the last unreleased item leaves. Check the storage account's Audit History for the removal.
The container count did not update after I assigned items.
On By Container storage accounts, the container count updates only after you confirm the cost modal. If you canceled, the items were not moved to the container.
A container is still on the storage account after items were released.
A container is removed from the storage account only when every item in it is released. Check the storage account's Inventory tab for items in that container that are not released, including items the crew marked as not found on a release work order.
A container came off the storage account and the crew undid the release.
Undoing a Released scan does not add the container or OS Item charge back. While the item is Scheduled, use Add to Container or Mark as oversized on the Inventory tab to restore it, as described in When the Crew Undoes a Release.
A released oversized item is no longer charged.
Releasing an oversized storage item removes its oversized mark, so its OS Item charge does not appear on the next invoice. This happens on every rate type.