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1. Introduction
TASc6 replaces whiteboards, radios and spreadsheets with one live view of every bay, every trailer and every move at your depot. Everyone who touches a trailer — the person loading it, the person driving it across the depot, the person signing it in at the gate, the person routing it out — looks at the same live data, on a screen built for their own job.
Rather than one screen trying to do everything, TASc6 gives each role exactly what it needs and nothing else:
This guide is in four parts: getting TASc6 installed, setting up your site's network and devices, a chapter for each role above, and a troubleshooting chapter at the end.
Note. Screens update the instant something changes elsewhere — there is no refresh button to look for and none is needed.
2. Installing TASc6
2.1 Before you start
2.2 Choosing your installer
Both installers are the same application — pick the one that matches how many sites you need. If you're not sure, choose Multi Site: it works even if you only plan to use one site to begin with.
Both give every role — Planner, Loader, Shunter, Dekit, Security, Dispatch, Fleet, VMU and Admin — under the same licence and support.
2.3 Downloading TASc6
Download the installer from tasc6.net/download.html. You'll be asked for a name, email, company, and town/city so we know who's trying TASc6 and can follow up if you have questions — the download starts immediately afterwards.
Trial. TASc6 is fully usable the moment it's installed — every feature works for 14 days with no licence key needed. Buy and activate a key any time, during or after the trial, to unlock a full year.
2.4 Running the installer
Windows is cautious about running a new, unsigned installer downloaded from the internet — TASc6 is a small company's product, so it hasn't yet built up the download history that stops Windows from flagging it. None of the following means anything is wrong with the file.
Your browser flags the download
Edge or Chrome may say the file “isn't commonly downloaded” or similar. Choose Keep or Keep anyway (wording varies by browser) to finish the download.
Windows SmartScreen: “Windows protected your PC”
When you double-click the downloaded installer, you'll very likely see a blue screen headed “Windows protected your PC”, naming an “unrecognized app”. This is Windows SmartScreen, and it appears for any new application that doesn't yet have an established reputation with Microsoft — it is not a virus warning.
More info — click this link inside the blue box first. Don't click Don't run yet.
The box expands to show the app name and publisher, and a new button appears: Run anyway.
Run anyway — click this to continue. The installer wizard opens as normal.
If you don't see “More info”, your organisation's IT policy may have this locked down centrally. Ask IT to approve the installer, or to add it to the allowed list in Group Policy or your endpoint protection console.
If Microsoft Defender blocks or removes the file entirely
This is rarer than the SmartScreen prompt above, but can happen — particularly on a machine with stricter, IT-managed antivirus settings — because the installer bundles a full Node.js runtime, which some antivirus heuristics treat with extra suspicion purely because of what it's capable of, not because of anything it actually does.
Open Windows Security (search for it in the Start menu).
Go to Virus & threat protection → Protection history.
Find the TASc6 installer in the list, and if it's been quarantined or removed, choose Restore.
If it's blocked again on the next run, add an exclusion: Virus & threat protection settings → Manage settings → Add or remove exclusions → add the folder you're installing TASc6 into (e.g. C:\TASc6).
On a company-managed PC, these settings may be controlled centrally and greyed out — IT will need to make this change or approve the installer for you.
2.5 Allowing TASc6 through the Windows Firewall
This step matters more than the two above: every other desktop and tablet on your site reaches TASc6 over the network, so if Windows Firewall blocks it, TASc6 will work perfectly on the host machine itself while nobody else on site can connect at all — which is a confusing symptom if you don't know to look for this.
The first time TASc6 starts, Windows will normally show a prompt titled “Windows Defender Firewall has blocked some features of this app”, naming Node.js.
Tick Private networks (and Public networks too, if your site network is set to Public in Windows).
Click Allow access.
If this prompt was missed, dismissed, or answered “Cancel” by mistake, fix it afterwards:
Open Windows Security → Firewall & network protection → Allow an app through firewall.
Click Change settings (needs Administrator rights), find Node.js in the list — or click Allow another app… and browse to node\node.exe inside the TASc6 install folder if it isn't listed.
Tick both Private and Public, then click OK.
2.6 First launch
Once installed, TASc6 runs quietly in the background and shows a small icon in the Windows system tray (near the clock). Right-click it for Start, Stop, and a link to open TASc6 in your browser.
Leave it running. The host machine needs to stay switched on for everyone else on site to reach TASc6 — see Chapter 3 for how this fits into your site's network.
Open a browser on the host machine and go to http://localhost:3000 to sign in for the first time.
2.7 Activating your licence
TASc6 runs as a full 14-day trial with nothing to unlock. When you're ready to buy, visit the licence page using the installation ID shown at http://localhost:3000/activate on the host machine. Paste the key you receive into that same page to activate — this unlocks TASc6 for a full year.
Need help installing? Email licensing@tasc6.net and we'll walk you through it.
2.8 Uninstalling or reinstalling
Close TASc6 from the tray icon (Stop) before uninstalling or reinstalling. If Windows later says a database or program file is “in use” even though you've uninstalled, a copy of Node.js from TASc6 is still running in the background — open Task Manager, go to the Details tab, and end any node.exe process before trying again.
3. Setting Up Your Site
TASc6 is one live system viewed from everywhere on site. Getting that right depends more on your network and device layout than on the software itself.
3.1 The basic layout
The host machine. One Windows desktop or server runs the TASc6 installer and stays switched on — this is what every other device on site actually talks to. It doesn't need to be powerful; it needs to be reliable and left running.
The network. That host, and every desktop and tablet that needs to reach it, should sit on the same network — ideally a dedicated VLAN kept separate from general office and guest traffic, so depot operations aren't competing with everyday network noise.
3.2 Devices by role
Desktops — Loading Managers, Fleet, Admin, Planners and VMU work from a fixed desk, so a standard desktop or laptop on the wired or Wi-Fi office network is all that's needed. Each one simply opens a browser pointed at the host machine.
Tablets — Shunters are moving around the depot, not sat at a desk, so their screen is a tablet mounted in the cab of the tug. It connects the same way a desktop does — over Wi-Fi rather than a cable — which is why coverage across the whole depot matters so much for this role in particular.
Ideally 15.6″ or bigger
Android tablets stripped back to only display TASc6 work well — any hardware with a browser and Wi-Fi will do
Needs a signal everywhere the tug goes, not just near the office
Wireless coverage. Because Shunters view TASc6 from a moving vehicle, patchy Wi-Fi anywhere on site shows up immediately as a dropped screen in a tug. External-rated access points sited to cover the full depot footprint — gates, load areas, the furthest corners — are what makes that reliable. It's much easier to survey and site access points properly up front than to chase a dead spot after Shunters are already relying on it. If you're not sure how many your depot needs, a site survey from your network installer is worth the cost.
3.3 Step by step
Prepare the network — set up a dedicated VLAN for TASc6 traffic, separate from general office and guest Wi-Fi.
Site the wireless access points — install external access points covering the whole depot footprint, joined to that same VLAN. Walk or drive the full depot afterwards to check there's no dead spot along any route a tug will actually take.
Choose the host machine — a Windows 10, 11 or Server machine, desktop or small server. Connect it by cable where possible, and leave it switched on.
Download and run the installer — see Chapter 2.
Give the host machine a fixed address — a static IP or DHCP reservation on your router, so its address never changes. Every other device on site points at this address.
Connect the office desktops — on each Loading Manager, Fleet, Admin, Planner or VMU desktop, open a browser to the host machine's address (e.g. http://192.168.x.x:3000), sign in with that role's account, and bookmark it.
Connect and mount the tablets — join each tablet to the depot Wi-Fi, open a browser to the same host address, sign in with the Shunter account, and mount the tablet in the tug's cab.
Walk the site before going live — drive a tug around the entire depot with a tablet running, checking the connection holds everywhere a Shunter will actually work, not just near the office.
Activate your licence — see Chapter 2.7.
Planning a multi-site rollout? Email info@tasc6.net and we'll help you plan the network and device setup before you buy anything.
4. Getting Started
4.1 Signing in
Every user signs in with a username, password, and a site. Your Admin sets up your account and tells you your username and starting password, and which site(s) you can sign into.
4.2 Finding your way around
Once signed in, you land on the one screen built for your role — there's no menu to hunt through. Admin, Planner and Fleet are the only roles with more than one page, because they're the only roles that ever need it.
Everything updates live. If someone else logs a trailer in at the gate, assigns a driver, or completes a bay, your screen updates within a second or two on its own — you never need to refresh.
5. Admin
Admin sets up everything the other roles work with day to day. It's organised into tabs: Dashboard, Trailers, Trucks, Drivers, Users, Bays, Bay Restrictions, Backups, Sites, Trailer Types, Configurations, Audit Log, and System.
5.1 Dashboard
An at-a-glance summary: total trailers, total users, trailers currently active, and how many moves are pending in the depot right now.
5.2 Sites
Add, rename, or remove sites (Multi Site installs only need more than one). Each site can carry a Default Haulier — set this and it pre-fills the Haulier field on Security's inbound and outbound gate screens for that site, saving Security re-typing the same haulier for every gate event. It's a starting value only; Security can always type over it for a specific load.
Site code. Chosen when a site is created and can't be changed afterwards, since other records (trailers, bays, users) refer to it directly. Only the site name and default haulier can be edited later.
5.3 Trailer Types & Configurations
Trailer Types (e.g. “13.6m Curtainsider”) and Configurations describe what a trailer is, for planning and restriction purposes. Both support add, edit and delete from their own tabs.
5.4 Trailers
The full trailer list across every site: number, site, type, status, current bay, and route. Add a new trailer, edit its type/configuration, or delete it here.
Deleting a trailer. Every other entity (users, trucks, bays, sites) is permanently deleted when you remove it. Trailers are the one exception — removing a trailer marks it inactive rather than erasing it, because move history, gate log entries and delivery records often still reference it. This is intentional, not a bug.
5.5 Trucks & Drivers
Add, edit and remove trucks (registration, home site) and drivers (name, phone, licence number, home site). Both support the same edit-in-place pattern as everything else in Admin.
5.6 Bays & Bay Restrictions
Bays lists every bay at every site — number, area (e.g. INTAKE, FROZEN, CHILL, DEKIT), grid position, status and whether it's active. Editing a bay lets you change its area, grid position, status and display order; the site and bay number themselves are fixed once created, since they're a bay's identity.
The Area field. This is free text, not a fixed list — the placeholder suggests LOADING, INTAKE, FREEZER, CHILL or DEKIT as examples. Spell Dekit bays exactly as DEKIT consistently across your site so Loader, Dekit and Shunter all recognise them the same way (the system matches this without regard to capitalisation, but keeping your own naming consistent avoids confusion for your team).
Bay Restrictions let you limit which trailer types can go on a range of bays — useful where, say, only certain bay numbers can physically take a 13.6m trailer. Restrictions can be filtered by trailer number prefix as well as by type, and can be deactivated without deleting them.
5.7 Users
Create, edit and deactivate user accounts: username, role, home site, and active/inactive. Editing a user lets you change their role, home site and active status; a new password can be set from the same screen at any time. The username itself can't be changed once created.
5.8 Backups
Set a backup folder and retention period for the database, and see when the last and next scheduled backups ran. A weekly backup runs alongside the regular database backup, each with its own retention setting.
5.9 Audit Log
A running record of who did what and when — every create, edit, delete and gate event across the system, with the acting username, timestamp, site and details.
5.10 System
Read-only diagnostic information — Node.js and SQLite versions, environment, server uptime and server time — useful when reporting an issue to support.
6. Planner
Planner is organised into three tabs: Delivery Sites, Restrictions, and Route Allocation.
6.1 Delivery Sites
The list of delivery destinations trailers can be routed to — each with a number and name, and any restrictions that apply to it (see 6.2). Search, add, edit and deactivate delivery sites from this tab.
6.2 Restrictions
A restriction is a label (e.g. “No articulated vehicles”) you can attach to a delivery site, together with which trailer types are still allowed to go there despite it. Restrictions can be deactivated without deleting them, and a delivery site can carry more than one at once.
6.3 Route Allocation
Build a route for a given date and route number by adding delivery sites to it in order, reordering stops with the up/down arrows, and removing stops that don't belong. Route numbers reset to 001 each day; use New Route to get the next free number for the selected date automatically.
Completing a route. Mark a route Completed once it's run, or Reopen it if it needs changing after the fact — the status badge and buttons reflect whichever state it's currently in.
7. Loader
Loader's screen shows the site's bay map alongside an Available Trailers panel — drag a trailer from the panel onto a bay to allocate it.
7.1 Available Trailers
Trailers are grouped in a fixed order, so the common case is always at the top:
Empty available — nothing to think about, just load it
Dekit — needs de-kitting before it can be loaded
Return delivery — needs Dekit's attention before it can be loaded
Loaded returning — still carrying a real, undelivered load
Each card shows the trailer number, its type, and — where relevant — a second line flagging what it's carrying:
Dekit and Returns trailers can only be dropped onto a Dekit-area bay — the system refuses the drop onto any other bay, whoever tries it.
7.2 Allocating a trailer
Drag a trailer card onto a bay. What happens next depends on what the trailer is carrying:
A plain, empty trailer — you're asked for the route number for this load (or leave it blank to place the trailer with no route yet).
A Frozen/Chill/Ambient/Xdock (or Mixed) trailer — you're first asked “Reload it now?”. Answer Yes to assign a route number exactly as normal; answer No to simply place the trailer in the bay with no route, to be unloaded first.
A Dekit or Returns trailer, dropped on a Dekit bay — no route number is asked for at all; it's just placed there for Dekit to process.
Only a Loader can allocate a bay to a trailer still carrying Frozen/Chill/Ambient/Xdock stock — Dekit and Shunter can't action these, by design.
7.3 Once a trailer is in a bay
A trailer sitting in a normal load bay shows two buttons: Complete (once loading is finished) and Move To (request a Shunter move it elsewhere).
A trailer Dekit has just finished emptying — still sitting in its Dekit bay — shows Move To and Park up instead of Complete, since there's nothing to “complete” until it's actually reloaded:
Move To — reuses the normal move request — pick a destination bay and a Shunter carries it out.
Park up — asks a Shunter to simply remove the trailer from its bay and leave it idle and available, with no destination bay in mind.
8. Dekit
Dekit empties trailers that came back from a route still carrying old packaging (Dekit) or unsold shop returns (Return delivery), so they can go back into general use.
8.1 Available Trailers
Dekit's own list only ever shows what's actually Dekit's job, in this order:
Dekit
Return delivery
Empty
Empty trailers appear here too — not because they need de-kitting, but so Dekit can load one with packaging or pallets to transfer to another site using the same bays. Trailers still carrying a real undelivered load (Frozen/Chill/Ambient/Xdock) never appear on this screen — that's Loader's responsibility (Chapter 7).
8.2 Processing a trailer
Drag a trailer onto a Dekit bay, the same way Loader allocates a load bay. Once it's physically emptied, click Complete — this clears its stock tag, but leaves it sitting in the bay. It's then Loader's decision what happens to it next: reuse it on the spot (Move To) or have a Shunter park it up as idle and available (see 7.3).
9. Shunter
Shunter runs on a tablet mounted in the tug's cab and shows the live depot map for your site.
9.1 Docking a trailer
When a trailer has been allocated to a bay (by Loader, Dekit, or automatically via an allocation), its tile shows Docked — tap this once you've physically put the trailer in that bay to confirm it.
9.2 Collecting for dispatch
Once a trailer is Loaded and a driver has been assigned to it (see Chapter 10), its tile offers Collect for dispatch — tap this once you've hitched it and are moving it towards the gate.
9.3 Pending Moves
Any Move To or Park up request from Loader or Dekit appears in the Pending Moves table below the map, showing the trailer, its source bay, and its destination — or “Park up (leave idle/available)” if there's no destination bay at all. Complete it once you've physically made the move, or Cancel it if it's no longer needed.
9.4 Cancelling a Dekit allocation
A trailer allocated to a Dekit bay but not yet docked can be cancelled directly from its tile, freeing the bay again.
10. Dispatch
Dispatch assigns a driver and a truck to a route once loading is complete.
10.1 Assigning a driver and truck
A truck can be assigned on its own, ahead of time, if you already know which one is running the route. A driver, however, can never be assigned without a truck — if the trailer doesn't already have one, you'll need to pick a truck at the same time as entering the driver's name. This is deliberate: Security's gate screen refuses to dispatch any trailer with a driver but no truck, so this stops that being discovered at the gate instead of at the desk.
10.2 Driver assigned — last 24 hours
Below the assignment list is a rolling 24-hour window of what's recently been assigned — trailer, route, driver, truck and the time it was assigned — so you can see what Dispatch has been doing recently without it growing without limit.
11. Security
Security logs every trailer through the gate, in both directions, from the gatehouse desktop.
11.1 Outbound
Pick a completed, assigned load from the “Ready for dispatch” list — this automatically shows you the trailer, driver and truck for that load so you can visually confirm it's the right one before logging it out. The Trailer Number field fills in from your selection, but stays fully editable if you need to correct it.
Security won't be able to log out a trailer that has a driver but no truck assigned — that has to be fixed by Dispatch first.
11.2 Inbound
Pick from the “Expected back” list, or type the trailer number directly if a driver has swapped trailers en route and the one that's physically arrived doesn't match what was expected — the field is never locked to the list.
Tick whichever stock types describe what's coming back on the trailer (Dekit, Shop return, Frozen, Chill, Ambient, Xdock, or Empty) — this is what routes it to Dekit's screen, Loader's screen, or straight back into general use.
11.3 Haulier
The Haulier field pre-fills from the site's Default Haulier (set by Admin — see 5.2) for both directions, but is always a plain text field you can overwrite for a specific load.
11.4 Gate history
A running log of every gate event at your site, most recent first, for reference if a query comes up later.
12. Fleet
Fleet maintains the pool of trucks and trailers available across every site — unlike most roles, Fleet's view isn't limited to one site.
12.1 Trailers
Search the full trailer list, add a new trailer to the pool, remove one permanently, or mark one VOR (vehicle off road).
Marking a trailer VOR. If it's sitting free in the depot, it's held by VMU immediately; if it's out on a route, it's held automatically once it next returns to site. Either way, only VMU can release it again (Chapter 13).
12.2 Trucks
The same pattern as trailers: add, remove, and mark VOR with an optional reason. A VOR'd truck shows as “Held by VMU” until released.
13. VMU
VMU (Vehicle Maintenance Unit) is where trailers and trucks that Fleet has flagged VOR are held until they're fit to go back into service.
13.1 Held trailers
Every trailer currently held by VMU, across all sites, with its type and last route. Release puts it straight back into the available pool.
13.2 Held trucks
Every VOR truck, with the reason Fleet gave when it was flagged. Release returns it to Dispatch's available list.
14. Troubleshooting
14.1 “This file is in use” after uninstalling
TASc6 normally runs with no visible window — the tray icon controls it, not a program in the taskbar. Windows can still be holding a file open from a copy of Node.js that's running in the background, most often when TASc6 was started from the “Troubleshooting (console window)” shortcut, or was left running from before a reinstall.
Open Task Manager (Ctrl+Shift+Esc) and click the Details tab.
Right-click the column headers, choose Select columns, and tick Command line.
Sort by Name and look for node.exe — the Command line column will mention server.js or your TASc6 install folder.
Right-click it and choose End task.
Check the taskbar for a black console window too, and close it if you find one.
14.2 The tray icon says Stopped, but TASc6 is clearly running
Right-click the tray icon and choose Start. If TASc6 is genuinely already running (for example, started from the console shortcut rather than the tray), it detects this and won't start a second copy — it's safe to try. If the status still looks wrong afterwards, restart the tray icon itself: right-click → Exit, then reopen TASc6 from the Start menu.
14.3 Nobody else on site can reach TASc6
Check these in order:
Is the host machine switched on, and is the tray icon showing TASc6 as running?
Has the Windows Firewall prompt for Node.js been allowed through (see 2.5)?
Is the device trying to connect on the same network/VLAN as the host machine?
Is it using the host machine's fixed address, not “localhost” (that only ever works on the host machine itself)?
For a tablet: is the Wi-Fi signal actually present at that spot in the depot?
14.4 Forgotten password
Only Admin can set a new password for your account — there's no self-service reset. Ask your site Admin to open Users, edit your account, and set a new password.
15. Getting Help
Your site's Admin is the first point of contact for day-to-day questions — accounts, sites, bays and trailers are all things they can change directly.
TASc6 is built and supported directly by the team that builds it — if something's wrong at your depot, you're talking to someone who can actually fix it, not a ticket queue.