How can I pull info into a report using just the first two characters of that field?

I am trying to pull a total cost based upon locations in a particular area(s). Can I get the formula to just do this based on the first two characters of that field?

Here is what I have so far:

if {PACKED.LOCATIONS.NEXT OPERATION} = ["xx"] THEN {Job.Total_Price}

Packed locations is a table I'm pulling from and the column I want just the first two digits is the the Next operation. Once this meets the "xx" (whatever location) then give me the total price from the Job table.

This works for one or two orders, but then blows up when I do 10 or so.