Delivery Team
When dealing with your delivery team’s workload, it is critical that you get organized. Bad or lazy planning can cost your business financially. Although small costs can be accepted when you run a business, the longer the issues drag on, the higher the combined cost will be.
However, it is not all about the financial waste that could be happening within your delivery team’s workload. There is also the point of letting your drivers unwind in safe and comfortable surroundings.
#1 Provide rest areas for waiting drivers
Many drivers are left waiting around while their trucks are being loaded. As they spend most of their working day sitting in their cabs, it may be nice to offer them somewhere comfortable to wait until they are ready to go back out on the road. Of course, you could point them to your canteen area where they will be able to make themselves drinks. However, having a more comfortable seat rather than a dining chair would probably provide more of a rest break.
This area could be made even more comfortable with the addition of a TV or maybe some literature for your drivers to enjoy while they are waiting to be called back to their trucks.
#2 Control delivery routes
With a little effort, you can control your drivers’ delivery routes. By zoning delivery areas, you will reduce the amount of time your drivers are going back and forth and be able to provide them with a more circular route which would be more beneficial for everybody concerned.
Of course, you will have to target your customers and persuade them to accept delivery days that are convenient to your route planning. This can be easily done by offering them discounts for shipping on the days you want them to choose and charging them a higher premium for the inconvenient days.
#3 Ensure all vehicle space is utilized
Having your truck’s capacity only half or partly filled can be expensive, especially if it happens on a regular basis. There are ways you can get around this. You could invest in some smaller-scale vehicles for those days when there is less to be shipped, but this will then leave your regular trucks sitting empty and idle, which is not so desirable.
The other more profitable option is to use load-boarding facilities on shipping work websites. Load boards are a very easy concept to get a handle on, and they provide a great way of obtaining more shipping work straight from the companies and individuals that require it, and you can click here to learn more about how load boards work.
Final thoughts
So, in order to provide your drivers with a bit of a break and a change of atmosphere, you could provide them with a comfortable area to rest while their trucks are in the process of being loaded. Of course, controlling delivery routes can ensure that they are not out on the road for longer than they have to be, and by providing them with circular routes, their time will be better spent. This can be even more focused on with the addition of extra shipping work to fill up any spaces that they have going spare or for making a profit out of any return journeys that your trucks are pretty much empty.
