Continuous improvement is something that logistics companies understand. Several inefficiencies happen during bulk transport that can cause issues that could lead to late deliveries, product shortages, damaged products and time and money lost.
Bulk transport services that are successful understand all the things to look for and are usually great at finding ways to make up for damages, shortages, and late deliveries.
Your operations are important to you and should be handled by others who also care.
The freight brokers that specialize in bulk freight transport are great for seeing what you can’t and can keep an eye on what needs to be looked after.
Here are some great efficiencies that good transport services handle correctly.
What should happen in bulk transport when there is a waiting process?
- ‘Hurry up and wait.’ Truck drivers play this game all too often. When a driver arrives to pick up a bulk product, the most important thing is to have everything ready so you do not keep them waiting. If you keep a driver waiting, this translates to time lost for the driver as well as unhappy customers. A few reasons this happens is because facilities can get backed up and have a hard time fitting a truck in to be loaded or unloaded, testing, or there are issues with scheduling that need to be resolved.
- If this happens, there is a process. If the driver is waiting over a certain period, they should be paid demurrage. This is a wage that would have to come out-of-pocket from the facility that is paid to the trucking company and that is paid to the driver. The driver needs to make sure they are waiting to communicate with dispatch so they can contact whatever responsible parties that need to be made aware.
- The driver, the dispatcher, and the facility must all have paperwork and or a specific process they follow to track when the driver arrives, leaves, and how long they were waiting for. It is important to track it or you will have a lot of he said/she said going on. Paperwork is always the best backup.
What should happen in bulk transport when communicating location and ETA?
- Drivers need to have a system with dispatch to communicate when they are booking on, booking off with last known locations. Some companies only rely on GPS with their drivers and this is known to cause mistakes because sometimes the GPS does not update. Drivers should also keep dispatch of issues with the weather, traffic backups as well as truck mechanical issues. As long as dispatch knows these things are happening, they can stay in touch with both the shipper and the receiver to ensure everyone is kept up to date.
What should happen in bulk transport if there isn’t the right equipment?
- The right equipment is key to being able to load and unload the bulk transport. At an old job, there were many times that a load would show up and we would not have the proper equipment to properly take it off the truck. This would result in damaged products or we had to hand bomb everything off the truck keeping the driver waiting.
- A good bulk transport company will ensure the shippers, drivers, and receivers all have the proper equipment to handle the bulk loads on and off the trucks.
Taking care of these efficiencies will ensure that many of the common issues that are faced are handled properly to optimize operations across the board. Be sure these systems are in place to handle such things and tons of time and hard-earned money will be saved.