Simplified Traffic Control
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As the owner driver expands his fleet, adequate recording of collection and delivery becomes essential.
IN recent weeks in this series some of the problems which arise when the owner-driver or small fleet operator adds further vehicles to the business have been discussed. Previously such operators often may have found verbal instructions and memory alone sufficient for the relatively limited needs of their small concerns. But as additional vehicles are purthased it becomes necessary to record on paper many of the instructions which formerly were given verbally.
Whilst the statutory requirements as to hours of work and journeys undertaken must in any case be met, many operators find it convenient to include additional information on the daily log sheets and a more comprehensive daily vehicle sheet has already been outlined. In conjunction with a fleet-numbering system based on the type and size of vehicle rather than the chronological order in which they were purchased, the summarizing of the daily vehicle sheets on to weekly fleet summaries and subsequently halfyearly summaries is thereby facilitated.
Allied to the record of fuel consumed by the vehicle, sheets would also be required on which to record the operator's own pump issues which may occur at more than one depot. A suitable sheet for this purpose was described on December 10.
For several purposes it is convenient to divide the overall operation of a transport department—whether goods or passenger--into the two major functions of engineering and traffic, with a possible addition of. a secretarial or administrative department if the size of the organization justifies this addition.
Engineering and Traffic Whilst this division between engineering and traffic is commonly applied and recognized in large organizations, they do not always appear specifically designated as such in smaller concerns. Nevertheless the underlying functions remain and with it the need to relate recording systems accordingly.
The record sheets so far dealt with in previous articles relate mainly to the engineering side of a transport organization, although admittedly the term " engineering " is here used and commonly understood in transport circles to cover a wider range of activities than normally would be associated with the word in its more limited sense.
Here it implies all work involved in the acquiring, maintaining and operating of a commercial vehicle, up to the point at which goods or passengers are conveyed. The control of their movement is the function of the traffic department and indeed the basic reason for the running of the vehicles.
Because of this distinction between the two functions of engineering and traffic, it follows that most recording systems concerned with the engineering side of a business will have general application.
Obviously a fuel issue sheet devised to meet the needs of an operator's pump would be equally applicable whether the vehicles were goods or passenger. Similarly, many of the other records would not require variation relative to the differing types of chassis employed, although, of course, the actual fuel consumption recorded and the tonnages carried naturally would vary.
All this facilitates the standardization of many of the engineering records commonly used by a large range of operators for which reason several are obtainable as standardized forms from printing houses.
Infinite Variety Unfortunately, however, this state of affairs does not apply on the traffic side of haulage and ancillary operation. The reason is not far to seek. As the major arm of the transport industry in this country, road haulage moves every conceivable type of traffic in an infinite variety of packages and containers or even in specially devised bulk vehicles.
Added to this wide range of goods carried is the fact that whilst the engineering department can devise its records solely for its own purpose (excluding statutory log sheets) the traffic department naturally has to consider the needs of its customers.
In addition to the customer's own advice note with which the haulier may have to deal, the actual procedure as to ordering by a customer of vehicles or notification of consignments for collection would also have a bearing on the haulier's traffic recording system.
Accordingly, any recommended traffic recording system for general application can do no more than indicate the manner in which such a system should be built up. The many variations already referred to make it impossible to be specific except when one is dealing with an individual company.
Productivity Because of the increased drive for productivity and the quickening tempo of industry generally, many hauliers will receive the majority of their customers' requirements over the telephone. Vital information is thereby originated verbally and obviously it is vital to record this both accurately and immediately.
To serve the purpose for which it was devised any form should facilitate just such an entry of information. Additionally it should, by the inclusion of the appropriate columns, constantly remind the compiler of the form as to the total information required.
In contrast, if no form is available on which to record telephoned instructions, then in the heat of the moment some vitally important item easily could be omitted. At best this would at least incur further time-wasting telephone calls. In less fortunate circumstances the person from whom the instructions originated might no longer be available for some considerable time, so causing delay in executing the instruction.
The record sheet on which the original instructions for collection and delivery of goods are to be entered could usefully be devised as follows. The first decision to be made would be the length of the period to be covered by the record sheet on which the initial instructions were recorded. In many cases a week running from Saturday to Friday would be a convenient period and this will be assumed to be the case here.
Because of possible queries at a later date, precise details of the time and source of the instructions would first have to be entered. Over a main heading of "order received" there would be columns for the entry of the date, time, whether by phone or letter, customer and, where applicable, the appropriate division of the customer's organization.
Depending on Ihe size of the haulier's business, it could also be convenient to number successively every entry line on the sheet so that a quick and easy reference could be made when information has to be traced to its source. In a busy traffic office this can be far from easy unless prior provision has been made by just such a device.
Details of Consignment Now follows the basic details of the consignment. This will first indicate the point at which it is to be collected and the quantity involved. Here again, according to the size and variety of business undertaken by the operator concerned, the column in which the size is indicated obviously will have to be related to the unit of consignment moved— for example: tons, gallons and so on.
There then follows the full and precise address of the consignor. It is remarkable how inadequately many transport instructions are worded in this respect and the dead mileage involved in locating the actual point for collection or delivery because of the inadequate addressing must be substantial when reckoned on a national basis.
Dependent on the type of traffic moved by a particular operator, further columns could be allocated to identify further particular consignments to the appropriate customers and especially the department concerned of the many which exist in large national organizations.
The next group of columns would provide for the entry of the delivery date and, in this era of urgency, probably the delivery time. it is an unfortunate trend from the transport operator's angle that more and more deliveries which formerly were allowed some margin as to the time required are now being specified not only for a particular day but also a particular time. The final column will be entered up subsequently and will form the all-important link between the actual receiving of the order from the customer and its transfer to the actual vehicle working schedule. Dependent on the form of this schedule a convenient system of reference numbers could be devised.
As stated earlier, the period to which this order record form refers naturally will be dependent on the amount of traffic moved by a particular operator. Assuming in this instance that a period of a week could conveniently be dealt with on one form, it would then be logical to devise the vehicle working schedule to cover the same period.
Normal Pattern Having decided on a period of a week it is worth while taking care to see that the opening day of the week fits in conveniently with the normal pattern of movement of goods by the operator concerned. For many operators it would be found that a week running from Saturday to Friday would be more convenient than starting on Sunday or Monday.
Bearing in mind the incidence of the five-day week on transport operation, where possible operators would make every endeavour to offload their vehicles by Friday afternoon to facilitite reloading on Saturday or Monday morning for delivery the following week. This arrangement would also coincide with the regular topping up of fuel tanks on Friday evening or Saturday morning so as to give a true rate of fuel consumption.
The vehicle working schedule then would be vertically divided into the seven major columns for the seven successive days starting with Saturday with provision for the addition of the actual date involved. Prior to the first column (Saturday) other columns would be provided for listing the vehicles in the operator's fleet.
If the fleet-numbering system already described was used by the operator then the listing of vehicles in fleet number order simultaneously would segregate the vehicles into their respective groups. This in turn would facilitate the allocation of traffic to appropriate vehicles. Following this list of vehicles there would be a column for the entry of the driver's name which would be consistent with the vehicle number where a policy of "one vehicle, one driver" applied.
Another Refinement A further refinement to simplify referencing the order received from the customer to the vehicle on which it was subsequently moved, would be to number the delivery days (Monday to Friday in the majority of cases) one to five. It would then be possible by the combination of two reference numbers—for example, 50/2—to identify a particular order received from a customer and record it on the order sheet to vehicle number 50 for delivery on Tuesday.
When so stated the linking up to a particular order with the vehicle which ultimately delivers the consignment appears relatively simple, but where large numbers of con signments are moved weekly by a sizeable fleet the absence of any such linking system makes it extremely difficult to pinpoint any shortcoming should it arise.