Beating the backlog
Page 3
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When not slaving away getting this issue out, the CM team has all its collected fingers crossed that the road transport industry will be able to deliver Christmas on time. So far, our office is not collapsing under the weight of the gifts we've all ordered.
Our page 6 lead this week reveals the extent of the industry's backlog, created by bad weather arriving at the same time as demand begins its seasonal spike: not so TLcha perfect storm but rather a perfect s*** storm.
The conundrum for parcel operators, indeed all operators, is how to meet major customers' service level agreements ISLA1 without piling on crippling costs to beat the backlog. In some cases, it may be worthwhile throwing financial and human resource at the backlog and meeting the SLA thereby retaining customer loyalty.
And if you are doing just that, remind your customers of the hoops you've had to jump through. The late John Ball, when chairman and MD of Fraikin, told us: For goodness sake, you have to remind the customer 'we've done an outstanding job for you'. Don't be coy about excellence it shouldn't be taken for granted."
As we all witnessed during the snow, the national media and Joe Public alike suddenly remembered why road transport is an essential industrynot a necessary eviland why it shouldn't be taken for granted.
Another Herculean effort during this peak will serve • , as a further reminder