Traffic Recording and Control
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An efficient system must be simple to operate and provide up-to-date results on which useful action can be taken.
LAST week in this series it was emphasized that, whilst many small hauliers can and do rely entirely on memory and verbal instructions to control efficiently their small fleets, any substantial expansion would inevitably necessitate the inauguration of an adequate recording system. Concurrently, the need to delegate authority would have to be accepted and provision made to secure the necessary staff where these were not already employed.
Simplicity in the forms used is essential, particularly as many of these are likely to be completed by manual or operating staff. Subsequent summaries of basic records, such as daily log sheets, should be limited to comparatively short periods of a week or so, with the result that they can be available for examination within a few days of the week's work being completed.
When no other factors are involved and the operator is able to choose Iny sequence of days as his working week, the arrangement of Saturday to Friday may, on balance, prove most convenient, assuming that the operator is engaged in some longdistance work involving over-night stops away from the home base. In that event it would be common practice for the majority of vehicles in the fleet to deliver their final return loads for the week on a Friday, or Saturday morning where five-day working does not apply. As a result there would be few instances where it would be necessary to transfer the particulars of a load already on a vehicle from one set of weekly summary sheets to another. This would not only prevent unnecessary clerical work, but would avoid the possibility of either omissions or duplications in the records of traffic carried in successive weekly summaries.
Where it is appropriate to the type of work undertaken by the operator, and particularly where some long-distance running is involved, it would obviously be of assistance to the office staff if the driver himself were responsible for making up a comparatively simple summary from the daily log sheets, inclusive of such additional information as thought fit. As recommended last week for the layout of the daily log sheet, it would be convenient to arrange for the vehicle number and week-ending date to be inserted at the right top corner. It might also be found convenient for the weekly summary completed by the driver to record his hours of work which could subsequently be used for assessing the amount of wages. .
WHEN such a weekly summary serves this dual purpose it will probably be found convenient for the form to be arranged so that the section in which the driver summarizes his hours of work can be readily detached from the main part of the form. This is because in all probability, and particularly with larger organizations, the staff responsible for making up wages would be separate from those directly concerned with traffic control, so that it would be inconvenient if both were requiring the same form at the same time.
If the weekly summary were so arranged to be readily divided in this manner then it would obviously be necessary to duplicate the entry of the vehicle number and week-ending date in both sections of the form, with the addition of the driver's name on the hours section.
n18 The summary which the driver would make from his daily log sheet, in addition to a record of hours worked, would be basically concerned with details of the journeys made and fuel supplied. To this end the main section of the form would be sub-divided, vertically, into two sections headed ".Journeys' and "Fuel."
The section, "Journeys," would be further divided vertically into seven sub-sections. The first column would be headec "Day and Date," whilst in the next two columns there woulc be entered information as to the starting and finishing point for that particular day. The fourth column, the largest o the seven, is the one which would vary most, dependent upot the type of traffic carried by individual operators. For the purpose of this example it is headed simply "Details of Collec tions and/or Deliveries.'
SIMILARLY, columns five and six would be varied accordini to individual circumstances and could, in practice, be added ti when necessary. Their prime purpose is to provide a read: analysis and summary of the total amount collected ant delivered by a vehicle, and so ultimately the fleet. Agaii dependent on the type of traffic moved, this total would b• shown in tons, gallons or any other unit. And, where appre priate, it might be found convenient to provide a column ii which to enter the number of the advice note or invoice whether provided by the customer or the operator, so as tf facilitate tracing any item of goods carried. The last colum in the section headed "Journeys," is provided for entry of ih daily mileage.
The section devoted to fuel is divided into four, In the fin column the gallonage of fuel put into the tank on eae successive day is recorded. The adjacent column is used t enter the corresponding information relative to lubricating oi The third and fourth columns provide for the recording of th name of the supplier, followed by the number of his invoic or agency ticket.
Regarding fuel records, it would at first seem natural t endeavour to record the actual daily consumption so as to ti up with the corresponding daily mileage, and so obtain a immediate rate of fuel consumption. Where all vehicles retur to one base each night, as is often the case with many of th larger bus companies, this, in fact, could readily be done b systematically refilling the tank to the top each night. B this means the daily consumption would then be the same r, the amount put into the tank.
But for the majority of hauliers, particularly where son long-distance work is involved, or where no night filling sta are engaged, this simple solution would not be possible. Mort over, where fuel is purchased from outside suppliers it wool not normally be practicable to fill tanks completely as coul be done at one's own depot. Alternatively any attempt to jud€ the amount consumed during the day by comparison of a di taken at the commencement of the day and again at the en would be so prone to inaccuracies as to be of doubtful valu
A compromise solution is to ensure that the tanks of a vehicles are completely filled each week-end on return to ti home base, so that the amount added to all quantities supplie during the week would then be the equivalent of the amenie msumed during that period. Comparison of this amount with le total weekly mileage should then give an accurate rate of ;el consumption. At the same time, the addition of the daily ileages recorded in the final column of the section headed Journeys" can be balanced up with the difference in the miloeter readings between the successive week-ends.
hi addition to obtaining .fuel from outside suppliers, some )erators may also be in a position to fuel at depots of their vii or associated companies who would subsequently render mmaries of the issues at weekly or monthly intervals. The me columns which are used to record amounts received from itside suppliers could also be used for ctiecking such weekly • monthly returns.
When this type of summary is employed by ancillary users, e columns in which details of the traffic carried are recorded .n be more specifically prescribed. Even where large commies are concerned the range of goods moved would be mewhat restricted compared with that of the professional tuber. Where it is necessary to charge the various departments an organization separately for the transport services proled, the columns could be so drafted as to give an analysis ncurrently with the work being performed.
Although this at first sight may seem a comparatively small • int, any attempt to arrive at a similar analysis from, say, three onths' records in arrear would inevitably be a major task cessitating the transfer of staff from other duties, or at least ertime working. As with all other transport records, not ly is the maximum benefit obtained from their completion d presentation immediately the work to which they refer has en performed, but at the same time their compilation is made simple as possible, since all facts arc fresh in the minds of ase concerned.
4 making analysis of tonnage carried (or whatever unit it convenient to use) it is important that agreement should be tched as to whether the quantities are to be recorded when : goods are collected or, alternatively, when delivered, This particularly important at week-ends when a load may be t on a vehicle on Friday or Saturday for delivery the follow; week. Unless a principle has been established and is fully derstood and practised, the weight of a load could be duplied in the ultimate monthly or quarterly summary by its ring been recorded in two successive weekly summaries. The angement not to record the weight on the occasibn of both lection and delivery does not prohibit a record of both calls ng made in the main section of the weekly summary entitled, ourneys," under the sub-heading, "Details of Collections 1/or Deliveries."
itill assuming that the operator is engaged on general tlage, or C licence operation involving some overnight stops ay from the home base, it would then be common practice the haulier or transport manager to systematically brief his vers on Fridays or Saturdays as to their duties for the initial iod of the following week, followed, of course, by further instructions from the manager by telephone or other means as the week proceeds At such week-end briefings the use of weekly summaries can also provide a quick means of checking that the driver concerned has handed in all relevant documents in connection with the week's work he has just completed. In addition to the data contained in the summary itself, the listing of the advice note numbers, as well as agency tickets or other invoices recording details of fuel supplied, provides a ready means of ensuring that these have been handed in before the driver leaves again on his next week's work. The absence of one or more such documents can be particularly frustrating when it prevents completion of fleet summaries which would normally have been achieved early the following week.
The prompt and regular completion by the driver of the summary sheet is achieved by the addition of the section devoted to a summary Of his hours on which is based the amount of wages paid. Because of the obvious personal interest in the completion of this section, the whole of the form is more likely to be compiled regularly than would otherwise be the case.
According to the particular requirements of the wages department, a section can be drawn up at the foot of the summary of driver's hours in such a manner as to facilitate analysis, either as between the number of hours paid at standard time or any other rate, or alternatively as between the time worked for one department or customer and another. S.B.