Ensuring delivery
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on time
ri" HE flexibility which the owner-driver or small fleet operator can so readily give his customer is partly dependent upon his initiative and ability to operate efficiently. The smallness of his fleet is also a contributory factor. Because of this many of his customers' orders are not only received orally but the instructions also often carried out without putting pen to paper—other than for subsequent vehicle records.
This personal service has much to commend it—prompt collection and delivery with the minimum of overhead costs and expense to the customer. But there is a limit to the scope the service has to offer. When a fleet increases in size and, possibly, variety, it naturally offers a bigger service, but the time comes when it is not enough to rely on a good memory.
Just when this happens depends on a variety of factors. These include the operator's ability, the complexity of his traffic and degree of urgency as to delivery times. Unfortunately, when a fleet is added to one vehicle at a time rather than, say, in batches of 10, it is easy to overlook the point when reappraisal of the existing traffic recording system becomes essential.
This can result in the operator working much longer hours than would be considered reasonable for the proprietor of other businesses. How does this happen? Partly because of the inherent urgency of much of the work associated with running a transport department. Decisions are made and action taken on the spot, however much it extends the working day. Unlike his drivers, he has no statutory limitations on his hours of work.
In other industries the need for either revising the system or obtaining qualified assistance would be realized and acted upon. But in the case of many small transport operators at least three factors mitigate against this. One, already referred to, concerns the gradual growth of fleets. Secondly, as so often is the case, not only long hours, but low rates mitigate against the possibility of getting qualified assistance.
Third obstacle
Even if the margin of profitability is not so low there can be a third obstacle to revising the current traffic control to meet the new demands of larger fleets. Basically it is the virtual absence of consistently written records—anything that could be labelled a system. In effect, though not necessarily deliberately, the reliance on verbal instruction and a good memory can make a fleet operator indispensable, and his long hours of work are an indication of this. That being so, even when he is in a financial position to employ a capable assistant to reduce his traffic control responsibility, he has nothing to hand over to his assistant as a reliable guide to his method of working.
Therefore, whether or not the recruitment of an assistant can be considered, it is worth the operator's while to think about putting into operation a traffic control system which, if the need arises, can be taken over by someone else.
Here again, as compared with engineering records, the actual traffic forms will mean adjustment according to individual needs. But in most traffic offices orders for the movement of goods are received by a variety of means. Any control system should allow for this.
The first form used in a traffic control system is the one on which the initial order is recorded. One on the following lines is suggested. Headed "traffic instruction sheet" it will be divided vertically into four sections: order received, details of order, delivery instruction and transport reference number.
The whole of the sheet will be ruled horizontally with the lines numbered from one onwards. Just how many lines it is convenient to have will obviously depend on the amount of traffic handled. Likewise this will determine whether a daily, weekly or any other period will be suitably covered by one sheet.
Assuming a weekly sheet is decided upon, after the first column indicating the horizontal line number, the section headed "order received" will be sub-divided under three headings: date, time, source (i.e. phone, letter or verbal instruction where orders are canvassed directly).
The object of this section is to provide a quick reference back to the source of instruction should any discrepancy arise subsequently.
A major section on this sheet will provide for the entry of details of the goods to be moved, including the quantity, type of commodity, customer and collection point and time. The delivery date and time will be entered in successive columns.
Incidentally, more and more transport operators are asked to deliver either at specific times or within restricted periods dictated by local traffic conditions. This makes it all the more necessary for a precise record as to the delivery times. Then all concerned know about it—not just the man who took the order.
Bear in mind that this is the basic sheet in a traffic control system. The last vertical column provides the link with the next sheet which will be the operator's vehicle-working schedule. Briefly the "traffic instruction sheet" is largely compiled from information by the customer. On the next sheet the operator marries such information with the type, size and availability of vehicles in his fleet. As will be explained later the last column on the "traffic instruction sheet" facilitates the cross-reference from the original order to the vehicle on which it is finally delivered.
Dealing now with the "vehicle working schedule" it will again be assumed that it covers a working week. For many operators the choice of a working week commencing on Saturday and finishing the following Friday will be found the most convenient— because most vehicles would normally be off-loaded by the weekend ready for a second working week.
Accordingly this schedule will be divided vertically relative to the seven clays of the week commencing with Saturday. Horizontally it will be ruled according to the number of vehicles in the fleet, or alternatively to the depots concerned.
Again, assuming that a fleet numbering system is used which indicates the size and type of vehicle then the listing of vehicles on this schedule in numerical order will simultaneously group them. This will obviously help whoever is responsible for allocating traffic to vehicles. If more than one depot is involved then even the need to load "foreign" vehicles will not confuse the controller since the fleet number will still readily indicate the size and type.
Quicker references
Dependent upon individual circumstances, where a policy of one driver to one vehicle applies then a further requirement to this schedule is to enter the driver's name. This facilitates quicker reference to the source if there is any query arising from collection or subsequent delivery.
If the majority of traffic is both collected and delivered within a working week then it should be possible to allocate reference numbers one to five for the five successive days Monday to Friday with the addition of "S" for Saturday. This impresses on the minds of all concerned the limitations that obviously apply on collection and delivery on that day.
Having allocated these numbers accordingly, the entry in the last column of the traffic instruction sheet on, say, "60/2" indicates that the vehicle with fleet number 60 has been scheduled to collect, on Tuesday (i.e., day 2) of that particular working week, the traffic entered on the line in question on the "traffic instruction sheet".
Finally, if individual traffic instructions, in addition to collection or advice notes are issued to drivers, then the same combination of reference numbers could appear on these instructions. This facilitates cross-reference all the way through from receipt of the initial order to the delivery and subsequent invoicing for the services performed.