Transport logistics play a critical role in ensuring manufacturing or processing companies get their product to the market on time. This is especially true if they’re dealing with perishables like vegetables, flowers, or freshly baked cakes.
Businesses dealing with such products always run their own transport fleets since they need specialized containers to keep their produce fresh for the trip. While buying trucks is easy, getting good drivers to keep the vehicles moving is hard. In turn, many companies consider driver leasing to make ends meet.
But if you plan to outsource drivers, you have to modify your fleet in such a way that it’s easier for you to manage the new drivers on a lease. Here are a couple of things you can do to make that happen:
Draw a Tight Schedule for Any Driver You Get
Schedules have been used to bring sanity into operations for ages. Even the great Berlin Airlift began to take shape when the management imposed strict schedules on the ground crew and the pilots. Setting up a schedule for your fleet will ensure that everyone, from the loaders to the drivers, knows when they are needed to meet their targets. Strict scheduling often irons out unnecessary delays due to the incompetence or laxity of one of your new employees.
Get a Fleet Management System
While schedules might be enough for self-motivated teams, the world has very few of those. A fleet management system that tracks the movement and use of all your vehicles is a great way to enforce schedules. This minimizes risks of unapproved detours or inappropriate use of your fleet of vehicles.
Adding some dash and cargo hold cameras onto the cars is a plus. The cameras won’t only protect your driver by gathering crucial information in case of an accident but also help you track their conduct and work ethics when driving for you.
Keep Your Fleet Well-Serviced
An out of shape fleet will always slow down your transport logistics no matter how fine-tuned your employees and schedules are. Tire punctures will disrupt delivery times. Failed refrigerated containers will spoil your produce while a poorly serviced truck will overheat or lumber up inclines slower than it should.
Keeping your fleet in good shape reduces the chances of accidents and unexpected downtimes since you have minimized the possible failure points. Not only will your vehicles be safer to all road users, but they will also have the power they need to drive at acceptable speeds hence delivering your cargo on time.
Your employees, both part-time and full-time, are likely to be happier and more willing to meet deadlines because all the equipment you have furnished them with works optimally.
By optimizing your transport logistics, you can improve company productivity. You don’t only deliver goods to your current customers faster but also eliminate possible bottlenecks that could limit the number of clients you can take on. Exploring the above options could be a great way to grow your business fast especially if you already have the fleet in place.
