With driver shortages at an all-time high, fleet managers are looking for ways to do more with fewer drivers and without overworking their teams. In other words, they’re searching for ways to streamline operations. Streamlining operations is all about optimizing processes and automating tasks to save time while improving productivity.
Fortunately, fleet managers have many options. Let’s look at four ways to streamline operations with fewer drivers.
4 Ways to Streamline Operations with Fewer Drivers
While there are many ways to streamline trucking operations, some of the most effective methods include:
1. Optimize Route Planning
Route planning is an effective way to organize your deliveries and assign trucks to shipments. Optimization takes things a step further by making your routes as efficient as possible.
There are many tools out there that can optimize your routes (manual optimization is not practical). These tools use advanced algorithms that take several factors into account when optimizing your routes, including:
- Distances between stops
- Traffic
- Driver schedules
- Delivery windows
- Service times for certain types of deliveries
- Driver speed and skill
- Vehicle capacity
- Locations of warehouses and hubs
- Geofencing limitations
- Break times
Because optimization is automated using algorithms, you can make adjustments on the fly. Quick adjustments mean that you can adapt to unexpected changes and help your team be as productive as possible without overloading them.
2. Improve or Automate Dispatch Management
Effective dispatch management ensures that drivers know where they’re going and what shipments they’re delivering. Dispatch also finds solutions for unexpected delays when drivers are out on the road.
Many companies still do dispatch management manually, and this can eat into a fleet manager’s time. Automated solutions can free up valuable time that managers can use to focus on core tasks. Additionally, automation can:
- Reduce the risk of error, which can cost the company time and resources
- Mitigate delays
- Improve driver productivity and efficiency
Enhanced or automated dispatch management can help ensure the right drivers are assigned to the most efficient routes and delays are resolved without a hitch.
3. Use a Vehicle Tracking System
A vehicle tracking system is a valuable investment that can tell you:
- Where your trucks and shipments are located at any given time.
- Which shipments are on time, and which ones may be delayed.
- Which drivers may need more training.
When you know where your vehicles and shipments are, you can make last-minute changes in the most efficient way.
4. Optimize Driver Scheduling
Driving scheduling has become increasingly important in recent years, with the FMCSA monitoring hours of service strictly. Proper driver scheduling and optimization are two ways to streamline operations with fewer drivers.
A few things you’ll want to focus on are:
- Planning out driver scheduling, considering each driver’s limitations and home time needs
- Scheduling driver hours that adhere to the strict hours of service requirements
- Creating lists of driver availability, skills and limitations
Driver scheduling must also account for the experience of the driver. If a driver is new, they may not have the skill or confidence to deliver to major cities. Your driver scheduling optimization must account for all of the limitations of the fleet and put drivers on routes that allow them to succeed.
If you optimize your driver scheduling properly, loads will move faster, and profits will rise. Every driver with a truck must be assigned to a route, or you’ll be losing money and/or a competent trucker in the process.
Hiring in today’s market is fiercely competitive. Keeping drivers on the road and happy allows you to stay ahead of the game.
The Benefits of Streamlining Operations
Streamlining your operations helps your business thrive in the short-term and long-term. Transportation and deliveries are on-the-rise, and if you begin to streamline operations, you’ll benefit in multiple ways:
Improved Driving Productivity
Higher productivity is one of the benefits that fleets appreciate the most. When your deliveries are optimized, this means:
- Improving your fleet’s bottom line
- Reducing delivery time
- Improving customer relations
In the end, streamlining operations enhances a fleet’s operations and allows you to complete more deliveries.
Time and Fuel Savings
Fuel will always be a major concern for fleets, with the entire industry consuming over 45.6 billion gallons of fuel annually. Last-mile delivery demands that you get products to customers as efficiently as possible.
Fleets can do this by monitoring and optimizing routes, accounting for traffic and using real-time monitoring.
When fleet optimization is in place, this means:
- Shorter delivery times
- Reducing fuel use
If your fleet has fewer drivers, you must streamline operations to maximize driver pay while also reducing delivery time and fuel usage.
Increased Delivery Accuracy
Finally, and often the most important perk of optimizing your operations, is that you can deliver goods with greater accuracy. The greater accuracy improves customer satisfaction, improves employee satisfaction and allows your fleet to have a clearer picture of your operations.
Delivery management accuracy also works to improve profits because you’ll find times when you can improve your delivery, take more loads and reduce late delivery risks.
Optimize for Profitability
As your trucking routes become busier, it’s important to spend time streamlining your operations. Reviewing what’s working and not working for your fleet and working to reduce delivery time and improve delivery accuracy will empower your trucking fleet.
An optimized, streamlined fleet is a profitable fleet.
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