It comes every year, but it surprises us every time and often poses severe problems – of course we are talking about the winter. Everyone involved in the transportation industry knows that a lack of road maintenance and poorly equipped trucks can cause major problems and increased costs. We cannot influence the weather but we can adapt our business to the weather and to the slippery conditions.
Download the tips for efficient driving in winter weather conditions below!
Why the school bus driver is my hero
Even though I’m not a school bus driver by profession, I can clearly imagine what it’s like. That’s because I know what it’s like to be a professional truck driver. To me, truck driving could be very stimulating with a good sense of freedom, being there on my own in the cab. But I also know it could be stressful when there is an impatient receiver of the goods I carry, and something goes wrong…
The fact that schedules and deadlines are critical for transport operations is not news. Missed deadlines could mean profit loss and even lost contracts but may also result in causing a bad reputation for the company. The professional driver is well aware of this and knows how to keep up their schedule. However, missed deadlines may occur due to instances beyond the control of even the best drivers. There are different ways to deal with the possibilities of these unfortunate circumstances.
For rescue operations ‘response time’ is one of the measures for effectiveness. In emergency situations response time should be as short as possible as this could be crucial for saving lives or properties at danger. Accordingly, much effort is put into reducing response times. But actually, what is response time?
The total response time could be split into three clearly different phases:
It’s quite obvious that the potential for reducing response time will differ considerably depending on what phase we’re looking at.
Most people stick to the familiar, that’s quite natural, and we feel comfortable with the working tasks we already know. We know what to do, we know how to do it and we know how long it takes. All this makes it easier to plan for the day – without ruining the coffee break…
A transport stoppage for just a few days is enough for large parts of our society to come to a sudden halt. Despite this, the challenges facing the transportation and logistics industries have never been so great as they are now. Lower rates, increased competition, bigger forwarders, a shortage of drivers, tighter requirements for safety and quality certification, and requirements for clean, climate-friendly transport are just some of the challenges that contractors themselves describe as obstacles to good profitability and productivity.
More than half of transportation firms in the USA and Europe have problems with profitability. How can contractors adapt their operations to the challenges they face while also achieving profitability for their own companies?