National Clothesline

As you have read before, I am always protective of drivers when I am on a consulting project.

They are your frontline service agents who can often make or break your routes. In other words, they are often called the heart and soul of your delivery service. However, that doesn’t mean you let them run unmanaged and held “unaccountable.”

Without actually hopping on the van, what can you as a manager do to keep tabs on your driver when it comes to accuracy and efficiency?

It really boils down to what I consider the most important management piece you have at your disposal: the manifest, or route list.

Granted, you can utilize a GPS system to monitor your driver, but now you will spend valuable time watching the computer or tracking reports. I still believe one of the easiest ways to train your drivers is to use the manifest daily. In fact, SPOT’s manifest is one of my favorites.

So what can you do with it to stay on top of your route driver?

First of all, I have all drivers put their beginning miles and ending miles every day on every manifest.

OK, this is very simple, but many don’t hold the drivers accountable by enforcing this policy. Sure, you may have to verify the data, but you can keep track of mileage for each route and it should be pretty close.

Also, if you ever have another driver fill in or you actually have a manager jump on the route, you can compare your data. I also utilize the data to manage efficiency.

Secondly, I have every driver mark off each stop as they drive the route. I often notice that driver’s do the route by memory.

This works for those who allow the drivers to not utilize the manifest. But for most of my clients, they are adding five or ten or up to 20 new customers a week to the route. Without the manifest, the driver can miss a new customer.

I believe that by installing a system and to have the driver mark off each stop, you can eliminate some fatal errors and let the driver know you are on top of his performance.

Thirdly, I also have drivers keep track of time on the manifest — not just beginning and ending times, but on each page, also. This not only monitors their time, but it also provides you with information that can be used if a customer calls and says the driver missed them. I can look at the manifest, look at the times and the check mark, and at least inform the customer of the time range the driver was there.

Often it is the customer who missed the driver, not the other way around. With the time information, I can now not only monitor my efficiency for distance, but also now combine it with time.

Finally, just by simply asking drivers to mark the manifest accordingly, I can monitor their attitudes and loyalty to the company. I provide employees with an opportunity to make good money without having a boss looking over their shoulder.

I simply communicate this process with drivers by telling the driver that I am doing this to protect them. If a driver balks, then you are looking at insubordination and hopefully you realize that your driver is more loyal to himself and not the company. You cannot allow this situation to take place. Your drivers should not hold you hostage or handcuff you in your business.

These simple steps are not just management tools for the route. They also provide some protection for every driver each and every day.

Now, I know that the driver may try to “beat” the system, but it is your job to manage your delivery personnel. One of the things that happen when you develop this system of accountability for your route drivers is that it will actually hold you or your route manager accountable as well.

As I wrote last month, one of the reasons routes peak, plateau and then decrease in sales, is a lack of management of the drivers. With a system in place built around the manifest, you cannot only hold your drivers responsible, you are providing information that is a key measurable in monitoring your route costs and efficiency.

I have now developed cost groups exclusively dedicated for monitoring route costs. Most of you know that the more you are on top of your productivity and efficiency, of your delivery service, the more room for growth you have. If you are not, then you fully rely on your drivers to maintain and manage your system and, obviously, that is not a good thing.