A delivery service can be a very difficult operation to manage. After all, you probably have a large fleet of drivers that are travelling around the city, state, or country. How do you make sure consignments are delivered on time? How do you make sure your staff is driving safely and that your vehicles stay in good condition? How do you even communicate with your staff when they’re all on assignment?
You probably already have processes in place, but you can always improve them. Here are some tips on how to streamline business operations in your delivery service. These tips can help you boost the productivity of your company and save money.
Bring Servicing In-House
One of the best ways to save time and money (especially time) is to hire one or two auto mechanics to service your fleet of vehicles. This would definitely be a long-term savings plan for your company. At first it might seem much more expensive to hire mechanics rather than to just take your vehicles into an auto mechanic when you need to. But if you’re spending too much on car repairs, an in-house mechanic might be the way to go.
Every vehicle matters in a small delivery business. When a vehicle is broken down, that’s one less vehicle you’ll have to make deliveries and earn money. When one breaks down, you’ll lose money on the repair cost and from not being able to provide for clients.
Hiring a mechanic is a great way to prevent your vehicles from ever breaking down. Your mechanic can consistently check fluids and maintain the tires, and this constant maintenance will make your vehicles last much longer. Furthermore, a mechanic can discern major vehicle issues long before they become a bigger problem.
If you don’t have the money to hire a mechanic full-time, consider hiring a part-time mechanic who can work on your vehicles two to three days per week. Or, you can even service your vehicles yourself. You can save a ton of money by buying your own auto supplies, and just a few simple maintenance procedures each week could keep you from ever having to take your vehicle into an auto shop.
Track Your Fleet
Tracking your fleet is a great way to ensure that your deliveries are prompt and successful. Your drivers might initially be proposed to tracking systems, but you should consider them a necessity. The only way your business is going to succeed is if you can complete deliveries as fast as possible. With GPS tracking, you’ll know that your driver made it to the delivery location. You’ll also know when a driver takes an unauthorized detour—you’re not going to maximize your deliveries if you allow your drivers to run their own errands while they’re on the clock.
Tracking systems can actually be a huge benefit for your drivers. Good systems are capable of tracking driving information on each of your drivers and rewarding the most successful ones, and some even come with commercial roadside assistance features if one of your vehicles breaks down.
Create an Easier Communications System
It’s important to be able to communicate with your drivers when they’re out making deliveries because you may need to relay critical traffic information or delivery updates. You need to be careful about how you communicate with your drivers—you don’t want to distract them and increase their risk of getting into an accident. There are a couple easy ways to can communicate with your drivers more safely and efficiently.
First, get a phone mount for each vehicle so that all your drivers can operate their phone hands-free. Phone mounts enable drivers to answer calls or read messages without taking their eyes too far off the road.
Second, use a business communications platform like Slack. This is a messaging platform that enables you to easily send messages to single drivers or select groups of drivers. You can organize each delivery project into separate chats, and your drivers are able to send messages via voice command so they don’t have to take their hands off the steering wheel.
It’s easier than you think to boost your profits and improve the efficiency of your delivery service. Just do vehicle maintenance in-house to save on repair costs, implement GPS tracking with your fleet, and use physical and digital tools to improve the ease of your communications system.
