Improved Pre / Post Route Process frees up 25 minutes per day per driver!

Background

Our client is a private fleet operator operating over 1,500 daily routes across 140 originating depots.  Their service schedule is a mix of scheduled frequency pick-up and delivery customers in addition to on-call customers.  Daily volumes were regular and predicable.

The Challenge

Our client was experiencing significant overtime, in excess of 20%. The client was also growing its business by 7-10% annually, placing further strain on its route operations.

Our Approach

We engaged with our client to perform an operational study of a large, representative depot in a major metropolitan market.  We mapped the relevant processes and reviewed the route level detail for the prior 6 months.  Based upon our analysis, we determined the daily pre-route and post-route activities were taking much longer than the expected standard.  A more detailed time study revealed the following common causes of delays:

• Daily loads were not consistently prepared in a timely manner to facilitate an on-time departure for the drivers.
• Drivers spent 55 minutes before and after route, walking ¼ mile to complete their pre and post route routines.  We identified significant opportunity to reduce the time and distance walked.
• Pre-trip and post-trip vehicle inspections were inconsistently completed, leading to delays on-route and maintenance issues.

Our Solution

We worked with the client team to design and implement a few low-cost, simple improvements to reduce pre-route delays and excessive time spent post-route.

• Adjusted the facility loading schedule to establish clear route start times. This schedule would then drive vehicle loading, preparation and departure times.
• Developed a set of tools to forecast route supplies and to communicate these expectations to the dock team.
• Re-organized the driver locker-room and supplies to reduce the distance walked by drivers and the time spent searching for needed materials prior to departure.  Reduced distance walked from 1,334 feet/day to 504 feet/day.
• Established a clear schedule and metrics for driver start and departure times.  Supervisors now review these times daily and act immediately to address causes of delays.
• Developed detailed procedures for daily pre and post trip vehicle inspection to ensure inspections are performed accurately and vehicle condition reports are forwarded to the appropriate team members for immediate resolution.

The Results

We worked with our client to implement the new procedures and studied the results over the 30-60-90 day implementation cycle. The results were impressive:

• Driver time on-site was reduced from an average of 55 minutes per day to 30 minutes per day, a savings of 25 minutes per day for 24 drivers.  A savings of 120 hours per week, equivalent to 3 FTEs!
• Annual cost savings totaled $150,000 per year for the pilot domicile.

Based on the initial results, the client engaged us to deploy across their entire system. 

• We developed a comprehensive deployment strategy to facilitate the implementation
• Designed a workshop approach to tailor a solution that addressed the unique requirements of each location
• Engaged local management teams to develop the new pre and post route processes
• The implementation took 6 months to complete across 140 locations
• Resulted in over $3 million in annual savings.