A 5-step approach to improve Company Transportation Logistics

Logistics challenges accompanying material hauling are difficult to overcome. Contractors have been working with material suppliers, fleets, and brokers for decades to ensure that our nation's infrastructure projects run smoothly, despite significant challenges. A construction company should ask itself how to incorporate best practices into its everyday operations to stay ahead of the competition.

1. Communication & Dispatching

Dispatchers manage the flow of trucks to and from job sites and answer questions for drivers, material producers, the foreman on the job site, project managers, etc.

The job can be overwhelming for dispatchers. There are ways you can support dispatchers better so they can focus on providing amazing customer service, but dispatchers tend to be resourceful problem solvers. When companies push the needle in these best practices, they'll be able to move more materials to job sites, make more money, and gain greater customer satisfaction.

  • The efficiency of your job site can be improved by optimizing scheduling. A project foreman and crew can prepare more quickly if the dump trucks arrive at the job site at different times.
  • Managing schedules in one clear view increases dispatcher efficiency and confidence.
  • Dispatchers benefit from having the ability to work from anywhere and keep their projects on schedule and within budget.

2. Visibility

Visibility is a major blind spot, whether you own trucks or contract with third parties. It affects all departments. The lack of visibility jeopardizes the budget and timeline of projects.

Visibility improvements have obvious benefits. The use of technology and enhancing communication will help you move forward. That can create a more efficient delivery process and a more trustworthy relationship with less idle time.

3. Proper Utilization of Assets

Your team should understand the impact of asset utilization on your profitability. It will require you to track current usage and lay out a clear plan of action that outlines what needs to happen and how it will accomplish. As well as helping you do the grunt work, technology assists with staying on track to meet your goals. Rather than spending hours tracking usage manually, easy access to reports and analytics.

In a fleet of trucks that runs five or more times per day, even small changes in asset utilization could result in additional hours per day per truck used. Your business becomes more profitable by leveraging the assets you already have by adding a single hour per truck per day.

4. Invoice

It is far from ideal to manage hauler invoices. Your company's bottom line can significantly impact if you process or pay hauler invoices more efficiently.

Cutting down on manual work is the single most important thing contractor can do to improve invoice. Gaining efficiency here is crucial. Invoice processing alone can save your business 728 hours per year by eliminating friction and manual processes. Back office employees will have more time to work on their other duties.

5. Documentation of Logistics

COVID-19 brought Documentation of Logistics to the foreground, a topic that has been looking for quite some time. A solution now seems imperative.

Post-COVID-19, it appears to be here to stay. The construction industry builds best practices and aligns technology to help its employees stay compliant finds itself positioned for continued success.

To learn more, watch the following video tutorial.

Video Source: Cerasis , now part of GlobalTranz

Wrapping it Up

An industry-wide solution will not solve the challenges the construction sector faces.

The key to long-term success for your business lies in expanding and improving the current processes while incorporating new technologies most efficiently. Companies that implement technology early are enjoying amazing results.

A 5-step approach to improve Company Transportation Logistics