The best logistics management happens at the queue.
Driving in an unfamiliar area isn’t as common as it once was. Thanks to GPS and the smart phone, it’s possible to observe an area as it’s driven. In fact, it’s possible to observe an area before it’s driven. Once upon a time, the courier needed time to memorize an area. It took one or two return trips before a route, or an area, became familiar. Especially if the route led to the boondocks. Looking back on it now, those days of the at home delivery experience seemed less complicated and much more like an adventure.
A working adventure. That’s a positive sounding attribute for a job. An adventure. It sounds exciting and unpredictable. It certainly sounds more fun than logistics management. However, running delivery is very much like, logistics management. Particularly in unknown areas. There has to be a plan if there’s going to be travel in unfamiliar zones. A familiar zone, helps with the unpredictable. For example, picking up fuel, or tending to urgent vehicle needs. A familiar area, or zone, can mean fewer delays and setbacks.
With this in mind, it’s not unusual to get outside the preferred zone. Furthermore, on some deliveries, it’s possible to go from one zone, through another, and end up in a completely unfamiliar area. This is usually the result of a far away drop-off location. If the drop-off is in the boondocks, extended courier travel time is a given. And there is the time it takes for the return trip. This is important because any potential for additional deliveries fades with each tick of the clock.
The Best Logistics Management
That’s how it feels to the courier. Making a decent hourly wage is all about delivery completions per hour. Crew couriers with fixed zones can snag four deliveries an hour in one dinner rush. That’s four separate return trips to the merchant, or the home base. Of course, that is also an experienced courier with an in-depth knowledge of the delivery area.
But what if we take it one step further? Let’s add a couple of stacked deliveries to those four deliveries per hour. Now the courier has six delivery completions an hour. That is an example of optimum opportunities for tip income. The hourly crew courier isn’t making additional money from the hourly wage. In fact, the merchant wins in that scenario. This is because the courier cleared six deliveries from the dispatch board, and it only took an hour.
Additionally, the courier cleared six deliveries in an hour, and didn’t get any speeding tickets. This is a textbook example of logistics management. Without a concise and actionable plan, that kind of delivery load isn’t sustainable. Furthermore, merchants with in-house delivery crews are doing this with no fewer than five, and sometimes as many as ten or more, drivers.
It Happens At The Queue
For the solo courier things are a little different. For one thing, there is no home base. Or, no store, to return to. The solo courier has a zone but can move autonomously into other zones at will. Or not. While crew couriers have advantages, so do solo couriers. For example, logistics management. The crew courier has control over route selection, but the destinations are predetermined by the order of the couriers in the queue. The solo courier has logistics management and it begins at the queue.
The solo courier, or the courier using a delivery app, can accept or decline a delivery offer. There are forty five seconds to review an offer before it returns to the queue. Therefore, most couriers learn to quickly see the details that matter to their individual circumstances. Some couriers are concerned with mileage. While other couriers base their decisions on the amount of money in the offer. Whatever the criteria, there is only forty five seconds to glean the information from the offer. If it matches accept. If no match, then decline the offer.
This is an effective way for the solo courier to use logistics management. The solo courier must compare available resources against the details of the offer. Furthermore, the details of the offer must be within the available resources of the courier. For example, limited fuel means limited miles. Therefore, accepting a high mileage offer from the queue, is not the best logistics management. However, the solo courier has more flexibility in choosing the delivery. This means the courier can decline the offer, and wait for the next offer. Stay safe out there.
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