We have had a mighty cold snap all across the country in recent weeks. Here in Houston where I run, Hot Shot Delivery, Inc, a Houston Courier Service, we are finally going to reach the 60 degree mark for the first time in a week. Now before all my friends up north start in on me about this, I must say, Houston, Texas has not seen sustained overnight temperatures below freezing like this in over ten years. Heck, I’m usually in flip flops at New Years!
So, what does this have to do with 24/7 365? The media has story after story with the local plumber reminding people to wrap their pipes and stay prepared. They have been getting calls at all hours of the night for broken pipes and busted sprinkler heads. Running jobs at all hours of the night is nothing new to most of us in the courier business, but it is important to stop and reflect on the importance of being prepared and having a proper strategy for any and all weather related events. Especially when driving at night in subfreezing weather. The roads are slick and deliveries still have to be made urgently, but, with extra caution.
Do you have a winter strategy in place? Have you spent time ensuring that those who work for you and represent you know what precautions they need to take when transporting freight or even themselves to and from the office?
Here are a few tips for winter driving conditions:
Use slower acceleration and slower speeds.
Avoid heavy steering and braking.
Allow extra time to reach your destination during inclement weather. It is not worth putting your own life or the lives of others in danger to save time.
Drive with your headlights on.
Don’t get overconfident with four-wheel drive. It won’t help you stop any faster.
Winter road conditions often result in longer stopping distances. Give yourself room. If you have anti-lock brakes, press the pedal down firmly and hold it. If you don’t have anti-lock brakes, gently pump the pedal.
Slow down when approaching intersections, off-ramps, bridges or shady spots. These all have potential to develop black ice.
Avoid abrupt actions while steering, braking or accelerating to lessen your chance of losing control.
Look farther ahead in traffic. Actions by other drivers will alert you to problems and give you extra reaction time.
Trucks take longer to stop. Don’t cut in front of them.
Avoid using cruise control or overdrive. Don’t let your car make a bad decision for you.
We’ve all had that boss over the years that had no clue what really went on in their business. They spent so much time locked behind their office door that they became extremely removed from the day-to-day happenings of the business they worked so hard to build. It’s an unfortunate situation and one that can usually get way out of control resulting in lost customers, lowered revenue, service failures and disgruntled employees. The sad part is that these bosses usually “open the door” a little too late and spend tons of their time in defensive mode trying to clean up the messes that landed on their plate from “out of nowhere”.
There is an easy way to fix things like this and even prevent them from happening in the future. The simple fix is to open the door, roll up your sleeves and jump in with the crew. As a boss of a wonderful group of very talented people, it’s extremely easy and enjoyable for me to do this. These great people are a part of my family and I don’t want them to do anything that I can’t do or have not done myself.
To be honest, it’s quite a bit of fun to get back to the basics of your company and deal directly with the front line situations. Recently, I spent the day with the customer service group at my Houston Courier Service, Hot Shot Delivery. I answered calls, tracked packages, took orders, communicated with drivers and talked with tons of customers. It was a great day and I vowed to myself to experience this process more often. In just one day on the front line, I learned about a recurring service request that could turn in to a new service offering. I also learned some quick short cuts when working through our system as well as great insight about what motivates my employees.
I did not stop there – I jumped in with one of our drivers and spent the day making deliveries. That gave me the chance to see a day in the life of our delivery drivers. The traffic problems, their interaction with our customers, the challenges they experience and, again, what motivates them as independent contractors were all witnessed during my delivery day adventure.
As it seems to be in many areas, communication is the key. Opening the lines of communication with your employees can make things so much better for everyone and the way to do that is to walk in their shoes. See what they are going through each day and they are more likely to talk to you about their ideas for improvement and feel like an important part of the team.
Now don’t get me wrong, it is still extremely important for you, as the boss, to work on strategy, marketing and the “big picture” of your company. These are areas that can facilitate long term growth and additional revenue streams. Just find a balance between the two and you will see that your company will benefit greatly.
So, be sure to take some time and figure out how you can get more involved with the team. Your entire organization will notice, appreciate and communicate with you – which is a win-win for everyone!
A few months ago, I bought a rack of baby-back ribs from a local grocer. The very next day I cut in to that plastic package as I was practically drooling at the thought of bbq’d ribs. Much to my dismay, this horrid smell of spoiled meat came flooding over me and my desire for bbq’d ribs quickly turned to a desire to keep my breakfast down. As I sat and waited for my appetite to come back to me, I started thinking of how this type of thing happens. What I realized is that I was probably not the only one dealing with bad ribs from that grocery store – I imagine that entire truckload of meat was ruined as it sat in the hot sun at some loading dock waiting to be unloaded at it’s final destination. Another casualty of supply chain mismanagement. Imagine the loss that the distributor and the grocer experienced from having dissatisfied customers and dealing with the returns of some pricey meat selections. I can’t speak for others, but I know that I don’t buy my meat from that grocer anymore.
Could this have been avoided? Absolutely. There are so many examples of problems with final destination (AKA: Last Mile) delivery. Freight, perishables, pallets, exhibits and tons of other deliveries get stuck somewhere in the middle and customers are left wondering. It’s amazing how things seem to travel seamlessly from one corner of the US to the other, but getting your freight off of the truck in the middle of the day on a crowded street with no parking can be close to performing a miracle. Or worse, wondering if your time-sensitive trade show booth was accidentally left on the dock the day your convention is starting.
Truck At Empty Dock
Now the concept of delivering freight may seem simple, but trust me, it CAN have its challenges. For example, when a truck comes in to a city like mine (Houston, TX), the delivery can be extremely tough. Getting through the traffic congestion and jams, or moving in and around the downtown area can be very tricky. Dock appointments can also prove to be a chore, particularly if the freight is going to a convention center. All of these challenges can end up with your freight stranded on a truck. So, what’s the solution? This is where it gets a bit more simple…find a last mile provider and transfer the load. What is a last mile provider? A last mile provider is a delivery service that specializes in the final leg of a delivery. They should offer a climate-controlled warehouse along with the proper equipment to handle a freight transfer.
This is an example of one service that my company, Hot Shot Delivery, handles on a daily basis. Our Nationwide Freight Service along with our in-city on-demand courier service can handle the process of unloading those huge 52 Foot 18-wheelers full of deliveries. Once unloaded, we split them up between several smaller trucks, cargo vans and cars who can then cut the delivery time down by huge amounts. This gets the freight to the customer sooner, gets the 18-Wheeler back on the road to pick up more long-haul deliveries and when it’s all done – both sides of the equation have saved time, money and additional resources. Trust me, when you see long-distance trucking companies have to turn down deliveries because their trucks are sitting idle at a dock waiting to be unloaded, you would likely agree with the value of a last-mile delivery provider.
In the spirit of ribs, I’ll give you an example. We recently had a truck with 12 pallets of BBQ Spice Rub come in to town and have difficulties making their final delivery. Not only was the delivery point unable to unload the product (no loading dock and no forklift), but the truck would not even fit in the downtown area. The truck re-routed and came to our facility where we unloaded the product and re-loaded it on to a straight truck that had a lift gate. The delivery was done within an hour after we received the freight and the large truck went on to pick up his next load. The fee we charged was so much less than the charge resulting from the amount of hours the driver would have used on his log that we actually saved the customer money. And, the large truck driver was able to get halfway to his next destination in the time we saved him.
This service is available in almost every city. So, if you have to ship large items across the country, be sure to ask your delivery provider how they will be handling the last-mile delivery aspects. Because waiting around for the freight that is obviously stranded somewhere is not a good way to spend your day. If you need help with this or if you just want a great recipe for some BBQ’d ribs – don’t hesitate to contact me.
There is an easy way to fix things like this and even prevent them from happening in the future. The simple fix is to open the door, roll up your sleeves and jump in with the crew. As a boss of a wonderful group of very talented people, it’s extremely easy and enjoyable for me to do this. These great people are a part of my family and I don’t want them to do anything that I can’t do or have not done myself.
