In a world driven by scorecards, ratings and reviews, it’s more important than ever to make sure your business stays on top of the list of shippers people want to work with. One way to help improve your “shipper scorecard” is being ready for Drivers when they arrive.
With the new Electronic Logging Device (ELD) mandates, getting Drivers loaded in a timely manner has never been more important. The clock is always working against the Driver so they need to be as efficient as possible in order to stay profitable. A one hour delay at the shipper can turn into delivering a day late. An inefficient loading process also limits capacity and, in return, drives rates up.
Across the industry, Drivers expect to be “live loaded” — which means their truck should be loaded or offloaded within one hour. That being said, shippers that can manage to do that task closer to the half-hour mark will provide a better experience and, therefore, improve their so-called scorecard.
Besides load times, other ways to improve the Driver experience include:
- On-site parking
- Accurate and detailed load information
- Clear directions for the Driver to follow, including where to park, where to check in and what side of the building the Driver needs to be on
Word spreads quickly in this industry, so it can be difficult to talk Drivers into going to specific shippers that have a track record of lengthy load times. Quick turnaround times minimizes detention and overtime, increases capacity and lowers rates. Everybody wins.
