Drivers & Planners

[james1985]

Hi mate, I read your post earlier in the week but wanted to write a considered response – I hope that this isn’t too long winded and will give you a useful insight.

You have been with the business a few years now and they obviously think enough of you to offer you the role. I’d drop some hints about how beneficial it would be to your understanding and efficiency as a planner if you had the benefit of cat C licence yourself Hopefully they’ll bite and put you through if (if you want it of course)! That is how I got mine and my C+E (the TM mentioned how much I’d enjoyed the cat C training and that I’d only got 2 minors on test to one of the directors and to my surprise the response was better put him through C+E too then ). If you don’t fancy that then maybe the TM CPC course, previous employer put me through mine and it has been the qualification that has opened the most doors for me as well as giving an invaluable understanding of the legislation governing the industry and drivers. There are still some businesses out there willing to invest in their staff if you have the right attitude.

Treat others as you would want to be treated yourself and you won’t go far wrong.

My advice would be sit down and decide if you really want it, would they let you sit in the traffic office for a day or two to soak up the atmosphere and get a feel for it?

At times it can be a misunderstood and thankless role and (just like a modern LGV driver) there is much more to it than meets the eye. Not trying to put you off but it isn’t an easy job those who think it is simply handing out deliveries and the odd backload / collection to drivers is sadly mistaken.

You’ll spend much of your day juggling the unrealistic expectations of your customers (and sometimes your own sales / commercial department who’ll promise the earth and not bat an eyelid about how it will actually be achieved) along with breakdowns, punctures, sickness, timed deliveries / collections with the odd accident thrown in now and again for good measure (usually during a melee of phone calls). 99.99% of the time you’ll never get so much as a thank you for meeting or exceeding the expectations of a customer but you’ll defiantly hear about it when things go wrong! It is all about communication and being proactive, the majority will be fine if you take the time to call and explain.

Your actions and decisions directly affect the bottom line of the business and you’ll expected to be accountable and be able to justify them. KPI’s will become the bane of your existence. Depending on the business you’ll probably be expected to carry out anything from general admin to disciplinary hearings (the list of responsibilities is long a varied).

There are good days too of course – there is no sweeter feeling than when something goes as planned or better

Doing my licences opened my eyes a lot and to be honest I’m sick of being cooped up in the office all day now and the sheer volume of work / admin / accountability expected. Luckily my manager is great and when I mentioned that I wanted to get more involved in the driving / compliance side they agreed. Looking forward to Monday as I get to go and play with the new wagon & drag for the day with one of the regular drivers when it gets delivered

[juddian]

DonutUK:

Juddian:
The quickest way to get your best driver’s backs up and get them looking for other jobs is to take the easy route which the vast majority of planners do.

As said above, you have the reliable drivers who get on with whatever they are given to do, and you have the other sort who unless they are being fed the best work of the day will winge and whine about it endlessly, this works dividends for them because the planner for various reasons, including a quiet life but mainly because they’ll just go and do it, gives those who jump up and down and stamp their little feet the easy and most lucrative work and the hard awkward jobs fall as usual onto the dependable.

I’ve seen this over a lifetime and thought they may say nothing, your good drivers are quietly keeping their eyes open for a job where they are valued and get a fair crack of the whip.

Doesn’t work with me…the more a driver moans and whinges about nothing, the worse work I’ll find them…figure they are going to moan regardless so may was well give them something to moan about…

Good, glad there’s some out there.

Unfortunately the really hardened moaners are seasoned veterans in giving it back in spades (and getting away with it), mess about long enough with excuse after excuse so the job doesn’t get done leading to the customer being let down and the planner having to rely, after all as the rest of us knew would happen, on one of the good drivers having to do the job as well as their own…hence one of the many reasons they give it to the good driver in the first place.

Such problem staff should be the responsibility of recruiters and higher management, but they are so skilled in many cases at avoiding doing their jobs properly that, yet again, it falls back on the planner and his merry band of reliable drivers to get the job done…oh and get a bollocking for it due to underused resources due to the incompetent moaners that the higher ups took on in the first place…a no win situation for everyone bar the useless, drivers and management, who, as they always do, swan off into the sunset without a care in the world.

I’ve seen this more times than their is bandwidth available here to write about.

Driver A is reliable never late never takes a sicky gets on and does his job day in day year in year out without an accident and keep his equipment good.
Driver B is unreliable takes the ■■■■ throws sickies without even phoning in messes about and generates so much aggro that he gets the best work every day just for a quiet life for the planner, if he gets a bad day he goes sick, his lorry is a battered wreck that only gets the oil checked when it goes for service or when he throws a sickie and the agency bloke has to put a gallon or two in before he dare start the engine.

One day driver A is at deaths door with double pneumonia sciatica and the mother of all migraines, so he has to call in sick for the first time in 15 years, he hates doing so.
Driver B had a timed delivery that had to be there and just this once made it.

Driver A is now the biggest arse hole going and Driver B is the best thing since sliced bread.

This and similar happens in every yard every day of the week.

[mercury]

Respect for drivers. Remember they have to manage themselves. So u r basically admin.y we prefer women in desk jockey roles.take your test so u can cover any sickness.if u want to be a good desk jockey u need 3 years on the road. And they are not your drivers. U r their admin

[constantine]

DonutUK:
As an ex driver, now planner…drivers will fall roughly into 2 types…those who get on with the job, take pride in what they do and you will rarely hear them complain. Or, those who will ■■■■■ and moan about anything and everything…who will work hardest in trying to do as little as possible and need to be spoon fed everything like a petulant child.

The quicker you identify who is which type the easier your life will be!

And when the first type do complain, it’s worth listening to because chances are they are right and you might learn something or avoid a ■■■■ up!

You are perfectly entitled to plan drivers to their full hours…but use a bit of common sense about and leave a margin of error! If you’re not sure, talk to your good drivers…they generally have a wealth of knowledge for you to tap into.

Don’t expect drivers to break the law to get you or the company out of the [zb]…especially if it’s poor planning that’s caused it. Learn from the mistakes.

Unfortunately detailed above is genuinely true about the types of driver, sad isn’t it.

As long as you’re are aware of those types and treat each accordingly and remind them and you also remember the old proverb “treat those as you wish to be treated yourself”. And remember you have two ears and one mouth, so try and help those willing to help you at the beginning you should reap great benefits from that.

You’ll get on fine and best of luck.

C

[muckles]

mercury:
Respect for drivers. Remember they have to manage themselves. So u r basically admin.y we prefer women in desk jockey roles.take your test so u can cover any sickness.if u want to be a good desk jockey u need 3 years on the road. And they are not your drivers. U r their admin

Respect for the drivers who can manage themselves is one thing, but if you think that every driver can manage them self then you’ve never worked in a transport office and listened them.

A good planner will work out which driver need only need the basic management and will get the job done without the need to check up on them or will keep you informed if there are problems and which drivers need spoon feeding or they’ll end up doing Christ knows what?

And no you don’t need 3 years on the road to be good or a licence to cover sickness, because while you cover the sick drivers job who is covering your job of making sure x number of trucks are going to the right place to deliver goods for the customers who pay the wages of the drivers and office staff.

[mercury]

There is no shortage of admin.these. Evident by the number of staff available.some do take the micky yes. But to work in planning on the job knowledge is vital.for example health and safety law now means criminal charges can and will be brought on management with a just get the job done attitude. When I was a planner it was safety then profits.made me very unpopular with others as they were just drivers. I ask a planner a question on protocols if he gets it wrong I don’t listen anymore. Abs leads was the one that they all kept quiet for profit. Some still say run on amber. Experience then planning not tie ■■■■ and teeth with nothing up top.anyone saying run on amber abs is now criminally liable. Your average Joe with a degree in palaeontology doesn’t know this. So why is he there.

[mercury]

The software does the routing. They just press a button

[mercury]

Drivers should be in these roles.