What do planners use to get a time from a-b-c( apart from guesswork).
Example- down to arrive at drop at 3.45(never stopped on way )and got there at 4.30,then they had me back at depot at 5.30( depot hour away,it took hour to tip me and reload me,I had to divert 10 miles out of way to get fuel,needed 30 min break) so arrived at depot at 8.oo( 2 hr 30 late), then they said back at own depot 11.30( change tri and 50 mins back to yard() which I arrived back at 9.30( 2 hrs early).
It seems to me as if there trying to get in your mind and make you think you need to go faster at the beginning of the day,then suddenly they think holy ■■■■ he’s going to be back way to early and give you 3 hrs to do what takes roughly 1.5 hrs
Any planners or ex planners wish to comment
Not a planner but I know they use a computer to plan these routes, throw in 10 mins to tip ( surely that’s ample time) then off to the next one. Problem is a lot of the software they use is geared for (car) national speed limits.
Oh, and they’re also clueless too.
“It’s only an inch on the map, drive …”
The one I like is “can you just nip into Freighliner and get a container for us?” Well, no, I can’t. You see, one just “nips” to the shop for a pint of milk, or to the pub for a quick snort. One goes to Freightliner - which is an hour’s drive away - and queues for two and a half hours, then takes half an hour to get through security, and drives another hour to get back to the yard. That’s five hours’ work … not a “nip” in anyone’s book.
I used to do the west end for octavian many moons ago. When the ex drivers used to route, it was a doddle. Then they brought in paragon, which took into account timed deliveries, ie between 10 and 2 etc. Upshot was 30 drops planned 3 in soho, 1 in mayfair, 2 in st james’, 6 in mayfair, 2 in soho etc etc. Orders were picked and loaded using paragon so we spent an extra 5-10 mins a job digging the gear out
the maoster:
Oh, and they’re also clueless too.
Sums it up pretty much, don’t forget the politics & bs that goes off behind the scenes, most planners nowadays are puppets who take orders from muppets that haven’t got a clue…
It’s all done on computer. Trouble is it doesn’t take into account real world scenarios like slow traffic, half hour getting the back door man attention etc etc