Every business has one or more peak seasons, and the Australian taxi truck businesses to have their own peak seasons. Every businessman has their eyes set on the high demand season as a golden opportunity to earn plenty.
But earning in peak seasons has homework that needs to be done religiously. Meeting the customers’ needs, bucking up driver’s performance, lowering down vehicle breakdown, planning in advance, etc. are some of the prior requirements that help you to perform best in peak seasons.
These all may sound daunting tasks, but a little bit of prior preparation can go a long way in coping better with the high demand season madness.
10 Ways A Trucking Business Can Prepare For High Demand
Forecasting & Planning
When heading forward to the high demand season, it would be wise to forecast how the season could be. You can forecast the work depending upon previous years’ data and statistics.
As per the forecast, you can chalk out the plans for the coming high demand season. You can schedule the freight and lower non-essential shipments. In other words, you ought to focus on shipments of goods key to your business. So, forecasting and planning accordingly serve as the first-hand tool for you.
Developing a clear objective plan, with specific dates, is important.
Train Your Temporary Employees
A spike in demand calls for employing new temporary employees like drivers, managers, etc. The trucking industry goes up to hiring as many as 90,000 new workers to fulfill shipment targets in peak seasons.
This new workforce can either disrupt the whole process or make it better. If the new drivers and workers are not trained as per the trucking business maximize S&OP processes, then there can be a chaotic situation.
One important question is, how do these companies get additional workers so easily? The answer is that the companies administer a very easy profile screening and onboarding process.
When this process is followed, the new workforce is trained to get acquainted with using devices like smartphones, touchpads, fleet telematics, clue interface, dash cams, mobile apps, etc. All these help in the accelerated training program for temporary workers.
Additionally, visual cues and pictures of the objects help the temporary employees pick up lessons faster. All these gigs help enhance the performance of the workers and reduce errors. It’s a win-win situation for the company.
Get The Operations In Place
Starting from the warehouse capacity to packaging and picking, get every tiny operation in a line.
See to it that the warehouse can accommodate high demand season stock. Check if the present strategies for picking or packing need any change for better handling of the peak season. Check if any adjustments are to be made to accommodate large volumes of goods in peak season. See to it that online orders have separate strategies than in-store orders. These and many more operations have to be set right before the commencement of the high demand season. Any gap in one operation can lead to chaos and customer dissatisfaction, ultimately stacking the company’s reputation.
Freight Insurance – A Safe Deal In Advance
The chances of losses increase with peak season. Either due to damage of the goods or some accidental loss. Covering up with freight insurance is a good deal for the companies, who otherwise would face heavy, insoluble losses. So, buying freight insurance is a safe deal and a good way to prepare for any unexpected damage or loss.
Outsourcing To Trusted Logistics Partners
It’s natural to face a shortage in the number of truck drivers in the peak season. Thus, outsourcing to third-party logistics partners is imperative.
But outsourcing is not an easy job. While outsourcing, take up to contractual rates to safeguard against market price volatility. Resort to the most reputed and trusted outsourcing company so that you can focus on your core business.
Setting Up A Realistic Budget
Everything comes with a price tag. It’s an obvious part of the market that rates tend to spike up in peak season. Thus, based on historical data, you need to set a budget that is realistic. This will help you set realistic expectations so that there is no shortage of finances during the high demand season.
Using Technology At Its Best
The fleet industry has been digitized well. The semi truck insurance services companies should willingly use technology to ease out operations, especially in the peak season. Transportation management systems (TMS) can help optimize the routes, fuel cost-cutting, real-time tracking of the product, and their expected arrival, etc. This visibility in the supply chain helps protect your tow truck business companies better serve the customers and foster trust.
Avoid Indirect Shipment
It’s during the peak seasons that indirect shipment should be avoided. It may save some money, but there is a high risk of high losses and reputation at stake.
Time For Real Execution
Now that you’re all preparations have been done, it’s showtime. Yes, apart from planning, executing your plans is also crucial. Without proper execution, your planning is a mere waste of time.
Make sure to put key metrics in place so that productivity is measured aptly. Analytics tools can help analyze the operational data; a labor-management system should be taken up to review labor performance, calculation of cost, incentives, etc. You can adhere to fleet management software to assist you best. Execute your plan in full bloom to get the best of the high demand season
Learn From The Lessons
No matter how perfectly you plan and chalk out the execution, you are bound to fall flat in many cases as high demand season brings with it many challenges at big and small levels. Worry not if you failed at some, rather learn lessons from both failure and success.
Analyze each area, whether the warehouse performs well, if the operations were all set right, whether or not you were able to meet the customers’ expectations, the performance of the drivers, workers, etc. All these will help you plan better for the next peak season.
Learn from this season’s mistakes, and try not to repeat them in the next one for bigger success.
Wrapping Up
The high demand season brings with it new avenues to earn and flourish and, at the same time, poses many challenges as well. It needs the right mix of planning and discipline to meet the challenges and make most of it. Following the above super 10 steps, you can achieve expected revenue, enhanced company reputation, enhanced service, build customer loyalty, improve sales, and ultimately better client satisfaction.
