Two drivers, nine cars and a notepad
The service desk offers collection and delivery. Customers love it. Tomorrow there are nine collections, some before nine, some at lunchtime, and the same nine to return in the afternoon, plus two that are only returning today. There are two drivers, one of whom also moves cars between sites.
The plan is on a notepad by the service desk. A driver sets off late because the first car's keys are not ready. One customer waits in all morning. Another's car is returned before their work was finished, because nobody told the driver it was waiting for a part.
Driver work sits between two departments
The service desk books the collection. The workshop decides when the car will be ready. The drivers work to whoever gives them the next job. Nothing joins these together.
- Collection times are agreed with the customer without checking driver availability.
- Drivers need a lift back, so trips are paired by hand.
- The driver does not know when a car's work is finished.
- Condition at collection is not recorded properly.
- Customers are not told when to expect the driver.
What the notepad costs
Customers waiting in with no time window get frustrated, and a service offered as a convenience becomes a complaint. Drivers waste time on poorly paired trips. Cars returned before work is finished, or collected late, disrupt the workshop.
Damage disputes are hard to settle without condition photos from the customer's drive.
The service itself becomes something advisors quietly avoid offering, because it causes more problems than it solves.
Driver hours are also expensive to waste. A driver who sits waiting for a car to be finished, or who does a collection on the far side of town and comes back empty, is time the dealership pays for and gets nothing from. With two or three drivers, a few wasted trips a day are the difference between the service paying for itself and not.
How we build the driver schedule
- When a service booking with collection is made, the collection and return are created as driver jobs with the customer's address and preferred window.
- Advisors see driver availability when offering times, so they only offer windows that can be met.
- Jobs are planned into routes for each driver, pairing collections and returns to reduce empty trips, with the controller able to move them.
- Drivers use a phone app for their jobs, with keys, addresses and notes, and record condition photos and mileage at each handover.
- Customers get a message with the time window and another when the driver is on the way.
- Returns only become available to the driver when the job card shows the work complete and invoiced as your process requires.
| Step | Before | After |
|---|---|---|
| Offering a time | Guess | Driver availability shown |
| Planning trips | Notepad | Routes with pairing |
| Condition | Not recorded | Photos at both ends |
| Return timing | Driver asks | Released when job complete |
Your insurance and your terms decide what drivers must record and check. We build the steps to match them.
Collect and deliver that actually delivers
Customers know when to expect the driver. Advisors offer times that work. Drivers follow a plan on their phone and do fewer wasted trips. Cars are returned when their work is done, with photos showing the condition at both ends if anyone asks.
Is this how your drivers are run?
- Collections and deliveries are planned on paper.
- Customers wait at home without a time window.
- Drivers do not know when a car is ready to return.
- There are no condition photos at collection.
- Advisors avoid offering collection because of the hassle.