Three hours on the gate at a producer's site
The collection was booked for six. The producer's product is not ready until nine. The driver waits, the fridge unit runs to keep the trailer at temperature, and the rest of the day's plan slips. The driver mentions it on the phone. The office means to add a charge.
At invoice time, nobody has the times. The driver's tacho shows a stop but not why. The customer disputes it, the account manager does not want to spoil the relationship, and the charge is dropped. It happens every week somewhere.
Why waiting time goes unbilled
Most contracts allow for waiting time charges. What is missing is evidence recorded at the time, in a form the customer accepts.
- Arrival and departure times are not recorded reliably at each site.
- The reason for the wait is not captured.
- Free time allowances differ by customer and are not applied automatically.
- Charges are added by hand at invoice time, if remembered.
- Customers dispute charges they cannot see evidence for.
What unbilled waiting costs
Driver hours, unit fuel and lost capacity, all paid by you. Days that overrun because of one long wait, causing late deliveries elsewhere. And customers who never improve their loading because the cost of keeping your driver waiting falls on you.
How we record and bill waiting time
- Each site has a geofence, so arrival and departure are recorded automatically from tracking, as well as by the driver on the app.
- The slot or booked time is on the job, so the system knows when waiting starts to count.
- If the wait exceeds the free time in that customer's terms, the driver is prompted to record the reason, with photos if useful, such as a queue or a note from the site.
- Waiting time and the calculated charge are added to the job and appear on the invoice with times and reason.
- Customers can receive a same-day notice of waiting incurred, which many prefer to a surprise on the invoice.
- A report shows waiting by site and customer, which gives account managers facts for their conversations.
| Element | Source |
|---|---|
| Arrival and departure | Geofence and driver app |
| Booked time | Slot on the job |
| Free time and rate | Customer terms |
| Reason | Driver's note and photos |
Whether to charge, and at what rate, is in your contracts and your commercial judgement. We make sure the evidence is there when you decide.
What invoicing looks like after
Waiting charges appear on invoices with times and reasons, based on what your terms allow. Disputes are shorter because the evidence is attached. Account managers can show a customer which sites keep drivers waiting, and some customers change their loading as a result.
Planners gain from it as well. Knowing which sites routinely keep drivers waiting, and for roughly how long, lets them build realistic plans for those collections instead of discovering the delay afresh every week.
Is waiting time costing you?
- Drivers regularly wait beyond the booked time.
- Waiting charges are rarely invoiced.
- Customers dispute charges for lack of evidence.
- Free time allowances are applied from memory.
- You do not know which sites cause the longest waits.