Wrong gate, wrong time, no hi-vis
A driver pulls up at the main entrance of a manufacturing site. Goods-in is round the back, down a road with a height restriction, and the site wants drivers to report to a gatehouse with a booking reference and wear long sleeves and safety glasses as well as hi-vis. None of that was in his job. He spends forty minutes finding out, and the site marks your firm down for turning up unprepared.
The regular driver on that run knows all this. The cover driver does not.
Why the knowledge does not reach the cab
Site rules are real, specific and change over time. They are also usually learned by being there, and passed on informally.
- Instructions arrive in customer emails and are not attached to the site.
- Regular drivers know; cover and agency drivers do not.
- Job sheets show an address and a postcode, not the entrance or the rules.
- When a site changes a rule, nobody updates anything.
- Photos that would help, such as the right gate, are never taken or shared.
What it costs
Time lost at the gate eats into driver hours and can make the next drop late. Sites that are used to well-prepared drivers mark down firms that are not, and some customers track that. Drivers are frustrated at being sent in blind. And the office spends time on calls from drivers asking questions that were answered months ago for someone else.
The site's own rules are theirs to set. We make sure your drivers see them.
The site instructions we build
- Each collection and delivery point has a record: the right entrance, opening and booking hours, what the site asks drivers to wear and do, where to wait, who to report to, and any vehicle restrictions.
- Photos of the entrance, the gatehouse and the bay are attached, taken by drivers in the app when they visit.
- The instructions are shown automatically in the driver's job for that site, and can be read before setting off.
- Drivers can flag that something has changed, with a note or photo. The office reviews and updates the record.
- Instructions that arrive in customer emails are attached to the site by the office in one click.
- The planning view shows a warning where a site has a restriction that affects the vehicle or trailer allocated.
| Instruction | Today | With site records |
|---|---|---|
| Which entrance | Ask the regular driver | Photo and note in the job |
| PPE and site rules | Found out at the gate | Shown before arrival |
| Vehicle restrictions | Discovered on site | Warned at planning |
| Changes | Nobody updates | Driver flags, office confirms |
What drivers and planners notice
Cover and agency drivers arrive knowing what the regular driver knows, including the small things, like which lane to queue in and where the toilets are that drivers are allowed to use. Fewer calls come into the office from drivers at gates. Planners avoid allocating a vehicle a site cannot take. And sites see your drivers arrive prepared, which counts for more than it should in how customers rate their hauliers.
The records also help when a new customer comes on board. Instead of the first few weeks being a string of calls and surprises, the first driver to visit fills in the site record with photos, and every driver after that benefits. When a customer moves goods-in to a different part of their site, one update reaches every driver the next day.
Checklist
- Cover drivers regularly go to the wrong entrance.
- Site rules live in the regular driver's head.
- Drivers ring the office from the gate.
- Customer site emails are not attached to anything.
- Sites have complained about your drivers being unprepared.