Four in the morning and a list of eighty drops
The planner arrives before the trunk does. The inbound list is on the network system: consignments due in on tonight's trunk for postcodes in your area. Some are next day, some are premium AM, some are timed. Some need a tail lift. Some are to a retail distribution centre with a booked slot. Some are to a farm where the artic cannot turn.
By hand, with a wall map and years of experience, the planner splits them into runs for the rigids and the vans. Then the trunk arrives late, three pallets on the list are not on it, and two that are not on the list are. The runs get redrawn with drivers standing waiting.
The plan depends on one person's head
Delivery planning in a pallet depot is a daily puzzle with rules the planner knows but nothing else does.
- Service levels decide the order: timed and AM before standard.
- Vehicle type matters: tail lift, size, weight limits.
- Delivery notes such as 'no HGV access' or 'ring first' are in free text.
- The inbound list and what actually arrives rarely match exactly.
When the planner is off, someone else does it slower and with more misses, and the depot's timed performance dips that week.
What a late or poor plan costs
Drivers leave late, which pushes the last drops into the afternoon and makes failed deliveries more likely. Timed services missed count against you on the network's measures. Tail lift jobs put on the wrong vehicle come back undelivered and have to go out again tomorrow.
Every returned pallet takes up floor space, needs a new delivery arranged and usually a call from the consignee asking where it is. The originating depot, which took the booking and the customer's money, hears about it too. A poor plan at your end shows up as a complaint at somebody else's.
How we draft the runs for the planner
- The inbound list is read from the network system as soon as it is available, along with service levels and delivery notes.
- Delivery notes are tagged into rules: tail lift needed, small vehicle only, booking slot, call ahead.
- Runs are drafted using route optimisation that respects time windows, vehicle types and capacity in pallet spaces and weight.
- The planner sees the draft on a map and a list, drags drops between runs, and locks the ones they have decided.
- As pallets are scanned off the trunk, the plan updates: missing ones are removed, unexpected ones are offered to a run.
- Final runs go to drivers' phones or print as runsheets, in drop order.
| Rule | Where it lived | How the plan uses it |
|---|---|---|
| Timed and AM services | Planner's memory | Hard time windows |
| Tail lift needed | Free-text note | Only tail lift vehicles |
| No HGV access | Free-text note | Small vehicle only |
| Booked DC slot | Email or spreadsheet | Fixed arrival time |
The planner stays in charge. The draft saves the first hour of arranging so the time is spent on judgement.
What the early shift looks like
The draft is there when the planner walks in. The trunk scan adjusts it automatically. Drivers get their runs sooner, and the rules about vehicles and access are applied every day, not only on the days the regular planner is in.
Signs your runs need this
- Only one person can plan the morning runs properly.
- Drivers wait while runs are redrawn after the trunk lands.
- Tail lift drops end up on the wrong vehicle.
- Timed deliveries are missed because of run order.
- Delivery notes are read by eye each morning.