Still digging when the low loader arrives
The customer off-hired a 5 tonne excavator yesterday. The low loader arrives at nine. The machine is still working because the groundworker wanted to finish the drainage run. Or the site is locked and nobody answers the phone. Or the machine is there, but the keys went home with the operator. The driver waits, rings the office, and eventually leaves empty to get to his next job.
Now the collection has to be rebooked, the next depot move is late, and the machine sits on site for another day or two.
Why collections go wrong
An off-hire call says the customer is finished with the machine. It doesn't say the machine is ready to be collected, where it is, or who will be there.
- Off-hires are taken without asking where the machine and keys are.
- Nobody confirms with site before the lorry sets off.
- Site contacts change, and the number on the hire is out of date.
- Failed collections aren't recorded, so nobody knows how often they happen.
- Wasted journey charges in your terms are rarely applied because there's no evidence.
Whether and when to charge for a wasted journey is set by your terms and your judgement with each customer. The system records what happened.
What wasted journeys cost
Driver and lorry time you can't get back, on your most expensive vehicles. Knock-on delays for deliveries planned after the collection. Machines left on site longer, unavailable for other hires and exposed to theft. And an office rebooking the same collection twice.
Because failed collections are not recorded, they are also underestimated. Each one feels like bad luck on the day. Added up across a year and a fleet of lorries, they are a steady drain on your transport capacity, concentrated on a handful of customers and sites that nobody has identified.
Confirmed collections and a failed-trip record
- The off-hire form asks where the machine will be, where the keys will be, and who will be on site, and stores it with the collection.
- The day before, or the morning of, the site contact gets a text or WhatsApp message asking them to confirm the machine is stopped, accessible and has its keys. Replies update the collection.
- Unconfirmed or problem collections are flagged to the transport planner before the plan is locked.
- The driver sees the site notes and can call the contact from the app.
- If the collection fails, the driver records why with photos and the time, in a few taps.
- Failed collections are reported by customer and cause, and wasted journey charges can be added under your terms with the evidence.
| Reason collection failed | How it's caught earlier |
|---|---|
| Machine still working | Confirmation message to site |
| Site locked | Access question at off-hire |
| No keys | Key location recorded at off-hire |
| Wrong contact | Contact confirmed by reply |
| Machine moved on site | Location recorded and confirmed |
The transport office afterwards
Most collections are confirmed before the lorry leaves. The ones that aren't are known in advance. When a collection does fail, the reason and the photos are recorded, and the report shows which customers and sites cause most failed trips. Wasted journey charges are applied, or waived, with the evidence in front of you.
Is this your transport office?
- Drivers regularly arrive to collect machines that aren't ready.
- Off-hires don't record where the keys are.
- Collections aren't confirmed with site beforehand.
- Failed collections aren't recorded.
- Wasted journey charges are rarely applied.