Seven o'clock at the gate
At seven, a line of lorries forms outside your site. Skip lorries, curtain-siders with baled cardboard, a tipper with mixed metals, a van with WEEE. They all want to weigh in, tip and leave. The weighbridge operator works flat out. The tipping areas fill. Lorries wait on the road outside, and a neighbour complains about engines idling.
By early afternoon, the site is quiet. The weighbridge operator catches up on paperwork. The loading shovel driver has little to do.
Hauliers start charging waiting time. Some suppliers take their material elsewhere because your site is known for queues.
Inside the gate it is no better. The cardboard bay is full by half eight, so a curtain-sider has to wait while the loading shovel clears space. A tipper of mixed metals is sent to the wrong bay in the rush and has to be re-sorted later. The weighbridge operator is typing supplier details for vehicles he has never seen before while three more drivers sound their horns.
Why everyone arrives at once
Arrivals are unplanned. Each supplier or haulier plans their own day, and most start early.
- Nobody books a time to deliver, so arrivals bunch in the morning.
- Tipping areas have limited space per material, which is not planned.
- The weighbridge operator does not know who is coming or with what.
- Suppliers have no reason to arrive later, because nothing is better for them if they do.
- Queues on the road cause problems with neighbours and access.
What gate queues cost
Waiting time charges from hauliers, suppliers put off by queues, and neighbour complaints all have a price. Tipping areas overload in the morning, causing delays and sometimes mixing of materials.
Staff are overstretched in the morning and underused in the afternoon. The same site, with the same people, could handle the same volume without the queues if arrivals were spread.
There is also a planning cost. Without knowing what is coming, the yard cannot prepare tipping space or plan processing for the day.
The queue is also a signal to competitors. A supplier who has waited forty minutes on a cold morning is an easy conversation for the site manager down the road.
How we build delivery slot booking
What we build spreads arrivals across the day and tells the gate who is coming.
- Regular suppliers and hauliers book delivery slots through a simple web page or by message, choosing a time and material.
- Each slot has capacity by material and tipping area, which you set, so a slot fills before an area overloads.
- Recurring bookings are set up for suppliers who deliver on a pattern.
- The gate and weighbridge screen shows who is expected and when, with material and supplier details, so weighing is faster.
- Unbooked arrivals are still accepted under your process, and recorded, so you can see who is not booking.
- Arrival times against bookings are recorded, and a report shows punctuality and queue times by supplier.
| Slot detail | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Time | Spreads arrivals across the day |
| Material | Plans tipping area space |
| Capacity per area | Stops a single area overloading |
| Supplier and vehicle | Faster weighing at the gate |
Whether to prioritise booked arrivals, or offer better terms for off-peak slots, is your decision.
Seven o'clock with slot booking
At seven, three lorries are booked and arrive. They weigh in quickly, because the gate screen already has their details. The next slots are spread through the morning and into the afternoon. Two suppliers who used to arrive at seven now come at two, because they never queue at that time.
The tipping areas fill steadily rather than all at once. The weighbridge operator's day is even. The neighbour stops complaining.
Does your gate queue every morning?
- Lorries queue at the gate first thing.
- The site is quiet in the afternoon.
- Hauliers charge waiting time.
- Tipping areas overload in the morning.
- The weighbridge does not know who is coming.