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To maintain an efficient logistics system, drivers should never be treated as mere deliverymen. They not only play a critical role in the supply chain but also act as unofficial ambassadors for your own brand and interact most frequently with customers. Therefore, it is the understanding of drivers’ personalities that equips you with a vision to engage them in suitable roles, which facilitates more effective logistics operations. Not many managers can get across the differences among them, and here are the 5 typical types of drivers you can find in nowadays logistics operation:
1. The hard-working driver:
We all have a friend who never finds being unoccupied fit to him. And that is the most precise description to our hard-working drivers. He can work for 12 hours a day without a stop. He is eager to deliver multiple shipments and would come back for more. He also looks forward to get rewarded for the number of tasks he has done, not only the fixed salary.
Every business would be productive if they could have such diligent drivers. However, home delivery including e-commerce and parcel shipment still suits them best because of the diversity in product lines and various locations, which can reach up to 40 deliveries per day. In that case, hard-working driver would be glad to make effort to accomplish the job as the excitement of conquering the best score in a game leaderboard. Thus, it would make your drivers find themselves unrecognized if they were assigned to some deliveries as daily errands. These minor tasks would turn them off from their aspiration.
2. The careful driver:
This driver keeps an eye on everything about his job. Because he pays attention to all details from point to point in the route plan, the pinnacle periods for unloading goods at different locations, to the various requirements of goods handling in different warehouses. He wants to guarantee time optimization to achieve productivity and quality. He does not care much about the number of jobs. In his game, optimization is the top priority.
The careful driver would be perfectly applicable to distribution jobs, which cover shipments of goods from warehouse to retailers’ outlets. The distribution job is usually time-sensitive because retailers and supermarkets need timely deliveries to operate, which would be an intriguing challenge for him to plan the route in a timely manner. Contrary to loose time window of distribution consignment, e-commerce orders are fixed in both time and address, for that his planning skills might not be put into good use.
3. The absent-minded driver:
While the two above types of drivers are suitable for short-distanced delivery, there is a kind of driver who can stay focused for a 4-8 hour course, and because of that, he might not take other inconsiderable details into account. We can call him the absent-minded driver. His concentration is molded by hours sitting behind the wheel, watching nothing but the same landscape for hundreds of miles. He can keep himself awake for the drive without a break until the delivery is completed.
Having such an ability, the absent-minded driver is trained to be most suitable for long-haul delivery. He does not have to spare his stamina to take care of over-detailed requirements and different rigors. As such, distribution delivery would be a nightmare for this driver. He has to keep an eye on many things and even unspoken rules to maintain a smooth delivery. It stops him from doing what he is best at, which is attention to driving itself.
4. The tech-savvy driver:
The explosion of advanced technology applied in the logistics industry brings about a new and rare type of driver: the tech-savvy ones. He has decided that he would not keep himself out of high-tech’s impacts by downloading and using plenty of applications on his smartphone or tablet. The tech-savvy driver would know which is the best route optimization software to utilize for his work. He also finds no hesitation in sharing his knowledge and experience in the field. You might catch sight of him sometimes when he discusses with his manager the cutting-edge fleet management software introduced in the logistics magazine he just received in the early morning.
His flexibility and adaptability allow him to fit well in an e-commerce business in which deliveries require much usage of smart devices to digitize and optimize the transportation process. The tech-savvy driver would be least suitable for long-haul delivery because his technical knowledge does not have chances to be used due to a small number of deliveries taken place. He also has to suffer from exhausting and lengthy driving course that not all drivers get used to.
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5. The strong driver:
This driver possesses a special skill that allows him to swiftly lift bulky and heavy items such as a sofa up a flight of stairs with little effort. His well-built figure and handy technique are created and trained in years of working in moving or servicing business. Plus, his experience also works on the tips to pack and unpack irregular-shaped items as well as disassemble and assemble as required to move them.
The strong driver would be suitable for furniture or unassembled goods delivery since his technique would be a treasure for both the business owners and the customers. The least suitable job for him is e-commerce delivery with smaller items in insignificant quantities and without making use of his strength.
Pickup:
It is undeniable that there are many types of drivers, not limited to 5 types mentioned in the article. The more you know about them, the more reason you assign jobs based on their preference. This would guarantee that they are trusted in jobs to show their best advantages, which benefits the logistics process in the long term. Drivers form the backbone of logistics industry and play a critical role in the delivery operation. As such, remember to appreciate their contribution and consider their strengths and weaknesses when it comes to planning their delivery tasks.
If you have worked with any other interesting type of driver, please feel free to share it with us in the comments!
Reference:
[1] https://www.fueloyal.com/delivery-driver-job-description/