5 Best Practices to Help You Get Your Deliveries On-time

With 700,000 trucks operating across the nation carrying commercial freight, winter driving and inclement weather can inevitably lead to shipment delays for even the best of drivers. However, there are things we can do to help our drivers in the winter months.  Here are five tips to help you, help our drivers deliver products safely and on-time during the harsh Canadian winter:

1. Clear yards and entranceways of ice and snow. The easier it is for the driver to enter the yard and maneuver around loading zones, the easier it will be for them to deliver your product. Clearing the parking lot of ice, snow, and large snowbanks will help the driver deliver your product on-time.
2. Have offloading zones ready for drivers. Ensuring there is a clear area for the driver to leave the product will help things run more efficiently. If a driver arrives for a delivery, and there is a large snowbank in front of the dock, this will lead to delays. 
3. Minimize wait times. When a driver arrives on location to make a delivery, ensure that the driver isn’t waiting long periods of time out in the cold. *Once the wind chill makes the temperature feel like –28 or colder, exposed skin can freeze in under 30 minutes. When it drops to –40, frostbite can occur in less than 10 minutes. Keeping our drivers safe and minimizing wait times will keep the driver on-time not only for your delivery but also all subsequent deliveries that day.
4. Ongoing communication. Having ongoing communication with the driver to notify them of on-site delays, blocked entranceways, and hazardous conditions will go a long way to ensuring on-time product delivery.
5. Be Patient. Unfortunately, truck drivers are at the mercy of bad traffic and weather conditions, just like everyone else. If there is a traffic accident, road closures, or a snow storm, it might take the driver a little longer to arrive.

*https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/frostbite-the-cold-hard-facts-1.1209140