Hauling loads is a business that thrives on efficiency and dies on waste. You need to be able to save money wherever you can to improve profits, especially when it comes to excising unnecessary expenses that are a liability to haulage firms all over the world. These tips will help you better deal with potential issues:
Invest in the Health of your Drivers
This may look like an expense at first glance, but the long-term benefits of healthy lorry drivers definitely outweigh the short-term costs. Drivers handling heavy haulage for long periods of time suffer a range of problems, from mounting fatigue and stress to unhealthy lifestyles that put them at risk of heart disease. Encouraging your drivers to stay fit and giving them sufficient downtime cuts down on sick leave, helps them better focus on their driving tasks and minimises the chances of any of them suffering a major accident because of a physical condition.
Plan out Routes with Little traffic
The first benefit of planning route carefully is obvious as it simply equates to faster trips. Transport vehicles that get to their destinations sooner can better handle additional haulage return cargo, increasing overall profits. The second less obvious benefit is fuel savings. Lorries carrying heavy haul loads spend a lot of fuel to accelerate from a stationary position but they consume significantly less when all they need to do is keep moving forward. So it is quite obvious that a continuously moving vehicle will consume less petrol in the long run compared to one that makes frequent stops.
Minimise the height and width of cargo
Ensure that the cargo fits within the frontal area of the service vehicle whenever possible. This is because cargo protruding beyond a lorry’s frame increases wind drag, which is the resistance that your haulage vehicles encounter as they rush through the wind. This resistance effectively pushes back against the vehicles, with vehicles needing more power to counteract the effect. You may need to deal with this problem since some tall and wide loads will be larger than your largest service vehicle, but try to avoid taking on regular contracts that involve cargo that is too big for your vehicles.
Examine and track the cash flow
An accurate accounting log can be an immensely useful tool for measuring the efficiency of your haulage firm. Such an account will let you know what areas of your business are bleeding money. Is maintenance costing more than it previously was? There might be something causing your lorries to wear down faster. Are your vehicles sitting idle in the garage more often than you would like? You may want to improve your marketing campaign. Such an accounting log also allows you to better plan ahead. You can either save up if you are expecting a mediocre fiscal year ahead or you can expand your business if increased profits are to be expected.
These useful little tips will help you make the most from the haulage loads your vehicles carry, which in turn will help you make more money and spend less in the long run.