Increasing challenges constitute a substantial part of a logistics manager’s daily routine. We can never quite emphasise enough how much multitasking is involved in a logistics manager’s role and just how many problems they are expected to deal with daily.
Logistics managers have to deal with a wide range of responsibilities, ranging from the health and safety of employees and other road users to managing fuel costs, creating shortest routes, maximizing fleet capacity load —the list could go on and on… Fleets can be big or small, but they all share similar issues and points of concern; some of which are quite typical for all Logistics Managers. Throughout this blog, I will talk about the most common challenges logistics managers face every day.
1. Having to deal with huge amounts of information
Depending on the size of their fleets Logistics managers, have to manage a lot of data, and control a lot of activities: safety, fleet loading, route mapping, fuel bills etc...… This is not an easy task to be done manually.
2. Optimizing fleet assets usage
The bigger the company, the bigger their fleet could be. This means more assets could be at a logistics manager’s disposal. This can be a good thing, but also can be negative as it requires more management. You need to be on top of things to avoid losing track of vehicles, making sure they are all utilized as much as possible, considering the on-going cost of each vehicle.
3. Managing a team located in different geographic areas
If you have a big fleet, chances are that some of your drivers are located in remote areas making communication a problem if you have depots in different regions but manage them centrally.
4. It is challenging to monitor driver breaks
Breaks need to be respected as an important resting time for drivers, on the other hand, unscheduled or long breaks can impact your schedule and result in unhappy customers. But without real data, it is difficult to know the actual cause for a break, whether negligence or a genuine problem.
5. I don’t know if all the drivers respect the rules of the road
You might be very familiar with the driving conduct of a person on your team, but until you get the help of a fleet management solution you’ll never really know who is respecting the general standards you set, as well as who is driving safely. The ideal situation is to monitor them through a fleet management tracking vehicle. With this, you will be able to assess the quality of the drivers performance.
6. Vehicles are constantly suffering from wear and tear
Wear and tear can be caused by multiple factors, from aggressive driving to an inefficient maintenance system. With 1 vehicle from your fleet off the road, your route maps will need to change, and your response rate into providing the updated multiple route planner will need to be fast.
7. My customers are not satisfied
When customers are unhappy, it is probably just the tip of the iceberg: usually, this indicates the presence of other problems in your business or in your fleet, such as late deliveries, bad service etc....
I would love to hear your opinion on this, as a logistics manager. What other challenges do you face? Let me know by leaving a comment below and I will gladly add them to the list.
