How you can save on GT a, delivery costs

ces as discussed last month in "Delivery Policy." The counterpart of this policy is the establishment of position descriptions for those being managed. These guides are the game plans for all the players and indicate who is responsible for what.

Employees are generally categorized as those who work in the yard (yard men, fork lift operators, warehouse men, etc.) and those who work outside or from the yard (drivers, helpers, etc.). No one set of position descriptions fits both inside and outside people. Many, in practice, perform part or all of the tasks involved.

For our purpose, we are grouping the tasks most frequently performed by drivers in three categories plus a set of general responsibilities.

Queslions on deliverl cosls? Send them to this magazine at 4500 Campus Dr., Suite 480, NewPort Beach, Ca. 92660. Wally l-ynch will ans*er them in future issues. This is your chance to take advantagc of his expertise in cutting your delivery costs.

This monlh Wally Lynch conlinues his anolysis of the job of a delivery dispotcher for o lumber and building maleriols dealer-ed.

Iq{E DISPATCHER is a manager-a

I manager in charge of insuring the completion of delivered sales. He changes sales to receivables with the help of yard people and drivers. Managing requires a policy which spells out acceptable activities and performan-

GENERAL RESPONSIBILITIES r accommodate customers o maintain good personal hygiene

. report to

. wear and maintain company uniform

Responsibility For Truck

& ACCESSORIES

. operate truck o refuel truck

REG,&R stands tall on a u'hole Iilvg-l:R tirrest of redwood products

G&R has an extcnsivc sclcction of redwo<ld materials plus dircct mitl shipping to your yard by rail or truck.

For Inquiries call Marty Olhiser, sales mgr. Craig Cookingham, assistant salcs mgr.

Chris Jepse n, production mgr.

Ken Osborn

John Cavallo

Tom Henderson ( Minneapolis 612 - 541 -1235 )

G&R LUMBER COMPANY

P O. Box 156

Cloverdalc , CA 95425 (707) 894-424r o perltlrrn preventive rriaintenance o kccp truck clcan o fill out trip tickets o accidcnt reports rvhen necessarl'

. assurc acccssory availabilitl'

Responsibility Within Yard

. load truck(s) o tie do*'n loads r check loads operate fork lift(s) (Pick)

RESPONSIBILITY OUTSIDE YARI)

o makc cu)lonrcr dclii crict r follou best routes locate dclirerv sites o maintain schcdules direct helper's cffort:

. collect CODS

. obtain receipt signaturc rcccivc payments o lake salc ordcrs

. make hand placcmcnts o ntake on-site hand pick ups o nrake team track pick ups r make vcndor pick ups o make branch lransfers

Your company may have satisfactory position descriptions in place, but if not, it's eas-v to prepare thcm and at the samc time evaluate rr,hat norl, exists. A tinte tested way of doing this task is to ask each dril'er 1o \\'rltc dorvn *,hat hc tltinks his job is. I ct hinr urc an1 cristing position description available as a guidc. Compare his list *ith *hat you think he should be doing. Bctter still, use thc above lists as the!' agrcc *ith !,our company's necds for the comparison. Add or subtract as local conditions dictate.

The difference bclrrcen *hat the company wants done and uhat the drivers think the company wanls done is the tuilight zone. It should bc clarified in the position dcscription. Thc completed guide should be available and used by all. This exercise needs to be done once a .vear to keep position descriptions up to date.

Drivers sce customers daily, usually more often than almost anyone else in the company does. They are the #l public relations arm of the industry. Make sure they are managed well and understand what is expected of them by both rnanagement and the managing dispatcher.

"Manogentent Srrn'e_r'.r the BlaL.k Holc of Deliver;,', " dit'ided into !hree tepurute dollar rolurne manual.s, undcr 52 tnillion, S2-5 million ond over 55 rnillion, is ot'ailable for 545 from Builder.s E.upress Inc., 11550 Plano Rd., Dallas, T.r. 75243. Arlention: Ll ully l.t'nt'h