The scoreboard, and what is not on it. The hard targets, how often each is actually
looked at, and the quiet signals that never reach a dashboard.
On-Time Delivery (OTD) for your assigned routes
The percentage of deliveries that arrive at the customer's location within the agreed-upon window.
Target · >98% If you plan 100 deliveries in a week and 99 arrive on time, you're at 99% OTD for your routes. We're looking for consistent performance, not just one-off wins.
Cost Per Mile (CPM) for your planned fleet/routes
The average cost to operate our vehicles or use a carrier for each mile driven, including fuel, driver wages, and maintenance (for own fleet) or carrier rates.
Target · Maintain or reduce by 2% QoQ (Quarter-on-Quarter) If your routes average £1.80/mile this quarter, we'd want to see £1.76/mile next quarter, perhaps by optimising routes or negotiating better fuel prices for our fleet.
Fleet Utilisation Rate
The percentage of time our vehicles are actively carrying a load and generating revenue, rather than sitting idle or driving empty.
Target · >90% for active fleet If a truck is available for 10 hours a day and spends 9.2 hours moving freight, that's 92% utilisation. You'll be looking for backhauls and efficient routing to keep those numbers high.
Driver Overtime Hours (for own fleet)
The total number of hours paid to drivers beyond their standard working week, which directly impacts labour costs.
Target · Reduce by 10% QoQ without impacting OTD If your team's drivers clocked 100 hours of overtime last month, the goal is to get that down to 90 hours this month through better planning and resource allocation.
Carrier Performance Scorecard Adherence
How well our third-party carriers meet their contracted KPIs (e.g., tender acceptance, on-time pickup, damage rates).
Target · Average score >85% across all managed carriers If a carrier consistently drops below 80% on-time pickup, you'll be the one flagging it, having the tough conversations, and looking for alternatives if they don't improve.
Effective Incident Management
How quickly and effectively you resolve unexpected transport issues (e.g., breakdowns, accidents, severe weather delays) with minimal disruption.
- You'll be the calm voice on the phone when a driver calls in with a problem, quickly assessing the situation and putting a contingency plan into action. We'll see this in reduced customer complaints related to incidents and positive feedback from customer service about your clear communication during disruptions. The Transport Manager will notice how smoothly you handle these curveballs.
Proactive Problem Identification
Your ability to spot potential issues before they become major problems, like a looming driver hours violation or a recurring route bottleneck.
- You'll bring ideas to the weekly team meeting about how to fix a recurring issue, rather than waiting for it to blow up. This looks like suggesting a route adjustment to avoid a known traffic hotspot or flagging a carrier's declining performance before it impacts OTD. You're thinking a few steps ahead.
Mentorship & Team Support
How well you guide and support junior planners, helping them develop their skills and confidence.
- Junior team members will come to you for advice before escalating to the Transport Manager. You'll be running informal 'how-to' sessions, reviewing their route plans, and generally being a helpful resource. We'll see their confidence grow and their error rates drop thanks to your input.
Stakeholder Collaboration & Communication
Your ability to work smoothly with other teams (warehouse, customer service, sales) to ensure transport plans are aligned and issues are resolved collaboratively.
- You'll be the one picking up the phone to the warehouse lead when there's a loading issue, not just sending an email. You'll proactively update customer service on potential delays. This shows up as fewer inter-departmental squabbles and more 'we're in this together' moments.
Process Improvement Contributions
Identifying areas where our transport processes can be made more efficient, safer, or more compliant, and proposing practical solutions.
- You'll come to the Transport Manager with a suggestion for a better way to do driver debriefs or a tweak to our routing software's parameters. It's about not just following the rules, but looking for ways to make them better. We're looking for practical, implementable ideas, not just complaints.
