Moving Words – Prime Directive
Timothy Brady
“Our prime purpose in this life is to help others. And if you can’t help them, at least don’t hurt them.” – Dalai Lama
What is your moving operation’s prime directive? Many folks who are fans of Star Trek recall the United Federation of Planet’s Prime Directive, which stated that members of Starfleet are not to interfere in the internal affairs of another species, especially the natural development of pre-warp civilizations, by either direct intervention or technological revelation. Now while I don’t know of any moving company that is going where no man has gone before and isn’t going to interfere in the internal affairs of their shippers, you don’t want your actions to have a negative effect on your customers’ business or lives. The idea is to be a non-eventful, non-crisis mover for your shippers.
What is a carrier’s Prime Directive? To pick up and deliver loads on time, with items shipped arriving at their destination in the same condition they left origin and creating a reasonable profit along the way. What’s the best means to accomplish this?
Think efficiency—look at your overall operation and come up with ways to accomplish the necessary day-to-day tasks with fewer wasted movements. This requires you to determine the most important tasks that drive you towards your desired goal in the shortest number of steps. This isn’t about taking short-cuts; it’s about cutting out the extraneous tasks which have no bearing on your Prime Directive, along with completing necessary tasks.
Make a list of all the tasks you do that relate to your moving operation. Take that list and divide it into two categories.
Category One: the necessary tasks that need to be completed to keep your trucks on the road and rolling with profitable shipments. This would include pre-planning loads, having back-up plans for when a load reschedules or cancels, constantly tracking load-to-truck ratios for each leg of every lane in which your moving vans operators. Know what’s on the horizon for your corporate customers that could influence the number of shipments you receive from them. The further out you can plan, along with the more you know about what can influence your shippers’ business, the easier it is to adjust that load plan with the least loss of revenue–your revenue.
Category Two: the tasks that have a negative or no impact on your Prime Directive. This would include constantly looking for shipments at the last minute; having to call back a shipper, corporate account or relocation company repeatedly to get more details on a shipper, or not providing all the information your van operator needs on each shipment dispatched to him during the first contact. Also, failing to schedule regular and complete Preventive Maintenance on your trucks and trailers, or letting your van operator sit waiting to be dispatched for his next assignment, can negatively affect your Prime Directive.
By eliminating, ignoring, automating or delegating the activities that slow your efficiency down – thereby providing more time to focus on your moving business – revenue will be generated leading to dramatic improvements in profitability, thus achieving your Prime Directive.
Drive long and prosper.
“Learn from the mistakes of others. You can’t live long enough to make them all yourself.” -Eleanor Roosevelt
