Moving Words – Connecting the Van Operator

Written and submitted by Timothy Brady

Several years ago I hired a marketing firm to conduct extensive surveys of both the Van Operators and the agencies to which they were contracted. The Van Operator surveys included an interview with each respondent, along with a six-page question sheet. These surveys included questions to ascertain what the Van Operator’s knowledge level was on the topics of business practices, accounting, tax planning, record keeping and financial planning. We also interviewed several moving agencies to determine what they understood were the challenges most van operators faced in conducting the business side of their van operations. I have used the information obtained from these interviews in countless articles and two books.

One of the major conclusions we came to from these surveys is the tremendous disconnect between the Van Operators’ moving business financial knowledge and what the moving agencies assumed their Van Operators knew.

We found a staggering percentage of Van Operators had no plan with which to manage their revenue. Most thought the settlement check was their “paycheck,” or “Money to the house.” They had no real cash flow system and were dependent upon the moving agency to advance them whatever they needed to run their truck. In many cases, this went way beyond the advance for fuel and labor; even to the Van Operator being dependent upon the agent for tire repairs.

On the other side of the coin, there were a number of agencies who had only a vague concept of what the true cost of ownership and operational costs were, as endured by the Van Operator. I do have to admit that in the survey, there were a greater percentage of HHG agencies with a better grasp of these costs than the trucking industry at large. The small- to medium-size agencies had the best knowledge of this concept.

Observing this disconnect between Van Operator and agency/van line, where do you go to establish a better connection between the Van Operators and the agency and/or van line to which they are contracted?

The one area where there have been leaps and bounds in progress which will assist in the process of connecting Van Operators to their agency/van line (and the reverse) is through specific, integrated move management software. The more seamless the relationships between service provider (the Van Operator) and those who book, price and schedule the moves, the better everyone understands the necessary inputs, along with the needs of the others in this team effort.

So what should you look for within a move management software which will help keep the Van Operator positively connected to the moving agency and van line?

One of the biggest challenges many agencies have is with the complexity of calculating each Van Operator’s commission from the different percentages he/she receives on the line-haul, packing, unpacking, extra services, additional transportation fees, fuel surcharges, etc., and the multitude of different percentages of each a Van Operator is paid based on his/her individual contract. Agencies or van lines must also calculate advances Van Operators receive to cover expenses they incur in completing each move. This alone becomes a task which is ripe for mistakes and miscalculations. To solve this, the best means is to have a move management software which receives the input from other departments along with the complexity of percentages paid to each Van Operator so his/her settlement is correct each time.

There’s nothing that will anger a Van Operator more quickly than to receive a settlement that is far less than he or she anticipated. With the difficultly in today’s market in retaining quality Van Operators, why create unnecessary conflict with a mistake in calculation which is easily avoided with the right software?

 

Timothy D. Brady
www.timothybrady.com

731-749-8567