Perishable transportation is perhaps one of the most time sensitive industry segments that truckers can operate in. A day late might mean spoiled product. We all know that time and time management is key for truckers in this segment, so we are offering 5 solutions that will help truckers manage their time better to ensure that they have successful deliveries. Each solution has a common theme: organization. Read on to learn how organizing various areas of your day to day life as a trucker can help you manage your time better.

Routing and Traffic

While traffic is out of your control, you can organize your route to ensure you will avoid it. Plan your route so that you avoid the biggest cities and roads when traffic will be at its worst: rush hour (typically from 7-9am in the morning and 3-6pm in the evenings). Avoiding big cities at these times will reduce the time you will be sitting in your truck. You can also leverage many routing apps that can help with this – at the basic level, Google Maps will display travel times based on traffic so that you can be aware of what to expect and routes to avoid.

Rest

It seems counterintuitive to plan for rest.  But this practice is so necessary and trucker fatigue is prevalent in the industry.It’s best to plan for 8 hours of sleep per night; and make the most of your 34-hour restart by getting as much sleep as you can. Plan your sleep times and rest periods and strictly as you do your routes and loading/unloading appointments; this will ensure you are putting the best version of yourself out on the road.

Optimizing pickups and deliveries

Do your load have more than one pickup or delivery? It’s important to keep in mind each pick-up’s location relative to your route. For example, if you have two pickups and are going south, it makes sense to make the first pick the shed that is the farthest north on the route. In addition, it also important to organize your pickups by product availability and other shed details such as if they require appointments. UWT takes care of all these details for our drivers and will ensure your pickups and deliveries are organized in such a way to make the most out of your time and on duty hours!

Maintenance

Don’t get stuck wasting time dealing with truck maintenance issues that can be prevented. Key areas to focus on are checking oil as this can prevent the costliest of repairs, creating a maintenance routine that suits your schedule, and making sure that you have the correct tires to reduce downtime due to blow outs and repairs.

Technology

Using your smartphone is a great way to keep organized. There are various trucking focused apps that help with route optimization (Trucker Tools is great). Our UWT Carrier App is a great resource to help you plan your loads, book business, and read up on useful blog information. Apple’s calendar on iOS and Google calendars that are great organizers. You can set these calendars to send you notifications which will help you stay organized and let you know when to stop to rest, go off duty due to hours, keep pickup/delivery appointment times, and more. These come standard with any smartphone so leverage them to your advantage!

Using time management tips will ensure your success; the more times you can provide consistent service to customers, suppliers, dispatchers and brokers, the higher rated carrier you will become. This can earn you key carrier status and you will get better, more consistent loads that can lead to more money earned for you!