Delivery scheduling for suppliers that run their own trucks
Plenty of businesses run trucks without being a transport company. Steel distributors, building and landscape suppliers, precast and formwork yards, and plant hire firms all deliver their own products, on their own trucks, to building sites that are rarely ready when the truck arrives.
For these businesses delivery is part of the sale, not the product. But the scheduling problems are the same ones a transport operator has, plus a few of their own. This guide covers what's different and how to schedule it well.
What's different when you deliver your own goods
- The order comes first. A delivery starts as a sales order or a quote, not a freight booking. The details the driver needs (site contact, access, unloading) often never make it from the order to the truck.
- Building sites have rules. Delivery windows, gate bookings, induction requirements, traffic management, no-go times around concrete pours.
- Unloading needs the right gear. A crane truck, a forklift on site, or a tilt tray. Send the wrong truck and the load comes back.
- Builders want a time, not a day. A crew waiting for steel is paid to stand around. Site managers ring the yard to ask where the truck is.
- Proof matters for back-charges. "Short delivered", "damaged" and "never arrived" claims are common. Without a signed or photographed delivery, it's your word against theirs.
- Busy weeks overflow. When your own trucks are full, some deliveries go with a carrier, and you still have to answer for them.
Six steps to a delivery schedule that holds
1. Capture site details with the order
When the order is taken, record the site contact and phone, the delivery window, access notes, and how it will be unloaded. Make these required, not optional. A missing gate code is a truck waiting at the gate.
2. Plan by truck type, then by window
Match each delivery to the truck it needs first (crane, flat top, tipper), then fit them around the site windows. Do the tightest windows first and fill in around them.
3. Give drivers everything on their phone
The driver should see the address, contact, window, access notes and load for every drop, in order, without ringing the yard. Changes during the day should reach the phone straight away.
4. Send the site a live ETA
A tracking link with a real arrival time stops most "where's my truck?" calls, and lets the crew be ready to unload when it arrives.
5. Capture proof of delivery every time
Photos of the load on the ground, the time, the GPS location, and a name and signature when someone is there. See our guide to proof of delivery.
6. Track carrier deliveries on the same board
When a delivery goes with a carrier, keep it on your schedule with its tracking number and "deliver by" date, so the sales team can answer the customer without hunting.
Spreadsheet or software?
A whiteboard works with one truck and one person on the phone. Once you have a few trucks, a sales team taking orders, and builders ringing for ETAs, the cost of a missed detail is a wasted trip or a back-charge. That's when scheduling software pays for itself.
How TrakkHQ helps
TrakkHQ was built in our own transport business, and it works the same way for a supplier that runs its own trucks.
- Jobs from orders: upload an order or booking PDF and TrakkHQ fills in the job for you to check.
- One board: every delivery and truck on one screen. Drag to reschedule, and the driver's phone updates. See truck dispatch and the ops board.
- Driver app: drivers see every stop with its contact, notes and load, and capture POD photos and signatures from any phone. See the driver app.
- Live ETAs: send site managers a tracking link with a real arrival time. See live GPS tracking.
- Carriers: send overflow deliveries to carriers that use TrakkHQ, or track any other carrier's freight by its tracking number, on the same board.
- Customer portal: your customers can see their deliveries and PODs, and request a delivery, without calling. See the customer portal.
FAQ
We don't charge freight separately. Is transport software still for us?
Yes. The scheduling, driver app, tracking and proof of delivery are the same whether or not you invoice the delivery. Invoicing is something you use only if you need it.
Can we use our own trucks and a carrier at the same time?
Yes. Your trucks and the carrier's jobs sit on the same board, so you see every delivery in one place.
Do our drivers need a special device?
No. The driver app runs on any phone.