• Create a standard work flow process. Take the guesswork out of managing detention by
defining every step of the process. Then use the software tools to execute the process the same way every time.
• Warn the customer.
The Detention module allows you to send out warning e-mails to the customer before detention charges start. These can be sent five minutes, ten minutes, or an hour ahead, whatever you choose. This allows the customer to look into the situation and determine why the driver hasn’t been allowed to unload.
• Get clearly-defined agreements set up with all of your customers.
Is it a two-hour standard grace period? Are you charging $10, $20, $100? It can depend on how often detention occurs and how important the customer is and what they’re willing to agree to.
lessons learneD about
Managing Detention
• Keep your office staff in the loop. You want your billing department and dispatch to
know about any detention events. Dispatch definitely needs to know, because their next load may be in jeopardy.
• Use a detention administrator.
You need to assign someone to be in charge of monitoring everything concerning detention. For example, every time a new customer is added, it would be the detention administrator’s responsibility to add that customer’s detention definition to the system.
• Be willing to say “No” to certain
lanes that cause excessive detention. Some lanes cause severe bottlenecks. You’re better off finding a new lane with minimal detention problems. We’ve declined to haul freight for some customers, so that we can avoid loads that deliver to problem locations.
28 THE ABILITY TO DO MORE
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