If your trailers keep queuing at goods-in, the problem is rarely the driver. In nine audits out of ten, the queue starts in the booking diary: too many arrivals in the same hour, no-shows nobody rebooks, and a forklift team sized for the average instead of the peak.
Give every arrival a window, not a day
Day-level bookings create a 7am rush and a 3pm lull. Ninety-minute windows spread arrivals across the shift and let the yard marshal stage trailers in order. Shippers who move from day bookings to windows typically cut average dwell by forty minutes within a month.
Confirm the day before
An automated text or email 24 hours out catches the cancelled order, the delayed ferry and the double-booked haulier before they become a missed slot. Backfill from a standby list and the dock never stands idle.
- Publish live slot availability to regular hauliers
- Penalise chronic no-shows; reward on-time arrivals with priority
- Size the unload team for the busiest booked hour, not the average
Measure dwell, not just throughput
Throughput hides waiting. Timestamp gate-in, dock-start and gate-out for every trailer, and review the weekly dwell report with your broker — the data usually points at two or three repeat offenders worth fixing first.
Need a second pair of eyes on your goods-in operation? Our planners audit dock diaries for free as part of any warehousing quote — request a quote and bring the problem with you.
