Managed driver services – what are they and why do they work?
Most builders’ merchants use temporary or agency drivers at some point. Holiday cover, sickness, seasonal peaks, recruitment gaps and unexpected increases in delivery demand can all create a need for additional drivers. For a single branch with occasional requirements, arranging cover on an ad-hoc basis can work perfectly well.
But, once a merchant is using significant numbers of agency drivers across several branches, managing this process can become much more complicated.
Different branches may use different agencies. Rates can vary, and so can the standard of drivers. Compliance paperwork needs to be checked and monitored. Invoices arrive from multiple suppliers and nobody necessarily has a clear view of agency usage across the whole business.
This is where a managed driver service can make sense.
What is a managed service?
Instead of individual branches sourcing drivers from several different agencies, a managed service puts one specialist provider in charge of coordinating external driver supply across the business.
At Specialist Driver Resourcing, when we work with a merchant to provide a managed driver service, we become the central point of contact for bookings and take full responsibility for fulfilment.
Where required, we can use our established network of second-tier agencies to source additional drivers, but that process is managed by SDR rather than individual branches having to find alternative suppliers themselves. For the merchant it means only one relationship to manage, one agreed pricing structure and one set of standards.
Taking administration away from branch teams
One of the biggest advantages is the amount of administrative work that a managed service can remove from people on the ground.
Transport managers and branch teams already have enough to deal with without spending time calling around several different agencies to find cover. Under SDR’s managed service, bookings can be made through a single online system, giving branches and central teams visibility of upcoming requirements.
Driver compliance and inductions are managed to the merchant’s agreed standards, with DVLA checks, qualifications and other compliance information controlled through dedicated systems.
There is also out-of-hours support, so that when plans change, there is someone available to help deal with the problem.
The service effectively becomes an extension of the merchant’s own transport operation.
One supplier doesn’t mean one source of drivers
A common concern with moving to a managed service is whether relying on a single provider could actually reduce a merchant’s access to drivers but, in fact, it does the opposite.
SDR maintains a large team of its own full-time, sector-specific drivers, but can also supplement that resource through an established second-tier agency network. The difference is that the merchant no longer has to manage those relationships individually.
If SDR’s own drivers cannot fulfil a booking, responsibility for sourcing suitable alternative cover sits with us. That gives the merchant the simplicity of dealing with one supplier while retaining access to a much wider driver pool.
Better visibility of spend
Agency driver costs can become difficult to monitor when individual branches are making bookings with different suppliers at different rates – a managed service consolidates that spend.
Pricing is agreed centrally and SDR provides a single consolidated invoice with supporting information, rather than the merchant having to process invoices from numerous agencies. Reporting can also show where drivers are being used, how frequently they are required and what the business is spending – information that is valuable in its own right.
If particular branches repeatedly need additional drivers, for example, the data can help identify whether there is a longer-term resourcing issue. If demand changes significantly at certain times of year, the merchant has better information on which to plan future capacity.
Creating consistent standards
Driver quality is another area where a managed approach can make a significant difference.
SDR specialises solely in builders’ merchants and building materials distribution. Our full-time drivers work in the sector every day, with many having extensive experience of HIABs, Moffetts and the specialist vehicles used by merchants.
Under a managed service, agreed standards can be applied across every branch, rather than quality depending on which agency happens to supply a driver on the day.
Performance can then be measured through agreed KPIs and fulfilment reporting. It moves agency driver supply away from a series of individual transactions and turns it into a service that can be actively managed and improved.
When does a managed service make sense?
Not every merchant needs a managed service. For businesses that only make a handful of agency bookings each year, an ad-hoc arrangement may be all that is required. But the benefits become much clearer when a merchant has several branches, uses agency drivers regularly or currently works with multiple suppliers.
At that point, the time spent arranging cover, checking compliance, processing invoices and managing different agencies can become a significant administrative burden. A managed service brings those separate activities together.
SDR already operates a national managed service contract within the UK builders’ merchant sector, giving us direct experience of coordinating driver requirements across a large branch network.
The principle behind the model is straightforward: let branch and transport teams concentrate on running their operation, while a specialist takes responsibility for managing the external driver resource behind it.
For growing regional and national merchants in particular, that can mean less administration, better cost visibility, more consistent driver standards and one accountable partner responsible for making sure the drivers are there when they’re needed.