[This is the third of a three-part feature article on managing a fleet of laundry delivery vehicles. Here are links to Part 1<\/a> and Part 2<\/a>.]<\/strong><\/p>\n One of the main elements in the pickup-and-delivery equation is the driver. Always keep in mind that \u2013 like an attendant in a laundromat \u2013 your driver represents your PUD service.<\/p>\n \u201cThey need to have a professional demeanor,\u201d pointed out Matt Simmons of Super Suds Laundromat in Long Beach, Calif. \u201cLook at their work history. Have they been with their previous company for a significant amount of time, or do they hop from one job to another?\u201d<\/p>\n Simmons noted that, due to insurance reasons, Super Suds driver candidates are required to have at least 10 to 15 years of driving experience, with no accidents or tickets within the last three years.<\/p>\n \u201cWe drug test and conduct a background check,\u201d he said. \u201cWe have the driver get behind the wheel on Day Two, and we find out pretty quickly if they know how to drive a larger vehicle. After all, we don\u2019t want to spend time training them, if they can\u2019t drive well.\u201d<\/p>\n Ross Dodds leans heavily on his insurance provider when it comes to hiring drivers for WashClub LA \u2013 forwarding driver candidate information to his insurance agent, who will let him know if a particular hire will end up being a cost to the company, due to past violations, etc.<\/p>\n \u201cWe only hire drivers who are 25 or older,\u201d he explained. \u201cAnd they must pass our insurance check.\u201d<\/p>\n All of 2ULaundry\u2019s drivers are background checked through a third-party company called Checkr, according to Beck Miller.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have to add our drivers to our insurance, so the insurance company runs an additional driver history check to confirm they can be added,\u201d Miller said. \u201cFrom an interview perspective, we want to ensure all drivers are cordial and can put forward good customer service. In many instances, the drives are the face of the brand to our customers, so it\u2019s important to make certain they\u2019ll deliver the level of service our customers expect.\u201d<\/p>\n At Art Jaeger\u2019s operation in Simi Valley, Calif., he focuses strictly on those who have experience driving larger vehicles.<\/p>\n \u201cWe don\u2019t want Door Dash drivers,\u201d he said. \u201cThose drivers have a different approach and don\u2019t really fit the profile, because they\u2019re used to working on their own time schedules. They also aren\u2019t necessarily used to all of the stops required in laundry delivery. Plus, our drivers need to carry heavier loads than some Door Dash types of drivers might be used to.\u201d<\/p>\n Once on the road, 2ULaundry employs telematics devices in all of its vans \u2013 to report on mileage, service issues, speeding, unsafe driving, etc. \u201cIt allows us to keep a pulse on our entire fleet of vans and drivers,\u201d Miller explained.<\/p>\n \u201cWe utilize dash cams,\u201d Simmons said. \u201cWe also have our phone number all over our vans, and people will call if they notice erratic driving. I\u2019d also recommend GPS tracking. We use software to manage the number of stops made \u2013 and our drivers\u2019 schedules are pretty packed, so there isn\u2019t a lot of time for messing around.\u201d<\/p>\n With regard to dash cam technology, WashClub LA specifically installs Samsara AI cams in all its vehicles, which send alerts for hard breaking, distracted driving, and so on.<\/p>\n Despite continued labor shortages in many fields, drivers seems to rather plentiful.<\/p>\n \u201cThere are tons of drivers out there,\u201d said Mark Vlaskamp of The Folde in Houston and Austin, Texas. \u201cIt\u2019s our job to make the job listing and the work environment compelling. Amazon may pay slightly more, but we can make up for it with better teammates, training protocols, and more upward mobility.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe were noticing some difficulty in finding good drivers, so we raised our starting pay,\u201d Simmons said. \u201cThis has enabled us to be more competitive with companies like Amazon, and the higher starting salary has attracted higher-quality candidates.\u201d<\/p>\n Simmons suggested others methods of attracting good drivers, beyond just their wages.<\/p>\n \u201cFor example, our drivers work 10-hour days four days a week,\u201d he said. \u201cThis gives them a three-day weekend. In addition, we advertise in our help wanted ads that our drivers can make money on tips as well.\u201d<\/p>\n At 2ULaundry, the driver position is considered an \u201cevergreen\u201d role.<\/p>\n \u201cEven if we\u2019re currently full, we leave the posting live and are always interviewing candidates,\u201d Miller noted. \u201cUnemployment is low, and everyone is competing with Amazon in some form or fashion, so it\u2019s not uncommon to see higher turnover. We\u2019ve been fortunate to have a relatively long-tenured core group of drivers, but we always have people in the funnel just in case.\u201d<\/p>\n Jaeger pointed out that the addition of tips as a standard component of most payment software these days \u2013 as well as the public\u2019s recent overall acceptance of tipping delivery drivers \u2013 has helped Laundry Butler For You attract top drivers.<\/p>\n \u201cIn some cases, tips can amount to 20 percent to 25 percent of their compensation,\u201d he said. \u201cThat\u2019s a real benefit that Amazon doesn\u2019t offer.\u201d<\/p>\n And with Amazon seemingly gobbling up every able-bodied driver in the country, any leg up on the e-commerce giant needs to be exploited.<\/p>\n \u201cAmazon might look like its offering more money on an hourly basis,\u201d Jaeger said. \u201cBut I\u2019ve found that, if I can come close to that number, many drivers are OK with that. Add in the tips and the fact that we don\u2019t have the pressure or the dehumanization of the Amazon process. Plus, our drivers are part of a smaller organization they can feel good about.<\/p>\n \u201cSo, who am I hiring? In large part, I\u2019m hiring Amazon drivers who don\u2019t like being Amazon drivers anymore.\u201d<\/p>\n As inflation continues to impact fuel costs and nearly everything else, it has never been more crucial to keep in mind that your laundry pickup-and-delivery business is providing the community with a premium service \u2013 which in turn needs to come with a premium price tag.<\/p>\n \u201cWe recently raised our prices and, starting in January, we will add a flat delivery charge for all orders,\u201d Simmons said. \u201cThe nice part about pickup and delivery is that there are a lot of levers you can use to increase profits and cover costs \u2013 such as price per pound, delivery fees, same-day pickup premiums, and increasing the order minimum.\u201d<\/p>\n Last March, as gas prices were skyrocketing, Jaeger added a $4 gas surcharge for every laundry pickup.<\/p>\n \u201cIf you\u2019re doing 1,000 pickups, that\u2019s $4,000 extra, which more than covers any increase in gas,\u201d he said. \u201cYou can\u2019t be scared to pass it along. I dropped that surcharge in October, but that coincided with an increase in prices.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m in a for-profit business. It\u2019s not a public service. I\u2019m running a premium service, and I need to hold up my end and provide it. If something goes wrong on my end, I need to stand behind it \u2013 but it also means I don\u2019t need to fit everyone in under the same tent.\u201d<\/p>\n Travis Unema of Brio Laundry in Bellingham,Wash., concurred with the need to raise PUD charges to compensate for fuel costs; however, he also suggested consolidating and optimizing delivery routes.<\/p>\n \u201cAdjust delivery days for certain customers to make the routes more streamlined,\u201d he said. \u201cExplain to your customers that it will help keep prices down for them. For example: \u2018To avoid a convenience fee, we would like to move your delivery day to Wednesday for route optimization and fuel conservation.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n Here are some final pieces of advice on managing your PUD fleet:<\/p>\n Beck Miller:<\/strong><\/em> \u201cTake care of your team and your vans. Wages for hourly work in many markets are in the $15- to $20-per-hour range. At face value, paying double the minimum wage may be tough to swallow, but hiring and training is expensive. Similarly with vans, it may be tempting to put off an expensive service, but issues compound if they aren\u2019t proactively handled. If you cut corners, you\u2019ll end up paying much more in the long run.\u201d<\/p>\n Travis Unema:<\/strong><\/em> \u201cHire drivers you can trust, and give them the tools needed to succeed \u2013 a company phone, business cards, uniforms, rain gear, and PPE for dealing with potentially hazardous laundry loads.\u201d<\/p>\n Mark Vlaskamp:<\/strong><\/em> \u201cVan wraps are a marketing expense. Do it right, and don\u2019t be cheap with them.\u201d<\/p>\n Art Jaeger:<\/strong><\/em> \u201cOwning vans and having drivers is a super headache, expense and hassle. There\u2019s no question about it. There is no one single piece of advice. You should be really serious about all aspects of how you manage your delivery fleet, because it is very time consuming.\u201d<\/p>\n Ross Dodds:<\/strong><\/em> \u201cDon\u2019t get into pickup and delivery thinking you\u2019re simply going to start using that equipment that sits idle 70 percent of the time up to 12 turns a day so that it now pays for itself. Pickup and delivery is a business in and of itself. It\u2019s not just some add-on to your laundromat. It requires time and a lot resources.\u201d<\/p>\n Matt Simmons:<\/strong> <\/em>\u201cEverything runs a lot smoother when you\u2019re proactive. You need to create a system for accountability. Without a maintenance schedule, your drivers will run your vehicles into the ground \u2013 so, you can regularly change the fluids on your vehicles, or you can deal with a fully loaded van needing a tow on the side of a busy freeway!\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" A Look at One of the Most Critical Aspects for Successfully Scaling a Pickup-and-Delivery Service [This is the third of a three-part feature article on managing a fleet of laundry delivery vehicles. Here are links to Part 1 and Part 2.] One of the main elements in the pickup-and-delivery equation is the driver. Always keep […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1230,"featured_media":12510,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","content-type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[98,243,244,245,9351],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12509","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured-articles","category-feature-1","category-feature-2","category-feature-3","category-highlights"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/planetlaundry.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12509"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/planetlaundry.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/planetlaundry.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/planetlaundry.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1230"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/planetlaundry.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12509"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/planetlaundry.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12509\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12511,"href":"https:\/\/planetlaundry.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12509\/revisions\/12511"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/planetlaundry.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12510"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/planetlaundry.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12509"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/planetlaundry.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12509"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/planetlaundry.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12509"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\u2018It\u2019s Not a Public Service\u2019<\/h3>\n
Parting Shots…<\/h3>\n