Monitoring and reporting
In order to understand how your transport strategy serves the delivery of ongoing programmes, it is important to track transport needs, activities and results, and to present them in a structured reporting format, at agreed intervals. Ensuring that all movements are well documented will support the updating of the reports.
A format for monthly logistics activities reporting can be requested from the international logistics team. You may want to adapt it to the specificities of your activities (breaking it down per programme or per destination, for example), but below is a list of performance points that you can track and include in the transport section of the report.
Note that all of the information should be available from either transport documents (waybills, GRNs, claim forms, etc), from organisational information (per diem rates and fuel costs, for example) or from invoices (especially from freight forwarders or clearing agents).
Quantities:
Received
- number of shipments received (for each transport mode)
- total weight and volume of received goods (for each transport mode)
- total number of units (parcels/pallets) received
- ratio of shipments (for each mode of transport).
Shipped
- number of shipments despatched (for each transport mode)
- total weight and volume of dispatched goods (for each transport mode)
- total number of units (parcels/pallets) dispatched
- ratio of shipments (for each mode of transport).
Costs:
Received
- total cost of handling (offloading, reception check and storage).
Shipped
- total cost of handling (loading)
- total cost of rented vehicles
- total cost of use of own vehicles (fuel consumption, driver’s per diem, etc)
- average cost of shipping per kg or ton (for each transport mode).
Lead times:
Received
- average number of days in transit to delivery point (for each transport mode and origin).
Shipped
- average delivery lead time (for each transport mode and origin).
Claims and performance:
Received
- number of claims raised to sender/transporter
- number of unresolved claims with sender/transporter
- OTIF receptions: number of shipments received on time and in full, with no claims raised, for total number of shipments received.
Shipped
- number of claims received
- number of open claims (under investigation)
- OTIF deliveries: number of shipments delivered at destination on time and in full, with no claims received, for total number of shipments dispatched.
International shipments
Received
- number of shipments cleared through customs (for each mode of transport)
- total cost of clearing cargo (for each mode of transport and kg/ton).
Shipped
- number of international shipments despatched (for each mode of transport)
- total cost of international shipments (for each mode of transport).
Optimising transport management
The data presented in the activities report can be used to steer the transport activities towards more efficient use of resource to deliver the needs of programmes.
Data from the report should be shared with other teams, to encourage better use of resources. For example:
- Showing the relationship between better anticipation in order placement and cheaper transportation costs will encourage requestors to place their orders earlier, to save transportation costs.
- Performance data should be shared with service providers to help them focus on necessary improvements.
- Data on cost of freight can be used to benchmark freight forwarders against the average costs of shipping.
- Data on cost of customs clearance can be used to benchmark clearing agents against the average clearing costs.
Organising transport to/from UKO
Read detailed information on organising transport to and from from within the UK and the rest of the world here.
Logistics-owned vehicles
Check with the logistics team if a vehicle is available for quick short-distance, urgent deliveries.
Taxi
Taxis can be arranged for the movement of goods within London – depending on the size of the goods, this can be cheaper than a courier. Taxis (Green Courier) can be booked via the post room up to a week in advance. Cost codes are required, and it is preferred that the post room is approached before last collection at 4pm. Taxi apps have been used in the past (with payment via procurement card).
Read the next section on Shipping ERU kits and RLU stocks here.
Download the full section here.
Some consignments are more sensitive than others. Typically, the transportation of dangerous goods or cold chain items require stricter preparation and tracking.
Cold chain shipments
When transporting cold chain items, remember to:
- Double check the cold chain capacity calculations: are you sure that the temperature can be maintained for the duration of the shipment?
If not, make sure you include additional icepacks to the consignment, include them on the packing list and waybill, and provide the transporter with instructions as to when and how they must be used. - Include a temperature tracker in the consignment. You can usually arrange for shippers to fit a tracker in a container (at a cost).
Where you are the shipper of goods, you can procure temperature trackers to include in boxes, and provide the receiver of the goods with means to read the trackers once goods are delivered. - Follow up on any cold chain rupture claims notified by the consignee and implement corrective actions.
Transporting dangerous goods
There are nine classes of dangerous goods. Find more information on dangerous goods here.
Transportation of dangerous goods is highly regulated and should ideally be handled by a third-party service provider. Freight forwarders usually have capacity to advise on dangerous goods shipments and may have to pick them up from your warehouse to arrange for special packaging prior to the shipment.
Drop-ships
Drop-ships are cases where a supplier might deliver to the end user directly, upon specific request of the buyer. The buyer can be the consignee or a service provider acting on behalf of the consignee (a regional logistics hub, for example, in the context of the Red Cross Movement).
In drop-ships, the supplier will usually present at the delivery place with a waybill of their own format and/or an internal delivery note. In this case:
- Sign the waybill only when all packaging units have been accounted for (pallets, boxes or loose cargo).
- Sign the delivery note when all the items on the packing list have been delivered. The transporter should leave a copy of the signed delivery note with the person who signed it.
- Raise a claims form where there is any discrepancy.
- Raise a GRN to record entry into stock.
- Move the goods to the bulk storage area or proceed to distribution if the goods have been delivered at the point of usage.
- Update stock records if goods enter the warehouse.
- Inform the sender (supplier or third party, such as ) that goods have been received. Send copies of waybill, delivery note and claims form.
If drop-shipped goods are distributed immediately, they do not need to be recorded in stock. A delivery note is enough to reconcile with the order or requisition.
Deliveries at point of usage
Where requested goods are delivered at the point of usage or distribution, a delivery note is preferable to a GRN, as the items are not to be managed by logistics. That way, the items do not become Red Cross stock, but the delivery is still documented. A copy of the delivery note must be kept in the procurement file before it is transmitted to finance for payment.
Read the next section on Safety, security and incident reports here.
Related resources
Download useful tools and templates here