Parcel delivery is something that is heavily relied upon not only by businesses but also individuals to send and receive parcels from all around the world. However, in recent years there has been a decrease in the number of drivers on the roads, which is having a devastating effect on courier services up and down the country. Here, we are going to look at how the shortage of drivers is likely to affect the parcel delivery service and the other services that rely on it on a daily basis.
Delays
With a shortage of drivers for freight and parcel delivery, there are many problems that are beginning to arise. The most important of which, that affects the most amount of people, is the delays that customers are beginning to encounter. Although this is only a very recent issue within the parcel delivery sector it is still a pressing problem and goes against the target to have faster delivery processes. With this only happening on very rare occasions at this point in time, it is a problem that will get progressively worse depending on the number of drivers that a company has lost.
Downgrade In Customer Service
Not only has there been a gradual increase in the number of delays that are being experienced because of a shortage of drivers but there is also a decline in the quality of the customer service as the drivers that are delivering parcels are rushed off their feet to ensure trying to deliver all there parcels within a specific time frame. This also has the potential to increase the number of the parcels that are delivered broken as drivers are rushed and may leave the parcels in obscure places or attempt to shove larger deliveries through small letterboxes in the hope that it will fit.
Decrease In The Number Of Parcels That Are Delivered
With a shortage of drivers, you are more likely to have a decrease in the average number of parcels that are being delivered per day. This could be a problem for smaller businesses as this could lead to unhappy customers which subsequently results in a reduction in return investment. To solve this problem, courier firms can either hire new drivers or increase the average number of deliveries that are to be made per day. However, this is not an issue for a larger e-commerce site such as Amazon as drivers are delivering a large number of parcels all over the world very frequently. The decrease in a number of parcels being delivered could mean that customers are paying for a next day delivery service and are not always receiving their parcel the next day. This can lead to higher levels of customer frustration and could reduce the level of trust that customers have with the brand that they have ordered from.
Training
Due to the amount of training that needs to be undertaken to obtain your license to drive a truck, this is one of the main contributing factors to this increased shortage of drivers. Not only this but the amount of money that it costs to get your license is something that is unattainable to many and therefore it is important for companies to give an incentive to drivers to encourage people to do the training. If an incentive was offered such as paying the fees for them then it is highly likely that there would be more people driving lorries for delivery companies, which in turn would combat this growing issue.
Lack Of Items In Stores
Another effect that a shortage of delivery drivers can have is on B2B businesses. With major supermarkets relying on multiple deliveries per night it can become a problem when deliveries don’t arrive or turn up hours late as this can then affect the B2C aspect of this business. This is particularly paramount in busy months such as December for supermarkets causing unnecessary delays and customer anger. This is also the same for items such as petrol and other goods as these will not be delivered to the people that need them the most if a driver cannot be found.
With all this in mind, a shortage of drivers is something that could have a drastic effect on the overall parcel delivery process and can have an even larger effect on B2B and B2C services and their relationship with customers. In order to combat this, businesses will need to consider investing in training and incentivising their staff to help increase the number of new drivers.
