The recent market changes aren’t necessarily affecting all businesses in a negative way. In several sectors, there are spikes in demand for specific services. The courier industry is one of the industries that are seeing more demand for their services.
Unfortunately, increased demand is not always good for a business, especially if you don’t know how to fully capitalise on the growth in potential customers. For a shipping business, in particular, there are several steps that need to be taken in order to cope with a spike in demand.
Refine Your Fleet Utilisation
Scheduling is the first thing to look into when you have a sudden influx of orders, and you need to scale up. Deciding to scale up right away is not always the right move to make, especially when you consider the large investments that needed to scale up a shipping business.
What you want to do is look at how deliveries and routes are managed and find ways to streamline your routes to expand your capacity. This way, you can accommodate more customers without having to immediately expand your fleet.
At the same time, refining your schedules and routes also allow you to be more creative with how costs are managed. You will almost immediately find opportunities to make the entire fleet more efficient as a whole.
Leverage Technology
Technology is your best friend when it comes to expanding your fleet’s capacity. The seconds you shave here and there with the help of technology can actually impact the entire capacity of your shipping business by a substantial margin.
Technologies such as GPS tracking and fleet management are crucial. Additional IoT devices can also bring in more data about the vehicles in your fleet. The more data you collect, the more you can do when it comes to scaling up and pushing for efficiency.
By knowing the average wear of tires, for instance, you can schedule maintenance before tire condition becomes a big issue. This alone lets you maintain a smooth operation, even under difficult situations.
Manage Your Risks
Delivering more goods and catering to more customers is good, but it also comes with added risks. As your vehicles are on the road more often – and your drivers are facing additional pressures – you have to think about how to best manage the extra risks that come with a spike in demand.
This is where tools like Quotezone.co.uk come in handy. Quotezone.co.uk lets you compare fleet insurance quotes from multiple insurance providers. You can then find the best fleet insurance policy based on the coverage amount and additional services.
Insurance is still the best way to offset some of the business risks you face. Fleet insurance is only the beginning. You can use Quotezone.co.uk to find information on business insurance and other plans, plus you will have plenty of opportunities to save on the premiums.
By taking into account the steps that we discussed in this article, you can fully benefit from the spike in market demand without investing heavily in new vehicles or taking on additional risks in the process.
