A driver update that reads simply “go to the pickup point and deliver the cargo today” may seem efficient, but it leaves a lot of work undone for the receiver. Which pickup point? What time should the vehicle reach the loading dock? Is loading time to be included? Who is the contact person at the delivery note? Should the time at the destination point be exact or flexible? A dispatch note does not have to be a long text, but it should help to avoid avoidable guessing at the beginning of the task.
The first thing a useful dispatch note should do is describe the task at hand. The cargo to be moved, the starting location, destination point, and if it’s a vehicle for cargo or passengers. If it’s a transport for cargo, it’s also useful to know the cargo type and weight, height, whether to note anything for loading, or any other information related to the vehicle capacity to be used. If it’s a transport of passengers, it’s also useful to know the number of passengers and any other instruction affecting arrival timing at the point of departure. In short, the transport note should help to make the transport task easier to carry out without just repeating what a vague task has already communicated.
The second thing that a dispatch note should do is make time points clear. For example: what is the point of time the cargo will be collected, what time will the vehicle depart, and what time will it arrive at the destination point? If there is a known time interval where the arrival point will have to be loaded or where passengers will have to board and the driver has no control over the situation, don’t pretend the vehicle will leave the point of departure as soon as it gets there. If there are restrictions on the arrival time at the destination point, it should be written out. If the time points are still not determined, write what needs to be determined, don’t pretend there is none. Avoid creating situations where a schedule is built on a set of assumptions and guesses.
What comes next is details about the route. A dispatch note should give information about the point of pick-up and point of delivery that another person can understand. If there is a need for the driver to go to a different entrance, or a waiting point at arrival, or a special instruction about passing a gate or a road change, or if it’s possible to expect that something will delay the transport, it is useful to write about this, too. For example, beginner drivers often write a task in such a way, which assumes that the map would tell them all the relevant information. But maps often don’t show if a place can or needs to be reached through the loading entrance, if some areas are restricted from access, or even where the destination point is.
A good way to try and get used to writing transport notes is taking a badly written task and writing it back as a five-sentence transport note. For example: one sentence to define the task, one to mention point of pick up and destination point, one to write about timing, one to describe the vehicle or capacity need, and one to state the point of contact or the missing information about the document required or not. Then, cover the original task and write it down only from the transport note you wrote. If you can no longer understand the transport task from just the transport note, add at least one piece of information to the transport note that would make it easier for the receiver to do the job.
The point to writing about documents and communication is in what way they are needed for the task. A transport note is good to say when, and for what reasons it needs to say it, to give the driver a document or document information for verification, such as delivery note, waybill, trip sheet, task confirm, and so forth before or at the starting point and/or destination. Also, if there are driver update expectations about the driver that need to be carried out during the task, it’s useful to write this down. For example, to give an update that the loading has been done or the driver has departed, or that there are expected to be an update on the status of the transport a bit before the destination point. To put these points here isn’t about adding any more document information, it’s about showing what must be done or what to carry or update during the transport task.
Before setting a driver out of their starting point, check one question to see if they have enough information: if someone else read the dispatch note, would they be able to make a transport without making any assumptions about the main things? If the answer is yes, the dispatch note has done its work by changing the transport task into transport instructions which give the right amount of information about points to be picked up or arrived, arrival time, capacity or vehicle needs, and information about documents and expected communication with relevant information at the right place.