Delivery day: getting the truck in and back out

Most failed deliveries are not machine problems. The unit was right, the date was right, and the truck could not get to where it needed to be. That is a wasted morning for both of us, and it is nearly always preventable.

What the driver needs to know

1. 01
   The tightest point, not the gateWidth is decided by the worst pinch on the route: an overhanging tree, a parked skip, a corner with a hydrant on it. The gate is rarely the problem.
2. 02
   OverheadWires, branches, a canopy, a low bridge on the approach. A loaded trailer is taller than you think and lower than the wires — usually.
3. 03
   Where the machine comes offUnloading needs firm, level-ish ground and room to swing. It is not the same place as "where the machine will work".
4. 04
   Whether the truck can turn aroundA truck that gets in and cannot get out has not delivered anything yet. Reversing 200 metres down a site road is how mirrors die.
5. 05
   Who is there to take itA name and a mobile number. A locked gate at eight in the morning is the most common failure of all.

Ground on delivery day

The trailer is heavier than the machine and has none of its flotation. A site the excavator will happily cross is not automatically a site the truck can reach. Wet spring ground is where this bites.

If in doubt, unload on the hard standing and drive the machine in. That is one conversation on the phone, and it beats a recovery.

The things people forget to say

• Site induction requirements. If the driver needs a briefing before he is allowed through, we would love to know before he is at the gate.
• Restricted delivery hours. Residential streets, school zones, and noise windows are all real constraints.
• Permits or escorts on your access route. Rare, but not never.
• That the address in the map is not the entrance. Very common on big sites.

And on the way back

Pickup has the same constraints as delivery, plus one: the site has changed. The route that worked on day one may now have a trench across it. Tell us when it does.

Two minutes, one message

Address, access notes, contact name, ground condition. Send that with the request and delivery day is a non-event — which is exactly what a delivery day should be.