Efficiency improves productivity improves profitability

If you're in the maintenance business you often have to do several jobs a day, so a substantial amount of time is taken up travelling from your base, then job to job, and back to base.

There are basically four ways to plot your jobs to make the route the most efficient, and the most efficient route is always the quickest from A to B.

1/ You can try to plot all the jobs for the day that are in one area, such as a post code.

2/ There is the straight line method where you plot all the jobs (more or less) in a straight line going outwards from your base, so you start at the closest property and finish at the furthest away property.

3/ There is the loop method, where you work outwards for half the day, then start to work inwards.

4/ Then there is the scatter method, where you plot your jobs depending on the type of machinery required.

There is no correct way to use because it very much depends on the area you work in and the time of day you are travelling. Some days you may find it better to start as close to your base as possible because of traffic congestion, and other days you may use system 4 because you need to transport heavy machinery.
But it is always something you should be chewing over in your mind and finding ways to try and reduce unproductive time.

Remember that while you are travelling you are not earning, you are spending. Travelling is a cost that you are having to pay for.

Replies

Lawncare-4u.co.uk April 30, 2014 at 12:33am

and sometimes none work for quoting and its better to do it separately after job (mindset)!

but usually whilst on the road..

good post :)
1st Garden Maintenance April 30, 2014 at 5:58am

Another good thing to do, especially for newcomers to this business, is to record the time they spend on every job, and the amount of time they spend travelling every day.
With this information they can then find out how much time is non-productive, and adjust the cost of their productive time to compensate.
Andrew Baker April 30, 2014 at 10:24pm

We only offer maintenance on a full day or half day basis. Seems to work in about 90% of cases for us and minimises wasted travelling.
PRO

Nick @ NM Garden Services Ltd May 1, 2014 at 9:25pm

It's am good point. Sometimes we have teams who spend an entire day on a site, sometimes 1/2 days and others they might visit 6 or 7 sites. All the journeys are local, the vans only ever travel around 6000 miles a year, but the time spent in a van doing all the small jobs can be as much as 1.5 hours!

It is a hidden cost which must be factored in.

It should also be noted that some jobs will have a high requirement for the use of powered equipment whereas others will not require anything more than a fork (at least for us). Again, costs can be adjusted accordingly.
PRO

Darren Walters May 1, 2014 at 10:47pm

On average, I'd say it takes us at least 10 hours to get 8 hours work done due to travelling between clients. Not to mention loading and unloading the van which gets progressively more untidy throughout the week. And don't forget the customers that put the kettle on just as you are about to leave!
Lawncare-4u.co.uk May 1, 2014 at 11:05pm

your not complaining are you Daz?

Darren Walters said:
On average, I'd say it takes us at least 10 hours to get 8 hours work done due to travelling between clients. Not to mention loading and unloading the van which gets progressively more untidy throughout the week. And don't forget the customers that put the kettle on just as you are about to leave!
Busy Bee Garden Services Limited May 2, 2014 at 6:48am

We tend to stick to estates for staff and factor in travel time when we price it up but usually days of work. I used to hate paying people to go from one garden to another!
PRO

Darren Walters May 2, 2014 at 6:56am

no, not complaining. Just pointing out how it affects your efficiencies. If you are on your own, losing some time is not ideal, but with 3 in the van it's obviously more costly.
Gardens4u.co.uk said:
your not complaining are you Daz?

Darren Walters said:
On average, I'd say it takes us at least 10 hours to get 8 hours work done due to travelling between clients. Not to mention loading and unloading the van which gets progressively more untidy throughout the week. And don't forget the customers that put the kettle on just as you are about to leave!
Lawncare-4u.co.uk May 3, 2014 at 12:22am

im meant about the brews :)

Darren Walters said:

no, not complaining. Just pointing out how it affects your efficiencies. If you are on your own, losing some time is not ideal, but with 3 in the van it's obviously more costly.
Gardens4u.co.uk said:
your not complaining are you Daz?

Darren Walters said:
On average, I'd say it takes us at least 10 hours to get 8 hours work done due to travelling between clients. Not to mention loading and unloading the van which gets progressively more untidy throughout the week. And don't forget the customers that put the kettle on just as you are about to leave!
PRO

Darren Walters May 3, 2014 at 6:26am

oh :-) :-)

Gardens4u.co.uk said:
im meant about the brews :)

Darren Walters said:

no, not complaining. Just pointing out how it affects your efficiencies. If you are on your own, losing some time is not ideal, but with 3 in the van it's obviously more costly.
Gardens4u.co.uk said:
your not complaining are you Daz?

Darren Walters said:
On average, I'd say it takes us at least 10 hours to get 8 hours work done due to travelling between clients. Not to mention loading and unloading the van which gets progressively more untidy throughout the week. And don't forget the customers that put the kettle on just as you are about to leave!