Seasonal surges, planned in spring

By Harriet Sloane · 2026-09-28 · Operations

Peak-season capacity is often bought after the appointment diary has already filled. In the Hull desk's recent review of seasonal surges, the useful question was which decision the next shift could make with the information already available. We started with a small group of routine journeys rather than changing the entire weekly plan.

Use last year's weekly arrival distribution to reserve overflow space before committing additional collection windows. The duty planner owns the initial entry, while the receiving shift confirms the handover. Any correction stays beside the original reference so that the office and the yard can work from the same account of the journey.

Stress the plan with one late trailer and one absent forklift driver; spare capacity should exist where the delay actually lands. We keep a short exception note for each sampled job, with a clear date and an owner. This makes the review a practical conversation about tomorrow's work instead of an argument over whose spreadsheet was most recently updated.

The change is ready to keep only after two full handovers work without extra explanation. Harriet Sloane recommends reviewing the routine after a quiet week as well as a busy one: a process that depends on one experienced dispatcher being present will not survive an ordinary holiday rota.

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