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Four-day working week is changing delivery patterns
Page 10
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CM COVER STORY
AN INCREASING reliance on four-day working weeks sparked by the recession is changing delivery patterns and piling pressure on hauliers to cope with higher volumes mid-week and low volumes on Fridays, argue operators.
TPN managing director Adam Leonard (pictured) reveals pallet networks are particularly noticing the shift in demand.
He says: "There is definitely a mid-week rush, and after talking to others in the sector, it seems to be widespread. Generally, if companies decide to move to a four-day week, then Friday would be the preferred day off. Dealing with these delivery peaks and troughs demands greater flexibility from network members:' A spokeswoman for Business Post, owner of UK Pallets, says: "Fridays are quieter because of the four-day week, but we're not seeing any other shifts in delivery patterns."
Pall-Ex managing director Adrian Russell tells CM: "Over the past 12 months, we have witnessed throughput fluctuations in the week nights revert to a pattern
similar to that experienced in the earlier years of the sector; Monday was relatively quiet, then volumes rose nightly to a peak on Thursday, before falling hack on Friday. In the intervening years, we saw nightly volumes gradually even out across the week."
A recent Keep Britain Working survey revealed that 27% of UK workers have seen pay cuts and a further 24% have accepted a reduction in hours. Spokesman Lewis Campbell says: "Anecdotally, it seems staff are accepting hours cuts by taking a whole or a halfday off each week rather than shortening shifts or trimming the length of the working day."