Cindy Bolla, Conrad Helman and Joe Koffman all work in the area of route
and crew scheduling. They provide the logistical support to ensure that things
are transported on time from where they are to where they need to go.
California is known for its fine wines. But a lot of people won't be enjoying
their appetizers if Bolla doesn't work to get it to their tables. For more
than 30 years, Bolla's second-generation family business has been ensuring
that wine gets transported from the wineries in California to customers.
Bolla says her business is all about scheduling, something for which she's
principally responsible.
"Everything in the transportation area is done by appointments only," says
Bolla. "You can't just show up some place with a truck and say, 'Here I am!'"
Bolla is responsible for dispatching the 11 trucks that she has working
for her. Her father, who is semi-retired, still manages some trucks himself.
This means scheduling about 40 trucks and a crew of about eight, Bolla says.
"I make dispatches out for the drivers, put the pickup numbers on, give
them the case count, tell them where they're going and give them their directions,"
says Bolla.
But Bolla's task is not finished until the customer actually gets the product.
And that could take some time, depending on the pickup and delivery locations.
"For example, I have a customer in North Haven, Connecticut," Bolla says.
"She sends me her orders. We call the different wineries and we get it all
picked up. And basically it's about nine days from the time she sends the
order to the day it reaches her door."
There is a kind of division of labor between Bolla's part of the operations
and her dad's. She takes care of the schedules that involve more than one
pickup. Her father does the "straight loads." Scheduling the trucks to do
multiple pickups and deliveries requires careful planning to determine the
best routes for cost-efficiency, says Bolla.
"It's like a half-day's worth of work to get them all set up for the next
day," says Bolla. "Most of the wineries are up in this one area. There are
some on one side of the mountain and there's a whole group on the other side.
So what I do is put them in line for the drivers to make it as easy as possible."
As route supervisor for a waste disposal company, Helman's
duties include seeing to it that route and crew schedules are clear and that
those working under him keep to them.
"Schedules are set area by area for residential and commercial pickups,"
says Helman. "Each truck has its own area and schedule."
Helman, who used to work as a truck driver himself, says the schedules
are pretty much fixed -- the drivers are posted, they know their start and
finish times and they know their runs.
But that doesn't mean he has little on his hands. Sometimes, the schedule
may need to be amended or runs may need to be rerouted.
"Right now, for example, we have to change the pickup dates for residential
customers," says Helman. "It's not beneficial for us to go with five-day weeks
and we are switching them to four-day weeks. That involves getting an overview
map of the whole area and deciding who's going to go on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday
or Friday."
Helman has 40 trucks under his supervision. That makes a crew of about
40 truck drivers, plus some spares and mechanics. It's very much a group effort,
he says.
To keep track of irregular pickup schedules, Helman says computers are
used. Dispatchers simply have to press a button each night and a printout
of the drivers' run sheet is generated. Drivers pick this up in the morning
and know just what to do.
But Helman says you can't just rely on computers. "There are things we
have to finalize before entering them into a computer," he says.
Helman says most of the time, things go pretty smoothly. But sometimes,
the job may involve some troubleshooting.
"It could be a new guy on the run and he misses an alley," says Helman.
"If he's still in the area, we'll get him to swing back in and redo that part
of his run. Or I'll go down there and do that part for him."
Managing scheduling operations at an urban bus company is quite a huge
responsibility for Joe Koffman. His job, in effect, makes him head scheduler.
He oversees the work of three full-time schedulers and a supervisor. Together,
they are tasked with keeping the transit company's 850 buses in order.
"The service we provide is all time-based," says Koffman. "You have to
make sure that the schedules are as realistic as possible. If you don't allow
time for buses to make their trips and they're always running late, that's
not good. But you also don't want to put too much time into the schedules
and have them running ahead of schedule."
Scheduling at his company is very much a high-tech affair, says Koffman.
This is probably the way to go if your scheduling needs are as massive as
that of a public bus transit company.
According to Koffman, they schedule over 2.2 million hours of service a
year. But he says automation is a tool and not an end in itself because you
still need people.
"It's allowing schedulers to do a better job, but it's not eliminating
jobs," says Koffman.