The Five Commandments of Transport: A Structured Approach to Operational Excellence in Haulage

Transport operators are facing unprecedented pressures, with 494 hauliers failing in 2023 alone, operating costs rising by 4.5%, and 94% of Traffic Commissioner inquiries resulting in regulatory action. Therefore, having a systematic approach isn’t just helpful but essential for quickly and effectively addressing these issues.

Likely, the more managerial members of an organisation (C-suite, directors, etc) will see a symptom of a problem in one of these five commandments. The more operational staff (drivers, traffic office, etc) will know the pains based on one of the building blocks, but it’s rare to find operations which can join those factors together.

The Five Commandments of Transport: Your operational foundation

To borrow a phrase from the traffic commissioners, all successful transport operations demonstrate “Continuous and effective control” across five critical areas: cost, compliance, safety, customer service and ESG. Each has a higher priority for different parties, but how you balance these determines whether problems become crises.

Cost: The foundation of survival

It shouldn’t come as any surprise that cost is foundational to the survival of a business. Any decision must acknowledge that the primary purpose is to ensure the company’s longevity, and that begins with its ability to pay the bills. Transport is subject to some volatile pricing in the open market because of fluctuating labour demand, fuel cost and capex investment, so a laser focus on the P&L is not optional.

While savings potential varies (2-20% depending on starting point), the real value lies in early warning systems that prevent the cash flow crises and cost volatility that destroyed 494 businesses in 2023.

Compliance: Avoiding regulatory disaster

The burden that the UK traffic commissioners place on operators is significant, for good reason. Failing to maintain compliance with regulations and legislation will attract the attention of the DVSA, police, and traffic commissioners. The most serious breaches can result in the curtailment or suspension of the operator’s licence, fines, and imprisonment for directors. Every year, the burden increases as new vehicles come into scope and new legislation passes through parliament, so the question is: can you operate without vehicles? Are you confident enough that the job is being done well? This is a rare but real outcome.

Customer service: Delivering on promises

Whether you operate in the B2B or B2C space, your transportation operation will likely be the most tangible interaction your customers have with your business. Customer service is about saying what you do and then doing what you’ve said. Customers remember the impression you leave, and in a crowded marketplace with plenty of choice, they will vote with their feet. According to a study by GetCircuit.com, 72.5% of poor deliveries result in the customer being likely to stop recommending a retailer. A company without customers is not a business.

Safety: The ultimate responsibility

The transport workplace is vast and filled with the public because it’s the road network. Around 10% of all vulnerable road user fatalities involve an HGV. Professional drivers are acutely aware of their responsibilities, but accidents happen, and the moral and legal weight of responsibility is heavy and long-lasting.

ESG: The future of business

ESG is becoming increasingly important for businesses, governments and customers. The Environmental angle of ESG has the highest level of focus in the media but only 38.7% of operators believe that they will achieve Net Zero by 2050. The ban on the sale of ICE vehicles is a hot topic, with the deadline currently set at 2035. The players that will succeed are those that are not crippled when their supply of diesel trucks dries up.

The building blocks: how we evaluate your operation

Broadly, the activities of all transport operations fit into one of six building blocks. The building blocks are implemented daily and contribute to the outcomes that the rest of the business, the customer, and the enforcement agencies see. Our transport improvement methodology closely examines each of the blocks to find the ultimate root cause of the problems to resolve them quickly and effectively.

Data: The foundation of informed decisions

Is your data good enough quality to make meaningful decisions? We often see operations with gaps in activity, transactional, compliance, delivery and product master data that create blind spots hiding risks until it’s too late.

Transport planning & processes: Optimising decision-making

Planning is where a significant portion of your cost gets locked in—but are your processes based on best practice or just habit? A well-run traffic office acts as your operational nerve centre, preventing problems before they cascade through your business.

Systems: Technology enabling operational effectiveness

Do your systems help or hinder your operation? The best system makes the right way the easy way—sometimes that’s an Excel spreadsheet, not expensive software that creates new problems.

Warehousing: Upstream and downstream impacts

How does your warehouse interact with your transport operation? The operational clock, vehicle loading methods, and product presentation all have massive impact on performance that most operations completely overlook.

People & Operations: Building high-performing teams

Do you have the right people in the right place at the right time with the right tools? Driver retention is critical in today’s mobile labour market, where poor management loses experienced staff to competitors.

Feedback & Communication: Learning and evolving

What KPIs are in place and what behaviours do they actually drive? If your operation doesn’t learn from mistakes through proper feedback loops, it’s doomed to repeat them with increasingly expensive consequences.

Implementing the methodology: Your path to operational excellence

Our methodology functions as an early warning system, identifying hidden risks across all five commandments before they become crises. While performance improvements vary by operation, the risk mitigation value is consistent: systematic protection against the failures that destroy businesses.

Typically, we start with a discovery/health-check visit to the operation to speak with the team, observe practices, and gain a deeper understanding of the reality. Using your data, we will then identify the cost and ESG impact of your operation and develop the potential savings. We generate a report with in-depth details about the various building blocks and how they contribute to the commandment outcomes, including a series of opportunities ranked by ease of implementation and benefit in the commandment that you prioritised.

When did you last systematically assess your exposure across all five commandments? If you can’t answer that confidently, you may already be carrying risks that could threaten your business.