How vacations affect logistics and distribution

Summer is here and it is undoubtedly the time of the year when most people have and/or decide to take their vacations. It was known that long ago most of the companies, including logistics, closed for staff rest during the month of August, with the exception of sectors such as the hospitality industry, in which there is a greater activity due to tourism.

However, the boom in e-commerce in recent years, together with the summer sales in sectors such as retail, has meant that logistics is no longer completely closed for the vacations and continues to be active to a greater or lesser extent during the rest of the year. If you want to know how logistics and distribution are affected by the vacations, take note!

Staff vacations

Among the most notable changes that have a significant impact on logistics work during the holiday season are employee vacations. It is possible that both carriers and warehouse personnel may have their days off in July, August and/or September, reducing the activity within the distribution and the warehouse. This is if they are granted permission to choose their vacation days with prior notice or have their dates set in the summer.

To do this, it is necessary to carry out a rigorous human resources work and manage vacations for employees, taking into account the following points: the types of contract or agreement and the priority of workers, either by having children, seniority and rotations. In this way, a calendar is planned, which must be provided to the staff in order to maintain efficient communication and operate as well as possible in the face of peak demand or a time of minimum services during the vacations in logistics.

High demand before holiday periods

Several organizations are already well aware of when the high demand for their goods starts, so they order a high quantity before the vacation season arrives in order to have an assured stock level. However, they must also take into account that other competitors or other companies order a large volume of goods at the same time due to closures or minimum services of logistics operators and factories.

Consequently, the prices of shipments increase greatly, which is a problem due to the current high cost of transporting goods. So it is recommended to anticipate earlier than usual, keeping in mind the prediction of demand and being attentive to the way in which vacations in logistics can be affected, both vacation periods domestically and internationally in case of exporting abroad.

And, of course, if necessary, temporary staff contracts must be prepared to increase operations and meet the high demands of sectors such as retail and hospitality industry.

Minimum services in distribution

If on the one hand we have industries in which demand soars to high levels during the logistics vacations, on the other hand we have more industrial and B2B-focused sectors in which their activity is reduced and, therefore, they operate with fewer active personnel. Not to mention that a section of the logistics chain such as some factories would paralyze their operations or reduce them to minimum services, especially in August.

Therefore, within the minimum services, which would include a lower level of order preparation and a reduced number of daily shipments, it is necessary to guarantee, as far as possible, its correct operation and customer satisfaction. At the same time, it is necessary to maintain fluid communication with the customer, informing him in particular of the estimated delivery times, which would be longer than usual.

Successful delivery problems with the last mile

It is known that a large proportion of Spaniards plan to travel this year, particularly between June and September. Therefore, the time in which consumers are away from home is increasing and consists of an average of approximately two weeks in which homes will be empty. So sectors such as e-commerce must face several challenges in this respect during the vacation season in logistics.

One of the big problems of the last mile is that there is a high incidence in the delivery of orders, precisely because 90% of unsuccessful shipments are due to the absence of the user or another person who can receive the package, increasing costs and emissions in reverse logistics. Therefore, various consumer shipping solutions and options such as smart lockers, pick-up points or other logistics operators need to be implemented, so a TMS can be of great help to manage this.

In addition, the buyer himself is responsible for providing solutions to the operator, for example, providing the address of a trusted neighbor available to pick up the order during the time he is away from home.

Conclusion

Nowadays, logistics and distribution generally do not rest during the summer. For some industries it means a great growth in operations, while other sectors reduce their activity to minimum services, and may even close for vacations. Due to this irregular season, it is not easy to have control over the supply chain and, for this reason, it is recommended to maintain strong communication with the end customer and to keep the level of stock and personnel covered in line with demand.

At Hedyla, we understand the ever-increasing changes in the logistics and distribution industry. For this reason, we provide flexible solutions that adapt to the constraints and specifications of any sector, such as vacations in logistics and distribution.