The transport world and the fastest route to happiness at work

Every industry has its own challenges. When you think of the transport sector, you first think of trucks that cross all of Europe. Or vans that ensure that you get what you ordered yesterday. But don’t forget the home base: the office. Behind the scenes, planners and coordinators work very hard to ensure that everything runs smoothly. It is a hectic world in which you quickly fall behind the facts. Due to the high workload, there is little room for reflection and something essential is often lost: self-development and job satisfaction.

The main challenge for transport companies

Actually, transporters are IT companies these days. At the heart of this is formed by planners and coordinators who are puzzling behind their computers with the help of software to get things to the agreed place.

Especially in the office, where the routes are devised, the drivers are managed and the customer is kept informed, the workload can rise to great heights. People run the risk of running past themselves and taking on too much. They are used to racing on and on, don’t take time to reflect, ignore the signals that things are going wrong and sound the alarm too late.

The biggest challenge: how do you create the space to take a step back in this hectic environment? To do this, we first need to know what obstacles can be found on the road.

First obstacle: everything has to be done yesterday

Planning is the art of transporting transport vehicles as efficiently and fully loaded as possible from A to B via C and D and finally back to A. Anything can happen in between. Rushes turn things upside down, a road turns out to be diverted or a loading and unloading place is impossible to find.

As a result, planners often work ad hoc and feel the responsibility to solve everything themselves. This causes them to get stuck in patterns. They work very hard, which causes stress and can lead to irritation among themselves. In the transport world, everything must have happened yesterday. There is no time to take a step back and quietly see how it all goes.

In 80% of the cases, the ad hoc method also yields a lot. By acting quickly and making smart decisions, you can save a lot of money. That gives a lot of satisfaction. Only, in 20% of the cases, especially in the long term, you run into a wall. At some point, that will turn against you.

Second obstacle: doers don’t reflect

Many transport companies have been around for a long time, have a practical hands-on mentality and take good care of their people. Many planners have been working there for a while. They identify with the transport world, as it were. Because they are so ruled by the issues of the day, they have no time to reflect. Moreover, they don’t have the personality for that either. It goes as it goes and we do it the way we do it here, you don’t ask any questions about that.

A little stress is of course part of it, but it is often difficult to determine where the tipping point lies from a little stress to way too much stress. Moreover, it can also happen that you are stuck in your development without realizing it. Actually, you no longer get satisfaction from your work, but because you are used to working the way you work, you don’t realize it.

Third obstacle: it is a closed world

The career opportunities within transport companies are often limited. When you are a planner, you can get the role of coordinator or team leader at some point. But it remains a pyramid: not every planner can move on to the next position. The planners who do move on and manage a team often find it difficult to take a little more distance from the work floor. They continue to do everything themselves, but can get irritated when things go wrong.

The transport world is a closed world. Tensions, frustrations and annoyances often disappear under water, creating a culture in which reflection does not exist and the alarm is only sounded when it is too late.

You can learn to reflect

You prefer to be ahead of problems. In a culture where everything should have happened yesterday, that’s difficult. You think: stress is part of it. You don’t recognize that it’s getting worse or that you’re standing still in your development, until you hit a wall. To prevent that, it is necessary to structurally take a step back. That doesn’t happen overnight. You have to learn to reflect. And we can help you with that.

In individual sessions, our coaches first take a closer look at the daily reality. How are you, how is the relationship with your colleagues and how do you work together here? But also: what is going on, what frustrations are there, and how do you see the future? Then we look at what stress is involved and what is disproportionate. Can you solve it by taking a short walk at set times or is it necessary to discuss problems with colleagues? By coaching on personal effectiveness , we help coachees to better deal with work pressure, recognize stress symptoms and triggers and set boundaries. With the Masterclass for Leaders , we can teach team leads to take a little more distance from the work floor, but also to identify and address (potential) problems with team members.

And the entire organization benefits from that

With our customers in the transport sector, we regularly notice that the lack of moments of reflection not only causes problems individually, but also at the organizational level. For example, by looking back on the previous period in groups on a weekly or monthly basis, you can create a healthier culture in which it is natural to take a step back and discuss things. And that is ultimately better for everyone. For the planners, for the team leads, but also for the drivers, for example.

Something for your organization? Feel free to contact us.