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New EU Drivers Hours regulations due to come into force on 11 April 2007 could significantly increase the costs of UK retailers and further exacerbate the driver shortage. A fundamental change is the requirement for drivers to have to take a full 45 hours break every other week instead of the current requirement of this being required every third week. Key3 Partners is working with a number of retailers where current rotas have been designed to meet Working Time regulations but would not meet the new EU drivers hours regulations. “We have concluded that rota planning is becoming as important as routing and scheduling for retailers” comments Craig Bunker, Managing Director of Key3 Partners. “If you take a typical Working Time compliant rota and simply overlay the new regulations, we have seen up to 4% additional drivers being required to maintain store service.” To solve this problem, Key3 has spent two years developing a rota optimisation service utilising internally developed software, initially created to mitigate Working Time Regulations. The service is especially of value to retailers due to their scheduling and store delivery requirements. Key3 can take vehicle schedules and optimise driver rotas over any given reference period in order to make them legally compliant, acceptable to the workforce and highly productive therefore minimising costs. “Working Time Regulations and the new drivers’ hours regulations have made rota planning an incredibly complex subject. Our service has helped retailers mitigate much of the potential cost of the new regulations” says Key3 Managing Director, Craig Bunker. “In order to create a legal and acceptable rota for 30 drivers for a 26 week reference period, you now need to take account of over 140 constraints per driver at the same time, all whilst trying to maximise driver productivity, a puzzle which is at least 150 times harder to solve optimally than a typical Sudoku! The increased costs being forced upon us by the new regulations and the need to offer drivers socially acceptable rotas are key industry issues and this is the first solution from within the industry to tackle them.” |
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