A delivery traffic plan: the route in, the wait, the turn and the way out
Delivery drivers at a mid-block apartment use the neighbours' laneway to reverse towards the gate. A proposed waiting bay is two blocks away, but nobody has established permission to use it. A map needs more than arrows.
Draw the delivery journey from approach to departure, then obtain the qualified traffic and site review and actual road or property permissions it needs. Include waiting, unloading, pedestrians and changed-condition instructions. Give suppliers the current approved directions. A delivery slot does not authorize street occupation, an off-site waiting place or a worker to direct public traffic.
Follow the truck's whole journey
- Confirm the approach and permissions. Identify relevant road restrictions, property access, operating-facility conditions and actual permitted hours with the responsible people. Check the proposed route for the vehicles expected through competent assessment. A neighbour's informal tolerance is not a reliable basis for an unreviewed use of their parking access.
- Review waiting, turning and unloading. Identify an authorized place for an early or delayed vehicle and a contact who controls the call-in. Have competent people review the route, turning space, receiving point and handling arrangements. Avoid directing drivers into a street queue or improvised reversing area merely because the delivery list has a slot.
- Coordinate qualified traffic controls. Route pedestrian and worker exposure through the applicable safety process. BC guidance puts risk assessment and appropriate controls before simply assigning a traffic control person. Confirm the actual required plan, trained personnel and responsibilities; do not place a foreman at the sidewalk as a substitute for reviewed controls.
- Issue and maintain the directions. Send the current route, contact, permitted arrival process and unavailable-slot response with the delivery information. Brief relevant site personnel and confirm changes reach dispatch. Reassess when the gate, hoarding, phase or conditions change instead of leaving yesterday's map as the driver's only instruction.
Keep the supplier's practical map aligned with the actual traffic-control and site plans. It can explain where to report and whom to call without reproducing a technical traffic-control design. Assign one person to update the delivery directions and a backup to manage exceptions. If a driver reaches an unsafe or unavailable arrangement, use the approved stop and communication route rather than asking them to improvise.
Common mistakes
- Assuming a nearby space can be used as a waiting bay.
- Treating one assigned flag person as the entire risk control.
- Leaving supplier directions unchanged after a gate or phase change.
Checklist
Check the delivery route
- Actual approach restrictions and permissions.
- Authorized wait, turn and receiving arrangements.
- Qualified traffic controls and pedestrian review.
- Current supplier contact and exception route.
- Change owner and updated instructions.
Check your understanding
The unloading slot is booked, but the proposed waiting bay is unavailable. Can the driver wait in the street?
