Top 5 Challenges Faced in Construction Haulage and How to Overcome Them

The construction haulage industry is connected to a vast range of activities like planning, transporting, designing, carrying materials of the buildings, and working on the logistics for other physical structures.

This  industry of construction equipment haulage operates with various people like developers, contractors, stakeholders, suppliers, engineers, regulatory agencies with various other  logistic people. 

There is a need of recognizing and understanding the current trends, dynamics, challenges and complexities related to construction material delivery service. 

In this blog post, we will discuss the challenges that are faced by construction material transport and the process of mitigating them. 

What is Construction Haulage? An Overview

Construction haulage, also known as construction transportation and construction logistics, is the backbone of the construction  industry. This includes the transportation of tools, supplies, and waste from one building site to another. This serves as a project's logistical cornerstone. The haulage services for construction industries guarantee the timely and safe delivery of necessary resources.

Transportation of materials: Construction material delivery service is added with the transportation of various construction materials like cement, aggregates, lumber, steel, pipes, bricks etc. 

Machinery and equipment transport: With the construction material transport the construction logistics and haulage also carries the heavy material, equipment, and vehicles that are needed to work on construction activities. 

Removing of waste and debris: The haulage in construction also carries the removal of debris, wastes, and demolition materials that have been generated in the activities of construction. 

How Do Logistics and Haulage Play a Significant Role in Construction Project Management?

In construction equipment haulage, the  logistics play a significant role and they ensure that there will be efficient transportation of various goods, materials, sources and resources. 

An inefficiency in the construction haulage can lead to costly delays, poor level of planning, and negative effects on budgeting. 

Management of supply chain: The haulage and logistics work as an integral component for the efficient level of supply chain of construction. They work for sourcing various materials, coordination for various deliveries, and managing the inventory. 

Allocation of Resources: The logistics  and haulage in construction industry work for helping the managers to allocate different resources effectively and work for the transportation of various materials.  

Budget plan: The effective haulage and logistics management gives support for the best type of budget planning. They work for this with an effective route plan, co-coordinating with various suppliers and project managers. 

Top five Challenges faced by the construction haulage 

Construction material delivery service, and logistics face various challenges which make an impact on its overall efficiency. These challenges can be labour shortages, lack of proper communication &  collaboration, proper management of cost, and lack of time management. 

Labour shortages: The shortage of labour in the construction haulage is a crucial factor. This is characterised by the lack of skilled employees like logistics people and drivers. These shortages bring significant  challenges to haulage companies and lead to issues in fulfilling the needs of various projects. These types of shortages can also create difficulty in managing growth and innovation. 

In the UK one of the biggest challenges that is faced by the construction haulage sector is the shrinking workforce. Various reports have estimated that construction haulage and logistic  firms in the UK need to hire near about one million more haulage and tradespeople in the coming years and this will be needed for the new construction sites. 

Cost management: The other factor that makes an impact on the business and commerce of the construction equipment haulage, is the lack of cost management. Various issues affect cost management like the cost of vehicle maintenance and fuels. They are also affected by the poor allocation of various resources and insufficient assessment  for compliance. They also face delays in finding vehicles and an increase in transportation charges. 

Communication: The construction haulage companies also face the challenges of lack of communication.  There can be the occurrence of  issues in coordination between suppliers and various stakeholders like clients, the project managers, drivers, people of material deliveries, etc. The construction people also face some of the risks of safety due to the lack of proper communication and collaboration. For this they  also face the challenges of discontentment among various customers.  

Slow adoption of technology:  In the construction material delivery service, people also face challenges due to the  slow adoption of various new technologies.  Whether in the private and/or public sector, the purchasing and transporting  of a new product into construction comes with some of the hidden costs. In this sector, the transportation of new instruments is blocked due to the hidden charges and lack of proper understanding about the technology behind this. Many of the owners face challenges while working with new technology as they  need to acquire a licence for this.  It becomes very time-consuming and complex  while implementing. 

No quality control: In the field of construction equipment haulage, quality also matters. In the construction haulage field, this becomes important to ensure the efficient and safe transportation of various goods and resources. The people who work in this field face the challenges of safety control and damage in various sources and resources that are being carried out. Sometimes companies who are having good online reputations are not able to give the perfect level of service. 

How to mitigate the challenges

It is necessary to decrease the difficulties associated with construction haulage operations and  strategic implementation of a retroactive approach. Construction haulage requires excellent route planning and execution of the highest level of teamwork and communication. They need ongoing employee training and development, and the management of positive relationships between all stakeholders.

Working on having an effective level of route plan: There is a need to develop an effective level of route plan and proficiently optimise the different operations of haulage. This means that all the transportation materials and resources are being carried out properly. The workers should work on proper evaluation of the project, they should cheque the actual location of the site and the place where the goods have to be delivered. They should also work with real-time monitoring   processes while working on route planning.

Technical implementations:Proper implementation of various technologies is also necessary for construction logistics and haulage. Technology is essential to improving efficiency and safety as well as raising productivity levels. You should work on route optimisation software, which will assist you in managing delivery schedules, knowing the road conditions, and traffic patterns. Working with the various fleet management systems and telematics devices is also recommended.

These will support you when  you will  work on the central management system for carrying the goods and manage the performance of the vehicles. Additionally, there are sensors and supply chain digital platforms powered by the Internet of Things, or IoT. This will help various companies to  assess the inventory and increase the storage. There are also automated guided vehicles for AGVs and automated equipment for material handling.

Communication and collaboration:  The communication between the service provider and the customers and the collaboration between the demand and supply units is very important. There is a need for information sharing for the decision-making process among various stakeholders. Various construction material transport companies should work to have their interactions with customers to know their opinions. 

Making relationships with suppliers: Building and maintaining a strong relationship between suppliers, clients, and service providers is also essential in construction material transport. It is imperative that all parties should know the expertise of each other, the mode of transportation, with  the available payment options. Building material transport services require the proper consistency and dependability in managing relationships with all suppliers and customers.

Working on risk management factors: Risk management is a very important factor for the management of construction haulage. There should be a proper evaluation  for disruptions in the supply chain, and  disturbances due to weather conditions. The contractors should mitigate the  challenges related to the lack of knowledge of technology among drivers, risk of regulatory compliance, and risk of finances. 

Continuous progress: The construction material delivery service needs to be advanced constantly, and this is related to the actions that should be taken for sustainability, efficiency, and safety. The appropriate level  of arranging and adding  newer technologies,  safety inspections, and  creating the link between customer and service personnel will be the cornerstones of ongoing progress. It also should be added to the  decision-making process that is data-driven.

The construction haulage sector in the UK can work on the five tips like 

Tip#1: Improving the internal level of communication

Tip#2: Speeding up your order-to-cash cycle

Tip#3 : Creating and executing the perfect logistics plan

Tip#4: delivering the promises that have been done 

Tip#5: Improving the work-life balance of the employees 

The construction logistics market size in the UK  has reached to $510.6 billion in the year 2023 and it  has been said  that it will reach $860.3 billion by 2032 which will add the growth rate of 6% during 2024 to the year 2032.

Conclusion 

In summary it can be mentioned that for reducing  the challenges of  construction haulage and transportation, you should work on the improvement of various initiatives and enhancement of operational efficiencies. The best adoption of the technical and timely managed work will give your construction haulage business long-term success.  There is a need for proper route planning and the  presence of a well-maintained fleet. 

As we have come into the year 2024, in the UK the construction industry is having expectations to have a better outlook. As per a construction firm, the years 2024 and 2025 will see a progress of 12% and 3% respectively. The constructors and clients need to discuss complex issues like skill shortage, the impact of inflation, etc.