Some companies record cube as if each unit load
(eg. a roll cage) were full, as even a single package
requires a whole unit load. Others record the cube
of the merchandise, which gives a better measure
of vehicle productivity, but does not allow for a
nesting effect when the product is placed in a roll
cage or tote.
A greater variety of pack shapes is more likely, the
more diverse the range of products sold. This
makes efficient nesting within the unit load less
achievable. The ability to record all attributes of
the load gives a greater opportunity to identify
possible improvements. For example, recording
both the volume of the merchandise and
utilisation of the handling units would highlight
inefficiencies caused by either the pack shapes or
the use of inappropriate units.
Unsurprisingly trips involving a number of legs
with multiple deliveries of merchandise from the
same initial load, the first leg has the best
utilisation.
As loads are reduced in multiple leg trips, vehicles
can collect items for return, thus helping to
maintain load factors. But in such trips, collecting
returns can prevent subsequent deliveries being
made, due to the inaccessibility of merchandise