Shift scheduling for transport and fleet operators

Duties built around the client's clock

A cab fleet serving an office that works three shifts can cover the day with three 8-hour duties. Duty A runs 4:30 am to 12:30 pm and handles pickups for the 6 am login. Duty B runs 12:30 pm to 8:30 pm for the afternoon login and the evening drops. Duty C runs 8:30 pm to 4:30 am for the night login and the late drops. Each duty goes into the shift catalogue with its own code, break and night flag, so a punch at 8:20 pm is read as on time for C and not as overtime on B.

Worked example: how many drivers for 40 cabs

A fleet runs 40 cabs on one duty each, every day of the week. Each driver works six days, so covering weekly offs needs 40 x 7 / 6 = 46.7 drivers, which rounds up to 47. Now add leave. If each driver takes about 24 days of leave a year, then on an average day 47 x 24 / 365 = 3.1 drivers are away, so add 3 relief drivers. The fleet needs about 50 drivers for 40 cabs, before counting training days and sudden sickness.

Relief drivers are not spare staff. They are rostered by the day to fill leave and weekly offs, and they should know every route, so rotate them through all three duties. Budget their salaries as part of running the fleet rather than as overhead, because without them every sick day becomes a cancelled trip.

Rules for night driving

Night duty should be shared, not dumped on the newest drivers. Rotate duty C weekly, limit how many nights a driver does in a row, and put the weekly off straight after a night block. A written rest gap between the end of one duty and the start of the next, such as 12 hours, stops a driver finishing at 4:30 am from being sent on a 12:30 pm duty the same day. Under the OSH Code, women drivers may take night duty with their consent and the safety conditions the government notifies, so keep her signed consent on file before her name goes on duty C.

• Night block of no more than six nights
• Weekly off immediately after the night block
• Minimum rest gap between two duties, written in the policy
• Consent on file for women drivers on night duty

School buses, the workshop and swaps

School bus drivers work a split shift and follow the school's weekly offs, which often include the 2nd and 4th Saturdays; ZeniaHR's weekly off pattern per shift supports those Saturday rules. The workshop runs a night shift from 10 pm to 6 am when most vehicles are parked, plus a day shift for breakdowns. A driver who needs a day can offer his duty to a colleague. Once the colleague agrees, the swap waits for the fleet supervisor and then HR, and the duty chart shows the new name only after that last approval, so the control room always calls the right driver.

How to set it up in ZeniaHR

1. Add each duty to the shift catalogue with a code, timings, break and night flag, such as A 4:30 am to 12:30 pm, B 12:30 pm to 8:30 pm and C 8:30 pm to 4:30 am.
2. Create a split shift for school bus drivers and set its weekly off pattern, including the 2nd and 4th Saturday rule where schools follow it.
3. Build a rotation template that moves drivers through day and night duties week by week, staggered per person, and bulk assign it for up to 92 days.
4. Keep relief drivers in the same department and assign them by day to cover leave and weekly offs.
5. Put the control room and the workshop on their own shifts and weekly off patterns.
6. Allow shift swaps between drivers at the same depot, approved by the fleet supervisor and then HR.

Read more about shifts and rosters in ZeniaHR.

Roles this applies to

Frequently asked questions