Short and Extra Deliveries Explained for Water Jar Businesses

On paper, a route is simple. Customer A gets two jars, customer B gets one, customer C gets five. At the end of the day, the driver’s total should equal the plan. In practice it rarely does. A customer asks for one more. A shop is out of space. The truck ran out of jars at stop eleven.

The difference between the plan and what was left at the door is a short when it is less, and an extra when it is more. Most owners do not track either. Both show up later as a bill dispute, a missing jar or a customer who says “you never brought it.” This guide explains where differences come from, how to record them and what to do about each pattern.

Why a delivery differs from the plan

There are five common reasons. Knowing the reason decides what you do next.

1. The customer wanted more. A guest arrived, a function is on, or the weather is hot. The driver leaves more jars than planned. This is an extra, and usually good news.
2. The customer wanted fewer. The shop is closed for a festival, the household is travelling, or they still have jars in stock. The driver leaves fewer. This is a short, and not a problem with the driver.
3. Jars were not available. The truck did not carry enough, or filled jars ran out at the plant. The customer gets less than they asked for. This is a short and it is your supply problem.
4. A miscount. The driver loaded wrongly, counted wrongly at the door or entered the wrong number. It happens, and it is fixed by checking at the door.
5. Theft or error. Jars are left and not recorded, or recorded and not left. This is rare compared with the others, and it only shows up as a repeated pattern.

Most differences are the first two. If you treat every difference as theft, you will insult honest drivers and miss the real causes.

How to record a difference

Every stop has a planned number and a delivered number. The difference is written with a sign.

• -1 means one jar fewer than planned.
• +2 means two jars more than planned.
• Blank or zero means the delivery matched the plan.

Always record the delivered number actually left, and let the difference be worked out from it. Do not record a guess of what “should” have been left.

Three practices make the record useful.

• Record at the door. A number remembered at the end of the day is a number invented.
• Add a short reason when the difference is not obvious. “Customer asked for one more” and “jars finished on truck” take five seconds and save a long argument.
• Bill what was delivered. If the plan said two and the driver left three, the customer is billed for three at the right price. The extra is not a gift to be absorbed by you.

What to do with each pattern

A single difference tells you little. Patterns tell you a lot.

Frequent extras at one customer

The customer wants more than their standing order. Contact them and offer to raise the order. This improves your planning, and the driver stops carrying uncertainty. If the extra is at a different price from usual, check that the bill reflects it.

Frequent shorts at one customer

Find out why. If they keep asking for fewer, their standing order is too high, so lower it. If you are the cause, because jars ran out, then fix supply for that route.

Shorts on one route, across many customers

This points to the route and not to the customers. Is the truck loaded for the plan? Did the driver start with enough jars? Is the route too long for one load? Look at loading before looking at people.

Extras across a whole route on one day

Hot day, festival or a local event. It is demand and not an error. Use it to plan next year’s busy days. Our guide on summer and festival demand planning covers this.

One driver, differences on most stops

If one driver has differences on nearly every stop and others do not, check that he is recording correctly. It may be a training issue, a different habit of rounding or a real problem. Sit with him and go through a day. Read driver accountability without micromanaging before the conversation.

Differences that line up with missing empties

If a driver’s shorts and a falling empties count move together, look closer at that route. It may be that jars are being left and not recorded. Count empties at the door.

Reading a short-and-extra report

A report of differences works best when you can look at it two ways.

By customer. Which customers differ most from their plan? Customers with large shorts or extras need a conversation or an updated order. Customers with no differences are fine.

By route. Which routes carry the most differences? A route with consistently large shorts has a loading or planning problem. A route with large extras may have growing demand that your plan has not caught up with.

Always pick a date range long enough to see a pattern. One day shows noise. A few weeks shows what is going on. And for any row that looks odd, look at the stops behind it. The real answer is almost always in the individual stops, in one entry with a reason, or in no reason at all.

A decision tree

Use this list when you see a difference.

1. Is the difference zero? Nothing to do.
2. Is it an extra (+)?
   • Did the customer ask for it? Bill it at the right price. If it repeats, offer to raise the standing order.
   • No one asked for it? Check the driver’s entry. It may be a miscount or a jar left by mistake. Confirm with the customer.
3. Is it a short (-)?
   • Did the customer ask for fewer? Note it. If it repeats, lower the standing order.
   • Were jars unavailable? Fix loading or supply for that route.
   • Neither? Ask the driver for his account, and check the stop.
4. Does the same difference repeat on the same customer? Talk to the customer.
5. Does it repeat on the same route? Look at loading and route design.
6. Does it repeat with the same driver and nobody else? Review his records with him, calmly, using a few real days.
7. Does it come with a falling empties count? Count empties at the door for a week.

Example: reading a report

This is an Example with made-up round numbers. It is illustrative only. It is not a result or an average from any business.

Read it line by line.

Shop A, +4. Over the period, Shop A took four more jars than planned. Look at the stops behind the row. If the extras are spread over many days, raise the standing order. If they are on two busy days, leave it alone.

Household B, 0. The plan matched. No action.

Office C, -3. Three fewer than planned. If the stops show “customer asked for fewer,” lower the standing order. If they show “jars finished on truck,” Route 2 has a loading problem, and Office C is only where you can see it.

The same totals by route would show Route 1 at +4 and Route 2 at -3. That already suggests Route 1 is growing and Route 2 may be under-loaded. Those are questions to ask, not conclusions.

How Pyaau helps

Pyaau shows short and extra on the stop as -1 or +2, totals them for each run, and includes short jars and above planned in the close-of-day summary. The short-and-extra report can be run by customer or by route over any date range, and tapping a row shows the stops behind it. Extra orders and plant pickups can be added on the day, and an extra at a changed price is flagged for the office. It records differences and leaves the cause to you and your driver, because only the two of you know it.

For what else to write down on a delivery, read what to record on every jar delivery. The jar return and empties tracking page covers the other half of the day.