The Essential Vacation Checklist for Every Logistics Manager

Congratulations! So you’ve finally found the time in your busy work and personal life to take a vacation. At WARP we’ve got you covered. As a small team we know that self-care is important whether that’s hitting the gym, taking a midday walk to clear your mind, grabbing lunch with a friend, or taking some PTO. We want to make that easy for our customers too. After All our motto is “Peace of Mind”. 

We put together the essential vacation checklist for every logistics manager so leaving your freight isn’t a fright! 

• INFORM YOUR TEAM

Make sure you alert your colleagues, clients, and other contacts of the dates that you’ll be out of the office and do it more than once. If possible, give your colleagues a month’s notice and then notify them again a week before you’ll be out, and the day before you leave. Set-up a hand-off meeting the day before if needed. Make sure you block your calendar too, so no one is able to schedule a meeting with you while you’ll be out.    

• INFORM OTHER STAKEHOLDERS

Clients and other partners should be notified at least two weeks before you’re out of the office and the day before as well. Make sure you communicate with them who will be handling their account or communication in your place. If it makes them more comfortable to set-up a quick introductory meeting in advance of your absence, do that at least a week before your departure. 

• REVIEW YOUR CALENDAR

Before you head out, check your calendar for any upcoming deadlines or important events that might be happening while you’re out. That way you can give colleagues a heads up on your handover notes and/or reach out to those contacts ahead of time to either change a date/time of a meeting.

• DELEGATE RESPONSIBILITIES

Put together a document with detailed handover notes and make sure that you are assigning each task to a specific colleague so there isn’t any confusion over who is owning what task while you’re out. Suggested columns should include the name of the project, latest status, client/customer contact information, if there is a deadline happening while you’re out, which colleague is “owning” the project during your absence, and any other detailed notes needed.

• IMPORTANT FILES AND DOCUMENTS

Provide your colleagues with a list of important files and documents, including links to where they live on your internal drive and/or attachments if needed. Providing everything that someone might be looking for while you’re out will reduce your stress and phone calls/text to you while you’re trying to enjoy your well-earned PTO. 

• PROVIDE LOGIN INFORMATION

If you use other external technology/systems frequently, leave your login information like your email and needed passwords in case your colleagues need to make changes or access information stored on external systems. 

• CONTACT INFORMATION

Provide a document with contact information for any of your customers, vendors, or other service providers that you work with frequently so your colleagues can reach them easily if needed. 

• OPERATIONS INFORMATION

If you handle any facilities operations-wise, it’s integral to provide detailed notes about hours of operation, addresses, phone numbers, etc. of any the facilities that you work with on a frequent basis. 

• OUT OF OFFICE MESSAGE

Draft an out of office message with the appropriate alternative contacts while you’re out. This one may seem obvious, but it’s integral to leave your contacts directions about who they should reach out to (and about what) while you’re out of town. Make sure that your back-up contacts know that they’re your back-up and are prepared with everything they need in advance of your time off. 

• PREPARE FOR EMERGENCIES

Anticipate and plan for any potential emergencies that could happen while you’re out and provide your colleagues with appropriate troubleshooting plans to handle if needed. Make sure your instructions are clear how to handle such situations and any nuances involved. 

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