Try a piece of the work · 6 min read

Is logistics right for me? Try a plan that changes

Try a fictional delivery plan with time windows, a late change and a worked response. Explore coordination before committing to training.

By OffLadder · Updated 20 October 2026 · Sources listed at the foot of this page

O*NET describes logisticians as coordinating organisational logistics, with work involving customers, resources and performance. Titles and responsibilities vary. This exercise focuses only on simple scheduling and communication. The occupation source supports that framing; it does not validate this original activity.

The brief

Use paper or a spreadsheet. Allow roughly 45 minutes, or longer if useful. No driving, specialist software or contact with a real organisation is needed. Every organisation, location and delivery in this exercise is fictional.

One van carries three deliveries and leaves the depot at 09:00. All must be delivered before returning. Each stop normally takes 10 minutes to unload. Locations lie on one road in this order: depot, A, B, C. Travel between neighbours takes 10 minutes in either direction. Depot to B therefore takes 20 minutes, depot to C 30, and A to C 20. Ignore traffic and parking. Do not reduce travel times to make the plan work.

An early arrival means waiting. A window concerns when unloading starts, not arrival or completion. Produce a schedule listing travel, arrival, waiting, unloading start, departure and return to the depot. Explain why each stop meets its window. Try it before reading the worked response.

One feasible first plan

All three starts meet their windows. The plan uses 60 minutes of travel and 30 minutes of unloading: 90 minutes elapsed, ending at 10:30. This proves feasibility under the simplified brief, not that a real operation has been optimised.

Now change one thing

At 09:10, unloading at A begins. You learn it will take 45 minutes instead of 10, cannot be interrupted and cannot be split across vehicles. There is no second van. What changes?

The van leaves A at 09:55. Continuing to B puts its unloading start at 10:05, five minutes after the latest permitted start. C then starts at 10:25, also five minutes late. Swapping B and C does not rescue both: C could start at 10:15, but B would start at 10:35.

Do not quietly change the windows or promise the original times. Identify the conflict, explain the consequence and ask which change is permitted. A revised receiving time needs agreement; it is not something your spreadsheet can assume.

Practice update: “Unloading at A now finishes at 09:55. The current route puts the start at B at 10:05 and C at 10:25, outside both agreed windows. Please confirm whether the receiving teams can accept revised slots or which delivery should be rescheduled. I will update the plan once that decision is agreed.”

What did you notice?

Did checking the arithmetic hold your attention? Did you want to make assumptions clearer? Did the late change make the problem interesting or frustrating? Was the update harder than the schedule? Difficulty with a spreadsheet differs from disliking coordination. Enjoying a puzzle differs from wanting responsibility for a live operation.

What comes next

Real logistics may involve inventory, suppliers, safety, systems, costs, regulation and demanding working hours. This activity does not train you for that responsibility. Check current local vacancies and occupation information, and ask a practitioner which routine tasks and pressures this exercise leaves out. If you remain curious, try a different constraint before committing to training.

Exercises are practice, not evidence of career fit or a qualification. How to read our guides and report a correction.