Measuring On-Time Arrival and Set-Up Quality for Traffic Control Crews

Traffic control service quality comes down to two things clients notice every day: whether the crew was set up and ready at the booked start, and whether the set-up was right first time. Measure both with precise definitions, a short scored audit and photos, then review the causes monthly and fix them one at a time.

Clients rarely complain about a traffic control company's rates once they have agreed them. They complain when the excavator sits idle for forty minutes, or when the principal contractor's safety officer finds a missing sign. Both are measurable, and both are fixable once you can see the pattern.

Define on time before you measure it

Most arguments about lateness are really arguments about definitions. Pick one and use it everywhere.

The third definition is the one that matters to the client. If the booked work start is 7:00 am, the crew is on time when the closure is set up, the start-of-shift inspection is recorded and the team leader has told the client they can start, at or before 7:00 am.

Record two times each shift: arrival on site and ready for work. With both, you can tell the difference between a travel problem and a set-up problem.

Define set-up quality

Set-up quality means the set-up matches the traffic guidance scheme (TGS) first time, with nothing missing, misplaced or conflicting. The TGS sets the signs, distances, tapers and positions for that road and speed, based on the state's manual and AS 1742.3. The audit checks that the crew applied it, not whether the plan is right. The plan must be prepared by a suitably qualified person.

A scored set-up audit

Score each item 1 if correct, 0 if not. Twelve items, so a perfect set-up scores 12.

Any 0 on items 2, 5, 6 or 8 should be fixed on the spot and reported, regardless of the total score. Those are the items most likely to mislead drivers or expose a controller.

Back the audit with photos taken from each approach as a driver would see it. Our guide to traffic management inspection photos explains how to capture photos that can actually be reviewed.

Worked example: one month of data

Example scenario: a small traffic control company runs about 120 shifts a month across builders, councils and utilities. The operations manager starts recording arrival time and ready time for every shift, and audits a sample of set-ups each week using the scored checklist. All numbers below are hypothetical.

What the month shows

Example calculation:

1. Shifts with a ready time recorded: 120.
2. Shifts ready at or before the booked work start: 102.
3. On-time rate: 102 ÷ 120 = 85%.
4. Set-ups audited: 24.
5. Set-ups scoring 12 out of 12 first time: 18.
6. First-time-right rate: 18 ÷ 24 = 75%.

Finding the causes

The operations manager lists the 18 late shifts with the reason recorded by the team leader:

And the six audits that missed full marks:

What they fix

The biggest cause of lateness is vehicle loading. The company introduces a loading check the afternoon before, signed off by the driver against the plan. The biggest audit miss is covering permanent signs, so the next toolbox talk covers sign covers, and the company makes sure every vehicle carries enough covers.

The next month, the operations manager runs the same measures to see whether the fixes worked. Notice what the manager did not do: blame individual crews. Most causes were systems, not people.

Turning causes into fixes

The same causes come up in most traffic control companies. Use this table as a starting point when you review your own late starts and audit misses.

Pick one or two fixes a month. Changing everything at once makes it impossible to tell which change worked, and crews tire of new rules quickly.

How to collect the data without extra paperwork

Measurement fails when it means more forms. Collect the data from records you already keep:

• Arrival and ready times from the timesheet or docket, with a ready-time field added.
• Start-of-shift inspection time from the inspection record.
• Lateness reason as a short drop-down or one-line note from the team leader.
• Audits on the same checklist the team leader uses, completed by a supervisor for a sample of shifts.
• Complaints from your complaints log. Our guide to handling traffic control client complaints shows how to investigate and close them.

Digital timesheets make this much easier because times are captured as they happen, not written up at the end of the week. See our article on digital timesheets and dockets.

A monthly quality review agenda

Keep the review short and the same every month:

1. On-time rate this month and last month.
2. Top three causes of late starts.
3. First-time-right audit rate.
4. Top three audit misses.
5. Complaints and incidents, with status.
6. Actions from last month: done or not done?
7. One or two actions for next month, each with an owner and a date.

Share the results with team leaders. Crews generally respond well to seeing their own numbers improve, and they often know the fix before the office does.

Sharing results with crews

How you share the numbers decides whether they keep improving. Share company-wide results at a toolbox talk or in a short message, and talk about causes and fixes rather than names. Speak to individual team leaders privately about their own audits, starting with what they did well. When a crew scores 12 out of 12 on an unannounced audit, tell them, and tell the client if the client is the one who noticed. Ask team leaders what slows their set-ups down; they will usually point to the vehicle, the plan or the booking, which are things the office can fix.

Using quality measures with clients

Some principal contractors and councils ask for service measures in tenders or contract reviews. If you have consistent definitions and records, you can answer with evidence rather than claims. Do not overstate: report what you measure, how you define it, and what you are doing about the causes. Our article on traffic control KPIs suggests other measures worth tracking. If your company works to a certified management system, the JAS-ANZ register lists accredited certification bodies, and Standards Australia publishes the standards themselves.

Common mistakes in measuring quality

• Measuring arrival, not readiness. The client cares when work can start.
• Auditing only the good crews, or only when the client is watching.
• Using the numbers to punish. People stop recording honestly.
• Too many measures. Start with two and add more later.
• No action. A number nobody acts on is just paperwork.
• Changing definitions mid-year. If on-time meant "arrived" in March and "ready" in April, the trend means nothing. Fix the definitions first and keep them.
• Ignoring the audit sample. If supervisors only audit sites near the depot, regional crews never get feedback. Spread audits across clients, crews, day and night work.

Next steps

Add a ready-time field to your dockets this month and audit a handful of set-ups each week with the scored checklist above. TrafWise records pre-start checks and digital timesheets in the crew app, and shows today's shifts on a live operations view, which gives you the times without extra forms. For WHS inspection duties, check current requirements with SafeWork NSW or your regulator.