Some days the van is light. Maybe it's a mid-week lull, maybe half your area's freight got delayed, maybe it's just a quiet period. You've finished your run by 1pm and you've got nothing to deliver. You know your contracted hours run until 4pm. And you're sitting in the van thinking: if I go back to the depot now, is everyone going to think I'm not pulling my weight? It's a legitimate concern — and how you handle it shows your professionalism.
Go Back and Offer to Help
The best thing you can do on a light day is head back to the depot and ask your supervisor if there's anything else you can do. This might be: picking up overflow from another driver who's drowning, doing a pickup run, helping in the warehouse with sorting or loading, or running late-arrival freight that came in after the morning sort.
The driver who comes back and says "I've finished — what else do you need?" is the driver who gets remembered positively. According to Fair Work Australia hours of work information, if you're employed and contracted for certain hours, your employer can direct you to perform reasonable duties during those hours. Offering before being asked is always better.
Productive Downtime
If there's genuinely nothing else to do — no overflow, no pickups, no warehouse work — use the time productively:
Clean your van. Take 30 minutes to properly clean out the cargo area, wipe down surfaces, organise your shelving or crate system. A clean van makes you faster on busy days.
Vehicle checks. Do your fluid checks, tyre pressure, lights, and a general walk-around inspection. Preventative maintenance on a quiet day prevents breakdowns on a busy one.
Update your run knowledge. Drive through parts of your area you don't usually see. Note new developments, road changes, or addresses that have changed. This local knowledge pays off on delivery days.
Restock supplies. Refill your card stock, grab more tape, replace worn-out gloves, recharge your power bank. All the small things that you never have time for on a busy day.
What Not to Do
Don't stretch a small run. Some drivers deliberately slow down on light days to fill the hours. Supervisors notice. Your tracking data shows stop times, route patterns, and idle time. Moving slowly to avoid looking idle is worse than finishing early and offering to help.
Don't disappear. Parking up and watching Netflix for three hours is not the move. Even if there's nothing to deliver, be visible and available. The perception of effort matters — and the driver who's present and willing gets the best shifts when things pick up.