Van sales for distributors: how to track every trip and route
Treat each van-sale day as one trip: write down what is loaded, bill every shop against that trip, record diesel and labour, then count what comes back and match the cash. Close the trip the same evening and compare trips by line (route) to see which route actually makes money after expenses.
By Munafa Book team · · 3 min read
Many distributors load a vehicle in the morning - 100 to 200 cases - and sell along a fixed line of villages or markets. The day is busy, payments come in four ways, and by night the owner has a bag of cash, a pile of bills and a vehicle with some cases still on it. This guide is a routine that makes that evening take ten minutes instead of an hour.
1. Start the day with a load sheet
Write down every product and how much goes on the vehicle, in cases and loose pieces, and the cash you give the salesman for change. This is the number everything else is checked against.
- Use the same line (route) name every time, for example "Line 1: Aul - Pattamundai".
- Note the vehicle and who is on it (salesman, driver, helper).
- If the load is usually the same, start from last time's load and change only what is different.
2. Bill every shop against the trip
Every bill made on the road should belong to that day's trip. Keep cash, UPI, new udhaar and old dues collected separate - they mean very different things at night:
| Money on the trip | Is it in the salesman's hand? |
|---|---|
| Cash received on bills | Yes |
| Old dues collected in cash | Yes |
| UPI / bank received | No - it went to your bank |
| New udhaar given | No - it is now owed by the shop |
| Diesel, loading, tea paid in cash | Taken out of his cash |
3. Record expenses on the way
Diesel, loading and unloading, tea and toll are the costs of running that line. Add them to the trip as they happen, with how they were paid. Without them a route can look profitable when it is not.
4. Evening: count, match the cash, close
- Count what came back for each product. Expected back = loaded − sold (+ anything a shop returned to the vehicle).
- Any difference is a shortage (or a missed bill). Find it today, not next month.
- Cash to hand over = cash given in the morning + cash received + cash collected − cash spent on the way.
- Take the cash, note any shortfall and close the trip.
A small shortage every day adds up. If the count is often short on one line or with one salesman, you will see it in a week.
5. Compare lines, not just days
One good day means little. After a few weeks, compare each line on profit per trip and profit per case - sale value before GST minus the buying cost of what was sold, minus that trip's expenses and any stock written off. Some lines sell a lot but give long udhaar and burn diesel; others are short and steady. That is the number that tells you which line to run more often, which to change, and which to drop.
Doing it on the phone
In Munafa Book each van-sale day is a trip: the salesman bills from his own phone, expenses go on the trip, the evening count and cash handover are worked out for you, and the line report ranks your routes by profit. Stock goes down only when bills are made, so the godown and the vehicle never fight over numbers.