Based on true events: patterns observed across real organisations
Before sunrise, the detective stands at the edge of a distribution yard as engines idle and lights flicker on, signalling the start of another day.
A lorry pulls out fully loaded, heading 40 miles to a regional depot. An hour later, another lorry leaves that same depot carrying part of the same load back in the opposite direction. By mid-morning, a third vehicle is dispatched to urgently deliver a single missing item that could have travelled with the first.
No one questions it. This is just how the system works.
What you are seeing here is Transportation Waste, one of the 8 wastes in Lean (TIMWOODS), where unnecessary movement of materials, information, or work adds time, cost and risk without adding value.
If you’re new to the 8 wastes, this case links back to the bigger picture explored in our series introduction blog post here.
The Scene: When Movement Feels Like Progress
In many organisations, movement is often mistaken for productivity. Lorries leave on schedule, deliveries are made, systems update and emails confirm dispatch. On the surface, it looks efficient.
But a closer look tells a different story. In one operation, goods regularly travelled hundreds of miles more than necessary due to routing rules that had never been revisited. In another, stock was moved between multiple sites before ever reaching the customer. In yet another, “urgent” deliveries became routine, not because they were truly urgent, but because the system had been designed in a way that made urgency inevitable.
The wheels keep turning, but not always in the right direction. Every unnecessary journey adds cost, delay and complexity, while increasing the risk of damage, duplication, or disruption along the way.
Clues: Where to Look for Transportation Waste
Transportation waste is any unnecessary movement of materials, information, or work between locations, systems, or people. It often hides behind activity that feels productive.
You are likely to see it in places like these:
- Goods being transferred between multiple sites before reaching their final destination
- Delivery routes that prioritise habit or history over efficiency
- “Urgent” or last-minute shipments that could have been avoided with better planning
- Materials stored far from where they are actually needed
Anywhere work or materials are travelling further than they need to, transportation waste is likely present.
Interrogation Questions: How to Spot It in Your Process
To uncover transportation waste, you don’t need complex analytics, you need to follow the journey and stay curious about why things move.
Start with questions like:
- Do any items or information travel in one direction, only to return later for rework, approval, or redistribution?
- For every movement, does it add genuine value for the customer or organisation, or is it simply shifting things from one place to another?
- If we redesigned this process today, would those same journeys still exist or have we kept them out of habit?
These questions shift the focus from “Did it get there?” to “Did it need to travel at all?”
The Verdict: What’s Really Going On
These journeys are rarely the result of poor intent. Routes are designed to maximise efficiency, stock is positioned to ensure availability, and processes are built to keep things moving.
However, over time, complexity creeps in. Additional stops are added, extra handoffs are introduced, and workarounds are layered on top of earlier decisions. Gradually, the system becomes optimised for movement rather than value.
Across organisations, the same pattern emerges: things move not because they need to, but because the process says they should.
As we close the file on The Case of the Unnecessary Journey, the trail does not lead to the drivers, planners, or those dispatching the work. It leads back to the system they are all working within.