Last on, first off: get the loading sequence right

Last-on, first-off sounds obvious until you watch a multi-drop leave the yard in the wrong order.

The first stop is buried behind later drops. The driver restacks at the kerb. Or the trailer comes back to the dock. Either way, the sequence was the plan, and the plan was wrong.

Why packaging multi-drops go wrong

Packaging runs are rarely one customer, one site. You cluster stops to keep miles sensible. That only works if the load order matches the drop order. Last on should be first off. Middle drops need a clear path. Dense product still has to stay axle-legal while you honour that sequence.

When planners load by what is nearest on the floor, sequence loses. When they load by sequence alone and ignore weight, the weighbridge loses. You need both in the same plan.

Customer sites make it sharper. Some want a clean face. Some need a specific SKU reachable without a full strip. Those notes belong in the load sequence, not in a side chat after the curtains are shut.

Sequence is a loading problem

I treat last-on first-off as part of fill, not a note in the margin. Build the trailer in reverse drop order. Check cube and axle groups as each bay fills. If a late line appears for an early stop, decide whether it belongs on this trailer before you seal the doors.

That decision is easier when the plan shows the conflict early. It is harder when the conflict appears as a forklift waiting on a blocked pallet.

A good sequence plan also protects the middle drops. First-off is not enough if stop two is trapped behind stop four. The whole drop list has to remain workable.

Keep ERP truth, plan the bay order

The ERP can list the drops. It will not place them in the trailer. Keep the ERP. Clockwork sits after it. Move the stop and order data once via Fabric. Then plan multi-drop sequence with axle-legal 3D fill in one pass.

Get the sequence right on the dock and you stop paying for it on the road. That is the whole point of last-on, first-off done properly.