Leadership in Transport and Logistics Training Course

Duration 5 days 10 modules · 33 contact hours
Level Intermediate Certificate on completion
Who attends Transport Manager, Distribution Manager and others
Fee from USD 1,100 KSh 95,000 for Kenyan organisations
Where 52 cities + online See dates by city
Next start 16 Nov 2026 Course code SD-LD-262

Before you join: Participants should have practical experience in transport, logistics, warehousing, distribution, fleet operations or supply chain coordination.

Dates & prices

Two start dates a month in every city, and live online on weekdays or weekends. Fees are per participant; classroom fees include tuition, materials, lunch and refreshments, and the certificate.

Suggest a date or city

Showing the next six months. Later dates, other cities and private deliveries for your team are available on request.

Course overview

Transport and logistics leaders must deliver reliable service while managing vehicle availability, carrier performance, warehouse handoffs, workforce constraints, road safety and customer commitments. Small leadership failures can create missed delivery windows, detention charges, damaged stock, unsafe driving, poor morale and costly escalations. Managers need a disciplined way to set priorities, make trade-offs, lead multi-shift teams and respond when planned capacity no longer matches demand.

This course develops practical leadership skills for transport, distribution and logistics operations. Participants learn to establish clear decision rights, run daily management routines, coach supervisors and frontline teams, use operational scorecards, lead safety conversations and manage service recovery. The programme also covers capacity planning, carrier governance, cross-functional communication, workforce planning, change adoption and disruption response. Participants apply recognised methods including SCOR performance attributes, RACI matrices, GROW coaching, A3 problem solving, Bow-tie analysis, ADKAR and risk registers.

Delivery is instructor-led over five days, either in a classroom in more than 50 cities or live online. Training days run from 08:30 to 16:30 and provide about 6.5 contact hours each. Short tutor briefings are combined with transport and distribution cases, leadership simulations, group analysis and structured application planning. Participants leave with a transport and logistics leadership action plan, supported by reusable templates for team management, performance reviews, incident response and operational improvement. A certificate of completion is issued after the course.

The course is suited to experienced transport, warehouse and distribution professionals moving into broader leadership responsibilities, as well as managers seeking stronger control of safety, service, cost and people performance.

What you will be able to do

  • Diagnose transport and distribution performance gaps using SCOR attributes, scorecards and operational evidence
  • Establish decision rights and escalation routes using RACI matrices and defined authority levels
  • Lead daily management routines that connect safety, service, cost, capacity and people measures
  • Coach drivers, dispatchers and supervisors using GROW conversations, SBI feedback and performance evidence
  • Apply Bow-tie analysis, Just Culture principles and ISO 39001 concepts to safety leadership
  • Manage carrier, customer and internal stakeholder relationships through structured operational reviews
  • Lead change adoption using ADKAR assessments, communication plans and benefits tracking
  • Produce a 30-60-90-day leadership action plan for a defined logistics performance challenge

Benefits of attending

For you

  • A clearer method for leading drivers, dispatchers, planners and warehouse supervisors
  • Practical language for resolving service, capacity and safety trade-offs with senior stakeholders
  • Confidence using operational data to challenge assumptions and prioritise corrective actions
  • Reusable coaching and feedback structures for difficult performance conversations
  • A documented action plan for improving an active transport or distribution responsibility

For your organisation

  • More consistent daily control of safety, service, cost and capacity performance
  • Faster escalation and resolution of delivery exceptions, carrier failures and customer complaints
  • Stronger supervision of multi-shift teams, contractors and outsourced transport providers
  • Better alignment between sales commitments, warehouse dispatch and transport capacity decisions
  • More disciplined adoption of new systems, processes, network changes and operating procedures

Course modules

10 modules over 5 days

Participants can define leadership accountabilities, decision rights and management interfaces across transport and distribution operations.

  • Operating-model choices: own fleet, contracted carriers, 3PLs and control towers
  • Leadership accountabilities across transport planning, warehousing, dispatch and customer service
  • SCOR performance attributes linked to local management routines
  • RACI matrices for handoffs between logistics, procurement, sales and finance
  • Span-of-control assessment for multi-shift transport and distribution teams
  • Decision rights for route exceptions, capacity releases and customer escalations

Participants can lead frontline transport and distribution teams through clear routines, delegation and performance-focused coaching.

  • Situational Leadership II matched to driver, dispatcher and supervisor readiness
  • Daily tier meetings structured around safety, service, cost and people
  • Standard work boards making shift priorities, blockers and owners visible
  • Coaching conversations using GROW questions and observable performance evidence
  • Feedback framed through SBI: situation, behaviour and operational impact
  • Delegation levels defined through authority, competence, risk and review

Participants can lead safety management conversations and strengthen controls for transport and distribution risks.

  • ISO 39001 principles applied to road-transport safety leadership
  • Bow-tie analysis connecting collision threats, controls and recovery measures
  • Just Culture responses distinguishing human error, drift and reckless acts
  • Fatigue-risk controls covering schedules, hours, breaks and fitness-for-duty
  • Near-miss investigations using five whys and corrective-action ownership
  • Safety leadership walks focused on critical behaviours and barrier health

Participants can use performance data and structured problem solving to improve logistics operations.

  • Balanced scorecards linking OTIF, cost-to-serve, safety and engagement
  • Leading indicators for vehicle availability, loading accuracy and schedule adherence
  • Control charts separating common-cause variation from special-cause signals
  • Pareto analysis prioritising service failures, damage claims and detention charges
  • Daily management cadence linking tiered escalation to countermeasures
  • A3 problem-solving reports defining conditions, causes, actions and follow-up

Participants can make transparent capacity and service decisions when demand, resources and commitments conflict.

  • Transport capacity plans balancing forecast demand, fleet and carrier commitments
  • Constraint-based prioritisation during peak volumes, shortages and late inbound deliveries
  • Route-to-market choices evaluated through service promises, density and risk
  • Customer segmentation translating service agreements into dispatch priorities
  • Sales and operations planning handoffs for transport capacity decisions
  • Escalation protocols for allocation decisions and key-account communication

Participants can manage internal stakeholders, carriers and customers through evidence-based operational communication.

  • Stakeholder maps identifying influence, interests, dependencies and communication requirements
  • Carrier performance reviews using scorecards, corrective actions and recognition
  • Negotiating operational trade-offs with procurement, sales and warehouse leaders
  • Service-recovery communication using facts, options, commitments and update times
  • Cross-functional conflict resolved through interests, criteria and agreed actions
  • Vendor governance distinguishing contract compliance, collaboration and contingency planning

Participants can build capable, fairly managed and engaged transport and logistics teams.

  • Workforce plans matching driver competencies, licences, shifts and demand profiles
  • Skills matrices exposing gaps in dispatch, loading and transport planning
  • Fair roster design balancing legal limits, fatigue and employee preferences
  • Performance reviews anchored in behaviours, targets, evidence and development actions
  • Recognition systems reinforcing safe driving, accurate handling and customer care
  • Succession plans for supervisors, planners, fleet managers and control-tower leads

Participants can plan and lead adoption of new logistics processes, systems and operating models.

  • ADKAR assessments diagnosing adoption barriers during system, process or network change
  • Change-impact assessments covering roles, SOPs, data, controls and customer commitments
  • Communication plans separating sponsor messages, supervisor briefings and frontline updates
  • Training needs analysis for transport-management-system and warehouse-system changes
  • Resistance handled through listening sessions, local champions and visible fixes
  • Benefits tracking connecting adoption measures to service, cost and safety

Participants can coordinate a disciplined response to transport disruptions and convert incidents into improvements.

  • Incident command roles for major delays, collisions, closures and cyber outages
  • Business continuity plans specifying triggers, alternates, communications and recovery targets
  • Risk registers scored through likelihood, impact, controls and ownership
  • Scenario planning for fuel disruption, carrier failure and border delays
  • Crisis communication protocols protecting customers, employees, regulators and brand trust
  • After-action reviews converting disruption evidence into revised contingency actions

Participants can convert course methods into a measurable leadership plan for their transport or logistics operation.

  • Personal leadership charter defining values, non-negotiables and decision principles
  • Thirty-sixty-ninety-day action plans linked to operational performance gaps
  • Priority matrices selecting improvement work by impact, effort and urgency
  • Meeting architecture coordinating daily huddles, weekly reviews and monthly governance
  • Leadership dashboard combining safety, service, cost, capacity and people measures
  • Peer accountability agreements setting milestones, evidence and review dates

Exercises and examples are adapted to each cohort's sectors and roles.

What you take back to work

  1. Transport and logistics leadership action plan
  2. RACI decision-rights template
  3. Daily management meeting agenda
  4. Carrier performance review scorecard
  5. Bow-tie safety risk analysis template
  6. 30-60-90-day implementation plan

Who should attend

  • Transport Manager — needs stronger control of fleet, carrier, safety and service performance
  • Distribution Manager — coordinates delivery operations, customer commitments and cross-functional handoffs
  • Logistics Manager — leads transport, warehousing and planning teams against shared operational targets
  • Fleet Manager — manages driver performance, vehicle availability, compliance and safety controls
  • Warehouse Manager — improves dispatch discipline and collaboration with transport teams
  • Supply Chain Supervisor — prepares for broader responsibility across logistics operations and frontline teams

Skills and tools covered

Transport team leadershipOperational performance managementSafety leadershipCarrier relationship managementChange implementationDisruption response

Tools and standards

SCOR Digital Standard, RACI matrix, ADKAR model, ISO 39001

How the course runs

Training methodology

The course uses short instructor briefings followed by transport and distribution cases, facilitated group analysis, leadership simulations and structured planning. Participants interpret operational scorecards, assess safety incidents, conduct carrier-review discussions and prepare responses to capacity disruption. Cases reflect common issues such as missed delivery windows, driver fatigue, poor warehouse handoffs, customer escalations and system implementation. The final sessions focus on converting learning into a prioritised 30-60-90-day action plan with measures, owners and review points.

Requirements and prerequisites

Participants should have practical experience in transport, logistics, warehousing, distribution, fleet operations or supply chain coordination. They should understand common measures such as on-time delivery, vehicle utilisation, transport cost, service failures and basic safety requirements. Experience supervising people is helpful but not essential; the course also suits technical specialists preparing for management roles. No prior formal leadership qualification, project management certification, advanced analytics capability or knowledge of a specific transport management system is required.

A typical training day

08:30 – 10:30First session
10:30 – 10:45Refreshment break
10:45 – 12:30Second session
12:30 – 13:30Lunch and networking
13:30 – 15:00Third session
15:00 – 15:15Refreshment break
15:15 – 16:30Workshop and daily review

Live online deliveries follow the same structure in East Africa Time, with shorter screen blocks and longer breaks.

What the fee includes

  • Instruction by a practitioner facilitator
  • Full course workbook and materials
  • Exercise files, templates and case studies
  • Refreshments and lunch on classroom deliveries
  • Certificate of completion
  • Post-course application plan

Frequently asked questions

Participants should have practical exposure to transport, distribution, warehousing, fleet operations or supply chain coordination. A formal leadership qualification is not required, although the course is designed for professionals with some operational responsibility.

Participants should bring a current operational challenge, such as poor on-time delivery, driver turnover, carrier service failures or a planned process change. If available, they may also bring anonymised scorecards, service measures or process maps.

The course is best suited to transport managers, distribution managers, logistics managers, fleet managers, warehouse managers and supervisors moving into wider leadership roles. It also suits supply chain professionals responsible for outsourced carriers or delivery performance.

Transport operations courses focus primarily on planning, routing, fleet utilisation, compliance and delivery execution. This course focuses on leading people, setting management routines, managing stakeholders, improving performance and responding to operational disruption.

Participants leave with practical templates and a 30-60-90-day action plan linked to a current operational issue. They can use the plan to introduce clearer escalation routes, improve team meetings, strengthen safety conversations or structure carrier reviews.

Each day runs from 08:30 to 16:30, providing about 6.5 contact hours. The five days cover leadership foundations, team management, safety, performance, capacity, stakeholder management, workforce capability, change, disruption response and action planning.

Questions about this course?

Ask about dates, fees, group bookings or running it for your team. Our training team replies by email.

Ask on WhatsApp info@skillsetdevelopment.com

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