Interviewer view · keep this screen to yourself

Standard: Hokuyo Freight: keep its capacity under the drivers' overtime cap

You run the case. Read the prompt, answer questions from the notes below, and share data only when the candidate asks for it or gets stuck. Score at the end.

Case timer

00:00

Target length:

1. Read the prompt aloud

Read it slowly, then pause. Let the candidate ask questions before they structure.

Hokuyo Freight runs trucks between Tokyo and Osaka. Since April 2024 the law has capped its drivers' overtime, and it now runs fewer trips than it used to. How should it keep serving its customers?

Format note: Difficulty: Standard. Format: candidate-led, with interviewer dialogue. Industry: Logistics. Region: Japan. Interview length: about 30 minutes. The company is fictional. All figures are illustrative, except the facts that name their source.

2. Answers to clarifying questions

Give these answers only if the candidate asks. If they ask something not listed, give a sensible answer or say it does not matter here.

If asked: What does the law say?
Answer: Since 1 April 2024, drivers' overtime in Japan is capped at 960 hours a year (Japan Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, checked 2026-10-02). Hokuyo's 200 drivers used to work about 1,200 hours of overtime a year on top of 2,000 regular hours (illustrative).
If asked: How long is a trip?
Answer: A one-way trip between Tokyo and Osaka, with loading and rest, takes about 10 hours of a driver's working time. Each trip earns JPY 150,000 (illustrative).
If asked: What can Hokuyo do?
Answer: Hire more drivers at about JPY 6 million a year each, though drivers are hard to find. Or run a relay: drivers from each city swap trailers at a hub halfway and go home the same day. A trip then uses about 8 hours of driver time. The hub would cost JPY 60 million a year (illustrative).

3. The hypothesis a strong candidate states

Listen for an early, testable guess like this one. It does not need to match word for word.

The cap removes driver hours, so Hokuyo loses close to a tenth of its trips. My hypothesis is that using each driver hour better beats hiring in a market short of drivers.

4. A model structure

Compare the candidate's structure with this one. A different split can be just as good if it is clean and fits the problem.

Trips a year = drivers x hours per driver / driver hours per trip
- Hours per driver before and after the overtime cap
- Trips and revenue lost
- Key: Option 1: hire drivers; option 2: a relay hub that cuts hours per trip
- Cost of each option and what customers need

5. The working, step by step

Each step shows how a strong candidate works it out. Share a new fact from it only when the candidate asks or is stuck, and let them do the math: the result in the dark box is what they should reach.

Step 1: Hours per driver before
What a strong candidate does: Candidate: "2,000 regular hours plus 1,200 hours of overtime."
Hours per driver before the cap: 2,000 + 1,200 = 3,200
Step 2: Hours per driver now
What a strong candidate does: Candidate: "Overtime is capped at 960 hours."
Hours per driver under the cap: 2,000 + 960 = 2,960
Step 3: Trips before
What a strong candidate does: Candidate: "200 drivers, 10 hours a trip."
Trips a year before the cap: 200 × (2,000 + 1,200) ÷ 10 = 64,000
Step 4: Trips now
What a strong candidate does: Candidate: "The same drivers with fewer hours."
Trips a year under the cap: 200 × (2,000 + 960) ÷ 10 = 59,200
Step 5: Revenue at risk
What a strong candidate does: Candidate: "4,800 lost trips at JPY 150,000 each."
Revenue at risk (JPY a year): (200 × (2,000 + 1,200) ÷ 10 - 200 × (2,000 + 960) ÷ 10) × 150,000 = 720,000,000
Step 6: Drivers to hire
What a strong candidate does: Candidate: "Hours for 64,000 trips, divided by 2,960 hours a driver, minus today's 200."
Extra drivers needed: 200 × (2,000 + 1,200) ÷ (2,000 + 960) - 200 = 16.22
Step 7: Cost of hiring
What a strong candidate does: Candidate: "Rounded up to 17 drivers at JPY 6 million each."
Cost of 17 more drivers (JPY a year): 17 × 6,000,000 = 102,000,000
Step 8: Trips with the relay
What a strong candidate does: Candidate: "At 8 driver hours a trip, the same 200 drivers can run:"
Trips a year with the relay: 200 × (2,000 + 960) ÷ 8 = 74,000
Step 9: Curveball: what customers need
What a strong candidate does: Interviewer: "Customers want today's 64,000 trips, no more. Which option costs less?" Candidate: "Both restore the trips. Hiring costs JPY 102 million a year and the hub JPY 60 million, so the relay saves:"
Yearly saving of the relay over hiring (JPY): 17 × 6,000,000 - 60,000,000 = 42,000,000

The recommendation to listen for

At the end, say: "The CEO walks in. What is your recommendation?"

Hokuyo should set up the relay hub rather than try to hire its way out. First, the 960-hour cap cuts each driver from 3,200 to 2,960 hours a year. So trips fall from 64,000 to 59,200, and JPY 720 million of revenue is at risk. Second, hiring would need about 16.216 more drivers, so 17, costing JPY 102 million a year in a market where drivers are scarce. Third, the relay cuts each trip from 10 to 8 driver hours, so the same 200 drivers can run 74,000 trips. That is more than customers need, and it costs JPY 42 million a year less than hiring. Pilot the relay on one customer's daily loads and agree delivery times with customers.

Risks a strong answer names: One late truck at the hub delays the drivers on both sides of the relay; Some customers may not accept trailer swaps for fragile or high-value loads.

Next steps: Pilot the relay on one customer's daily loads for two months; Agree delivery windows with the largest customers before switching routes.

Strong versus weak

A strong answer

Turned the overtime cap into lost trips and revenue, compared hiring with using driver hours better, and checked the answer against what customers need.

A weak answer

Said Hokuyo should hire 17 drivers, without asking whether drivers can be found or whether trips can use fewer driver hours.

Score the candidate

Score each criterion from 1 to 5. A 2 or a 4 sits between the descriptions.

This case has no exhibit. Score Exhibit reading on how the candidate used the data you gave them: did they pick out the number that matters and say what it means?

Structuring

1: No clear structure, or a memorized framework that does not fit the problem.
3: A sensible structure, but with some overlap, a gap, or no clear priority.
5: A structure built for this problem, with no overlap and no gaps, a stated hypothesis, and a clear first step.

Math

1: Frequent errors, no units, or needed heavy help to finish.
3: Right answers but slow or messy working, or one error caught late.
5: Accurate and clearly narrated, with units, a sense check, and what the number means.

Exhibit reading

1: Read the chart aloud without finding the number that matters.
3: Found the key number but gave only part of the so-what.
5: Pulled the right number quickly and said what it means for the case.

Synthesis

1: Summarized what was done, with no clear answer.
3: Gave an answer, but with weak reasons or no next step.
5: Answer first, then two or three reasons with numbers, the main risk, and next steps.

Communication

1: Hard to follow: long silences, no signposting.
3: Clear most of the time, with some rambling.
5: Calm and concise, signposted each step, and checked in with the interviewer.

Total

0 out of 25

Score all five criteria to see the band and the feedback template.

Next: another case in Partner mode

Swap roles and run the next case, so you both practise answering and scoring.

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