| Course | BU 245 Business Communication |
|---|---|
| Unit | Unit 2 |
| Paper type | Routine memo or email |
| Length | About 980 words, 5 pages |
| Format | Business memo with analysis, APA 7 references |
| School | Herzing University |
| Program | BS in Business Management |
| Updated | September 2026 |
Free sample paper for BU 245 Unit 2
Memorandum
To: All delivery drivers and loading staff
From: Dana Whitfield, Operations Coordinator
Date: January 26, 2026
Re: Starting Monday, February 2: 10-minute pre-trip check and sign-off before every route
Beginning Monday, February 2, please complete a 10-minute pre-trip check of your truck and sign the new checklist before you leave the dock each morning.
Here is what changes:
1. Report at 4:20 a.m. instead of 4:30 a.m. The extra 10 minutes are paid and count toward your shift.
2. Use the green checklist clipped inside each cab. It covers battery and starting, lights, tires, brakes, mirrors, the lift gate and the cargo heater.
3. Sign and date the checklist and drop it in the tray by the dispatch window before you pull out.
4. If anything on the list fails, tell the dispatch lead on duty before loading continues. Do not leave with a failed item.
Loading staff: please have each truck's first pallet staged by 4:25 a.m. so drivers can finish the check and load without waiting.
Marcus Hale will walk through the checklist with each driver during the week of January 26; your route supervisor will set a time with you by Wednesday. Questions about the checklist can come to me at extension 214 or by reply to this email.
Why the Memo Is Built This Way
The analysis below explains the choices made in the memo above. The situation behind it is the morning of January 13, when one of Lakeshore Bread Company's four delivery trucks would not start in the cold and 11 grocery stores received bread late. After a second cold-weather failure that month, the director of operations decided that every truck would be checked before it left. The memo's job is to tell drivers and loaders what to do differently starting on a specific day. It is a routine message: the readers are not being refused anything, and nothing in it requires them to be persuaded, so the request can come first.
The Subject Line and the Opening
The subject line carries the date and the action, so a driver searching the inbox in March for "pre-trip" or "February 2" will find it. A subject line such as "Truck safety" would say what the memo is about but not what the reader must do. The first sentence repeats the essential facts: when the change starts, what the reader must do and how long it takes. Minto (2009) argued that business documents should open with the main point, because readers look for it first and interpret everything else in its light. For a driver reading on a phone in the break room, the first sentence may be the only one read closely, which is why it contains the whole request.
The opening does not explain the January breakdowns. Drivers already know about them, and a paragraph of background placed before the request would push the one instruction they need below the part of the screen they read first. Pernice (2017) found in eye-tracking studies that readers of digital text tend to concentrate on the first lines and the left side of a page, and a routine memo should put its instruction where that attention falls.
The Detail and the List
The supporting detail is a numbered list because the four items are separate actions a driver will take in order: arrive earlier, use the checklist, sign it and report any failure. A paragraph would hide the sequence. Each item begins with a verb, which makes it an instruction rather than a description. The list includes only what a driver needs to do on February 2. It leaves out the checklist's full wording, which is printed on the form itself, and the cost of the extra paid time, which matters to management but not to the reader.
Two details were added because readers would otherwise ask about them. The first is that the extra 10 minutes are paid, which answers the question every driver would raise before any other. The second is the instruction not to leave with a failed item, which settles who makes the call when something is wrong. Federal rules for commercial motor vehicles already expect a driver to be satisfied that a vehicle is in safe operating condition before driving it (49 C.F.R. § 396.13). Whether that rule reaches each Lakeshore truck depends on its weight and routes, which the memo does not need to settle; the company's own policy now requires the check regardless.
Names, Dates and the Closing
Every action in the memo has an owner and a time. Drivers act on February 2. Loaders stage the first pallet by 4:25 a.m. Marcus Hale walks through the checklist during the week of January 26, and route supervisors schedule those walkthroughs by Wednesday. A routine memo that says "training will be provided" leaves each reader wondering who will provide it and when; naming the person and the day removes the question.
The closing names one person to ask and two ways to reach her. It does not thank readers in advance for their cooperation or tell them to have a great day, phrases that add length without adding information. The federal plain language guidance recommends writing for the specific audience and keeping content short enough that readers can find and use what they need (Digital.gov, n.d.). The whole memo fits on a phone screen with one scroll, which is the practical test for a message drivers will read at 4 a.m.
Memo or Email?
The message is formatted as a memo but will be sent by email and printed for the break room board, because not every loader checks work email before a shift. The memo block of To, From, Date and Re works in both forms: it becomes the email header on screen and remains readable when printed and pinned up. A text message was considered and rejected, since the checklist details are too long for a text and drivers would need to refer back to them during the first week.
References
Digital.gov. (n.d.). Plain language guide series. U.S. General Services Administration. https://digital.gov/guides/plain-language
Driver inspection, 49 C.F.R. § 396.13 (2025).
Minto, B. (2009). The pyramid principle: Logic in writing and thinking (3rd ed.). Pearson Education.
Pernice, K. (2017, November 12). F-shaped pattern of reading on the web: Misunderstood, but still relevant (even on mobile). Nielsen Norman Group. https://www.nngroup.com/articles/f-shaped-pattern-reading-web-content/
The Herzing BU 245 Unit 2 instructions
Your routine message assignment calls for a short document, often a memo or email that makes a request or shares information, and in many sections to explain your choices. Expect to use a proper header, a specific subject line, an opening that states the main point, supporting detail limited to what the reader needs and a closing with any action and contact. Instructors usually want the message short enough to read on one screen. The accompanying analysis or reflection should connect choices to course principles. Sources are not always required for the message itself, but the analysis benefits from a few, cited in APA 7. If the prompt leaves the scenario open, pick a workplace change with a start date, since a date gives the opening sentence something definite to say.
How this BU 245 Unit 2 example is built
The sample prints the memo first, with its header, a subject line containing the date and the action, a one-sentence request, a four-item numbered list, a note for loaders, the names of the people running walkthroughs and a contact line. The analysis then takes the memo apart in order. It explains why the subject line names the date, why the opening leaves out the story of the January breakdowns, why the list uses verbs and why the paid time and the no-failed-items rule were added. A section on names and dates shows how every task has an owner. The last section explains why the memo is also printed, and why a text message was rejected.
BU 245 Unit 2 rubric: what full points look like
The rubric for the routine message generally rewards the organization of the message, clarity and conciseness, format and the quality of the explanation. Organization earns full points when the main point opens the message and the detail follows in the order the reader will act. Clarity is judged by specific language, a subject line that could be searched and instructions a reader could follow without asking a question. Format covers the memo or email header, readable lists and consistent style. The explanation criterion rewards analysis tied to exact lines in the message, which the sample provides section by section. Correct citations and a professional tone round out the grade.
BU 245 Unit 2 help before you submit
Many Unit 2 messages bury the request under a paragraph of background, which is the most common reason routine memos lose points. Subject lines such as Update or Important say nothing a reader could search for later. Students also include every detail they know instead of what the reader needs to act. Actions without a named person or date leave readers guessing who is responsible. Closings padded with thanks in advance or have a great day add length without information. Finally, check the length on a phone screen; a routine message that needs several scrolls is probably trying to do more than one job.
Get a BU 245 Unit 2 example written to your instructions
Forward the Unit 2 instructions and the BU 245 rubric from your classroom, with the scenario and any length limit your section sets. We write a custom example reproduced as an actual memo or email, with a searchable subject line, the request first, named actions with dates and a short analysis alongside. First custom sample free, returned in 24 to 48 hours.
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BU 245 Unit 2 questions, answered
Should it be a memo or an email?
Follow the instructions, and where the choice is yours, let the situation decide: a memo for something internal that will be filed or posted, an email for something a reader will act on and archive. The conventions differ, and mixing them is visible. In an email the subject line does the work the memo block does, so it has to be specific.
How long is too long for a routine message?
Longer than the reader needs, which in this genre is usually a screen. Where the instructions set a limit, treat it as part of the assignment rather than a suggestion, since holding a message to length is a graded skill. If the content genuinely will not fit, that is often a sign it is carrying two purposes and should be two documents.
Can I use a template from work?
No. An employer's memo template, letterhead and standard language belong to the employer, and a graded submission is out of your control once it is filed. Build the format from what your course materials show, which is what the rubric was written against anyway. If your section supplies a template, use that one and say where it came from.
Where can I find a free BU 245 Unit 2 sample paper?
The BU 245 Unit 2 memo and its analysis appear in full above, free to read. If your routine message has a different purpose or reader, send the instructions and you will receive a custom example on your topic at no cost, typically in 24 to 48 hours.
Should the BU 245 Unit 2 message be a memo or an email?
Follow your instructions, and if you have a choice, pick the form your readers will actually see. The sample is formatted as a memo, sent by email and printed for a break room, because some loaders do not check email before a shift. The header works in both forms.