The scheme referred to in the title involves the driving of "UniVans" from depot to depot picking up and unloading cargo - the cargo being replacement parts for UniVans. "Gloriously self-perpetuating, the scheme was designed to give an honest day’s wage for an honest day’s labour", "the envy of the world: the greatest undertaking ever conceived by man". The novel is a satire of labour relations and describes how the scheme is brought to the brink of disaster.