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Why do you need route tools?
Simple because manual route planning doesn’t work anymore.
Using pen and paper to plan routes is inefficient and time-intensive. And, the routes will be inaccurate since you cannot predict weather conditions, accidents, road closures, etc.
That’s just the tip of the iceberg. There are many other challenges as well, which we will cover later in this article.
Luckily, the best delivery routing software does a lot more than just plot the most efficient route, making it a practical and more profitable investment.
There are several advantages to implementing route planner apps for multiple stops. Some of these are as follows:
Expand Your Delivery Radius with Your Existing Resources
Without route tools, you’ll spend a lot of time organizing deliveries and managing drivers, especially if there are changes in the schedules since you would then have to reorganize the whole thing.
Needless to say, the process is highly time-consuming.
However, with a multiple stop route planner, you can reduce the planning time to a few minutes, and there will be fewer chances of errors in the work.
Even if unprecedented events and unexpected situations crop up, where the whole schedule needs to be redone, the delivery scheduling software can reorganize the plan without much effort.
Most importantly, you’ll be able to keep many other things in order with the software in place, including deadlines, customer availability, driver availability, and changes in schedules.
As you’ll have more time on hand, you can expand your delivery radius, thus boosting your business.
You won’t even need to hire new employees or plan for new resources to do so.
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Route Tools Help You Track Your Drivers
There’s no point in planning accurate routes if your drivers don’t follow them as instructed. Manually, it’s hard to identify who is following the instructions and who is deviating.
This is why you need route tools that come with a built-in GPS tracking feature.
Such a GPS tracker will help you monitor your drivers and vehicles in real-time.
You can thus see if a driver is deviating from the route, making personal stops, slacking off, or driving aggressively. You can then take corrective measures and rectify their behavior.
A commercial GPS tracker also helps you ensure driver safety.
For example, if a driver gets stuck on the road due to a sudden breakdown, you’ll know about it as soon as it happens and can send roadside assistance immediately.
Also, route tools offer a speed alert that notifies you whenever a driver speeds. You can then communicate with the driver to check the speed limit and avoid any possible road mishaps.
Enhance Your Customer Experience
Customer satisfaction is the biggest target for any business today, and the delivery business is no exception.
Reports indicate that nowadays, almost 93% of customers depend on the internet to find a local business for products and services. I
n addition, 87% of these customers read reviews of the products/services before making the final call.
A single good review can help your business grow, while one bad review can also make it difficult for you to get customers.
One of the best ways to keep your customers happy is by maintaining transparency. So, inform your customers if there are any changes in the delivery schedule (failed delivery or delayed delivery) and keep them updated.
Advanced route tools like Route4Me’s trucking GPS app can help you.
It offers a customer portal feature that allows your customers to track their deliveries on their own. They just need to log in to Route4Me, using a tracking number or their Account ID, and can then monitor the statuses of their inbound visits.
Furthermore, Route4Me’s route optimization software comes with a customer alerting and notifications feature. This helps you notify your customers through email or SMS when their packages are out for delivery or within 5 miles, 5 minutes, or 5 kilometers of their locations.
Increase Revenue Per Driver and Minimize Costs
According to research, almost 59.8% of the overall operational cost per mile is attributed to fuel costs and driver wages. That’s a lot of money going down the drain.
You need to minimize your operating expenses and better your revenues.
However, having a low margin is a constant last-mile challenge, which requires a solution. Changes and improvements in the drivers’ delivery routes will effectively solve this problem to a large extent.
So, planning proper routes with route tools like Route4Me’s fastest route planning software will make your routes more fuel-efficient, and each driver will be able to make more deliveries in a single day.
You can even factor in all kinds of costs, including mileage and hourly wages, with the software without any regulation breakup or decline in service quality. Thus, you’ll be able to maximize the use of your fleet and boost your profits and revenue earnings.
Simply put, you’ll enhance productivity and profit while minimizing effort and costs.
Distribute Balanced Workloads and Increase Employee Retention
In most delivery businesses, the distribution of deliveries to drivers is done on a geographical basis. Thus, there is a service territory for each driver to cover.
Yet, in such a scenario, some drivers might face a considerable burden for a large volume of deliveries and have to work overtime to complete their work, while other drivers will have fewer deliveries with lots of idle time.
Research indicates that it’s best to split the duties evenly so that no one is burdened and overworked. This can best be done by route tools.
When your drivers are happy, the chances are high that they will continue working with your company for a long time, thus increasing employee retention.
You’ll also be able to build a close-knit team with your staff, leading to improved processes.
If that’s not enough, your routing software can also do more than just plot efficient routes.
Route tools also come with multiple features that help immensely in conducting last-mile deliveries efficiently, such as:
- Digital proof-of-delivery (POD): Any good route tool comes integrated with a digital POD collection feature. With it, your delivery drivers will be able to collect PODs through e-signatures, QR scans, pictures, and so on.
This allows for contactless delivery and makes it much easier to track unfulfilled deliveries or lost deliveries because there are fewer chances of your drivers losing physical PODs like signed papers.
- Reporting and Analytics: This feature helps track how much fuel has been consumed so far, how much distance has been covered by your drivers, how much time has been taken at each stop, and more.
- Geofencing: This feature automates delivery logs and eliminates tedious paperwork.
Learn about six more benefits of delivery management software.
Start Using Route Tools
A trusted business route planner is mandatory in the field service or delivery business for enhanced efficiency and customer satisfaction. The above are just a few ways in which route tools can benefit your delivery business.
With proper use of route planner apps, you can take your business to new heights. Your drivers will be able to make deliveries or stops within the shortest period and at minimum costs.
Hence, along with increasing the list of satisfied customers, you are bound to get new customers for your business with such effective delivery management.
So, do you have any questions about route tools? Please feel free to leave your comments below.
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