You get what you pay for.
You’ve heard that phrase a thousand times before, but that’s only because it’s true. Trying to save a little money now can cost you a lot of money in the long run. By using a free route planner instead of more advanced route planning software, you’ll miss out on many expense-reducing and productivity-improving features.
What Are The Benefits Of Route Optimization?
A free route planner might show you how to get from Point A to Point B, but it won’t do much more for you than that.
To really make your business more productive, you need more than route planning. You need route optimization.
Reliable route planning software like Route4Me can only make a route for your stops in the same order you entered them. It won’t automatically sort your stops in the optimal order. You’ll need to figure that out yourself.
That can take hours, and there’s no guarantee that the order you decide on is actually the best one.
Route planning software will figure out the optimal way to sort your stops for you. It’ll take traffic, weather, construction, and customer availability into account as well. That means route planning won’t take as much time, and you’ll be able to provide your drivers with more efficient routes.
Geofencing Technology
Geofencing involves drawing custom borders over a real-world map. You can customize these borders to trigger certain actions when your drivers cross through them.
For example, you could draw geofences around your customers’ locations and set it up so that a text message is automatically sent to the customer when your driver arrives. They’ll appreciate the notice!
RELATED : Automate Your Delivery Logs: How Geofencing Is Eliminating Tedious Paperwork
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Vehicle Tracking
Are your drivers sticking to their routes and staying on schedule, or are they taking breaks and running personal errands while they’re on the clock?
You can’t see them, so how do you know?
GPS tracking is how.
How does GPS tracking work?
GPS tracking helps you visualize your drivers’ activities on a map in real-time so that you can immediately know if a field rep or driver makes an unauthorized stop or takes longer than planned at a specific destination.
GPS vehicle tracking lets you see how fast your drivers are going in real-time. Whenever you want, you can check in on a driver to make sure they’re doing what you’re paying them to do.
Analytics
Also, GPS tracking collects detailed information about how your drivers behave on the road.
You can use this data to make more informed business decisions. It’ll help you evaluate driver performance and determine whether your fuel saving techniques are working or not.
A free route planner usually won’t have the ability to give you this information.
Territory Mapping
It doesn’t make any sense to send your drivers back and forth across your entire service area.
Instead, you should break your service area up into different territories and assign a driver (or team of drivers, depending on the size of your fleet) to each territory. A territory mapping feature allows you to do exactly that.
Each of your drivers will be much more productive when their set of stops is closer together. You’ll save money on gas, too.
eSignature Software
The problem with using pen and paper to collect delivery confirmations is that paper slips are easy to lose.
Think about it: what if a customer claims they never received their delivery, your driver says they did drop it off, and then it turns out that you’ve lost the confirmation slip?
In that situation, trusting the customer would mean alienating your driver. Trusting your driver would mean alienating the customer. There is no easy solution.
When you have eSignature software, customers can sign for deliveries directly on your drivers’ smartphones. You’ll never lose a confirmation again.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8mZLCH-S-So
The Cloud
Cloud-based routing software is preferable to on-premises software.
On-premises software has to be stored on your own equipment. Such equipment is expensive, and this setup can be difficult to access for field staff.
Cloud-based software is stored on someone else’s server that you access remotely. This is more affordable and accessible.
It also improves communication. Whenever you make a change to a route on your office computer, it’ll be automatically reflected on your driver’s mobile app. This makes last-minute requests much easier to accommodate.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bl8oKgbmWQQ
Virtual Reality
Virtual reality (VR) is finally here. The most advanced routing programs have VR features that allow you to see several screens in a single 360° dashboard. You can also use VR to “fly” over your routes and confirm that everything’s set up exactly the way you want it.
Software Integration
Of course, you need more than just a road trip planner with multiple stops to run your business. You probably use dozens of different programs on a regular basis.
Managing all these apps can get quite confusing. It’s easier, though, when your delivery management software uses API technology to integrate with the other software platforms you already use.
RELATED : Benefits of Integrating a Route Optimization API with Your Existing System
Onboarding
A multi-stop route planner won’t do you much good if your employees can’t figure out how to use it.
Usually, a free route planner won’t give you any assistance when in comes to training your employees.
The teams behind top route planner apps generally have more resources, so they’re able to actually teach your team how to use their product.
RELATED : Painlessly Switch To Route4Me With These Onboarding Best Practices
So, do you see why it’s important to use advanced route planning software instead of a free, bare-bones route creator? Do you have any questions about route planners in general? Let us know in the comments section below.
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