With 2019 coming to a close, now is the time to take stock of the past year’s performance and ask yourself some questions:
- Do I have the same logistics challenges I had the year before?
- Was I able to find a reliable and sustainable solution to rising fuel expenses and driver shortage?
- Are my customers still complaining about delayed deliveries?
If the answer is yes to any of these questions, then you are probably ignoring the importance of route optimization software for your business.
Are you wondering what is route optimization?
Route optimization is a process to find the most effective solutions for problems such as long driving hours, complicated routes, and excessive fuel consumption faced by field service businesses.
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Why Is Route Optimization Important?
Planning the most fuel-efficient and fastest route is crucial to reducing the windshield time of field employees, and ensuring customers receive their packages at the scheduled time.
One of the many benefits of route optimization is that all your parcels are delivered with the most organized use of resources. A route planner like Route4Me route planner enables you to calculate the fastest and most fuel-efficient route while taking into account multiple stops and limited delivery time windows. It solves the vehicle route problem and traveling salesman problem.
Let’s go over some more benefits of route planners that will make your route planning job more manageable.
Enhances Customer Experience
The easiest way to ruin your customer experience is by delaying deliveries- or worse- giving them incorrect or vague delivery timelines. To protect your company’s profitability and reputation, your drivers must meet every delivery timeline. If you fail to deliver an amazing experience, customers will turn to your competitors- which will mean bigger trouble for your business.
Avoiding this is simple — all it takes is an advanced route optimization software that builds optimal routes while considering factors such as weather updates, road conditions, traffic congestion, multiple stops, and specific delivery time windows. You will be able to provide your customers with real-time delivery updates, eliminating the problem of incorrect ETAs.
You can also modify the existing routes to accommodate last-minute customer requests. Drivers can immediately see the changes on their route optimization app for iPhone or route optimization app for Android, follow the modified routes accordingly and still make deliveries on time.
Ensures Driver Safety
Optimizing routes is only half the battle. Driver safety on the road is an equally severe problem for field operations managers, if not more significant. According to a survey, almost 78 percent of drivers in the United States were engaged in at least one incident of reckless driving in 2013. An effective way to reduce driver stress and the risk of stress-induced road accidents is providing them with an optimized and easy-to-follow route with turn-by-turn directions. Your drivers will be more focused and ready for any unforeseen hazards.
Investing in a route optimizer with GPS tracking feature will also allow you to see if drivers are speeding or driving recklessly. Long story short, a route optimization app can play a crucial role in reducing travel time and improving driver safety.
Increases Driver Productivity
Increasing the number of deliveries each driver needs to make in a day can increase your profits. However, the downside is that more deliveries equal more time behind the wheel, which may result in exhausted and dissatisfied drivers. One way to boost your driver morale while increasing the bottom line is by optimizing routes. Routing optimization software will ensure that your drivers are on the best route possible, in terms of both distances traveled and travel time. This leads to shorter service times, allowing you to increase the number of deliveries sustainably and safely.
Improves Fuel Efficiency, Reduces costs
Fuel is one of the highest costs for any field service business. Poor route planning can negatively impact fuel efficiency and cut into your margins. Route optimization software will calculate the best route by considering factors like specific delivery time windows and backtracking, thus allowing drivers to save time and fuel. This reduces driver time behind the wheel, brings down fuel consumption, and reduces the wear and tear of the vehicle, ultimately cutting maintenance costs.
Conclusion
When it comes to managing delivery operations, planned routes, and timely deliveries, route planners are the way to go. Every business is different, but there is no doubt that route optimization software will have a significant impact on your delivery operations and keep your company competitive. However, you should avoid using any basic route planners or even doing route optimization using Google Maps. This is because Google Maps is not designed for multiple destinations or multiple drivers. Remember, there are many benefits of route optimization, but only if done correctly… and that is only possible when route optimization is done through advanced delivery routing software.
So how do you optimize your routes? Do you’ve any questions? Please feel free to leave your comments below.
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