How a Scheduling App for Drivers Can Help You Get More Time Out of Your Day

How Route Optimization Software Can Help You Get More Time Out of Your Day
Featured image credit : Lemau Studio/Shutterstock.com

Are administrative tasks slowing you down?

One of the most frustrating parts of being a boss is all the paperwork. Every minute spent filling out forms is a minute that could have been spent directing employees, meeting with clients, etc.

By adopting a scheduling app, you’ll be able to streamline your admin process. This will give you more time to do everything else you need to do to make your business successful. The best part is that you never need to worry about vehicle routes and traveling salesman problems.

Shave Hours Down To Seconds

Route planning is complicated.

In addition to figuring out which roads your drivers must take to reach your customers, you also need to account for traffic, weather, construction, customer availability, weight/volume constraints, and other factors.

There are additional factors you may need to consider as well, depending on your industry. For example, if you transport flammable materials, there are roads you won’t be permitted to use.

When you plan routes by yourself, taking all of these factors into account can take hours.

But when you have a route scheduling app, planning routes only takes 30 seconds. You just need to plug in the addresses of your customers, customize the settings to fit your specific situation, and then you’re good to go.

See What Your Drivers Are Up To With GPS Tracking

Another benefit to using a routing program like Route4Me route planner is that it allows you to provide your drivers with more efficient routes. That will help them show up on time more often.

But optimized routes won’t do you any good if your drivers don’t actually follow the routes you give them.

That’s why you must ensure that the multi-stop route planner you invest in has a vehicle tracking feature.

Route4Me

Want To See For Yourself How Route4Me Can Boost Your Profits?

Whether you want to slash the time it takes you to plan routes for your drivers, increase the number of stops they can make, or keep your customers satisfied knowing that your drivers show up on time… Route4Me helps you achieve that!

Start Free 7 Day Trial

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 tracking lets you see how fast your drivers are going in real-time. You can check in on a driver whenever you want to confirm that they’re sticking to their route and staying on schedule.

Automate The Check-In/Check-Out Process

Geofencing technology is another feature you’ll want your scheduling app to have.

Geofencing involves drawing custom borders over a real-world map. After you’ve drawn your borders, you can set it up so that certain actions are triggered when your drivers cross through them.

For example, you can use geofences to automate the check-in/check-out process. Your drivers will save 10 seconds or so at each stop. 10 seconds per stop doesn’t seem like much, but consider how many stops your drivers make over the course of a week, a month, a year. It adds up over time.

Settle Disputes With eSignature Software

The problem with using pen and paper to collect delivery confirmation signatures is that paper slips are easy to lose.

What would you do if a customer claims their package was never delivered, your driver says they did deliver it, and then it turns out that you’ve lost the confirmation slip?

In that situation, you could either trust your driver and alienate the customer or trust the customer and alienate your driver. There’s no good option.

But when your road trip planner with multiple stops has an eSignature feature, your customers can sign for deliveries directly on your driver’s smartphone. You’ll never lose a confirmation again. Whenever there’s a dispute, you’ll know exactly what went down. 

An eCommerce Plug-In Eliminates Mistakes

We’ll leave you with the best multi-stop route planners have one last feature: an eCommerce plug-in.

This feature allows you to transfer contact information directly from your eCommerce platform (Shopify, WooCommerce, etc.) to your scheduling app, which saves time and minimizes the risk of data entry errors.

So, do you have questions about route optimization software? Let us know in the comments section below.

Also, we have some questions for you! Answering the following questions correctly will confirm that you understand the points we’ve laid out in this article:

1. What are the benefits of route optimization software?

2. About how much time per stop do your drivers save when you automate the check-in/check-out process?

3. What does an eCommerce plug-in allow you to do?

Route4Me

Want To See For Yourself How Route4Me Can Boost Your Profits?

Whether you want to slash the time it takes you to plan routes for your drivers, increase the number of stops they can make, or keep your customers satisfied knowing that your drivers show up on time… Route4Me helps you achieve that!

Start Free 7 Day Trial

About author: Rahul Dasgupta

Rahul Dasgupta is a content writer with over 20 years of work experience. He holds a master’s degree in computer science and has written thousands of blog posts on route planning and scheduling, making it easy for readers to learn about these complex topics. Rahul enjoys playing tennis in his spare time and loves cuddling with his pet labrador Shinu. Rahul is a big fan of Roger Federer, Messi, and Bill Gates - he admires their drive to be the best at what they do and their philanthropic efforts.

Route4Me

About Route4Me

Route4Me has over 40,000 customers globally. Route4Me's Android and iPhone mobile apps have been downloaded over 2 million times since 2009. Extremely easy-to-use, Route4Me's apps create optimized routes, synchronize routes to mobile devices, enable communication with drivers and customers, offer turn-by-turn directions, delivery confirmation, and more. Behind the scenes, Route4Me's operational optimization platform combines high-performance algorithms with data science, machine learning, and big data to plan, optimize, and analyze routes of almost any size in real-time.