Last Updated on September 15, 2022 by admin
Modern solutions, such as intelligent delivery routing systems and software, help businesses avoid many delivery-related challenges. Using route optimization and careful transportation planning, moving items to end consumers can be more efficient and cost-effective. Modern delivery planning software may be all factors in real-time events such as equipment availability, traffic and weather conditions, loading and unloading employees, and other factors impacting delivery timeframes. This establishes the basis for more effective planning and execution.
If you find that you cannot deal proactively with difficulties related to delivery or if you are facing very high operational costs, it may be time to revise your routing programs for delivery.
Here are a few telltale signals that it’s time to put aside your present delivery routing technologies and processes:
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Invisibility
If you’re constantly calling drivers to find out where they are, likely, you don’t know what they’re doing or if they’re following their allotted itinerary. As a result, today’s firms must have complete visibility to prevent unnecessary operating costs.
Your expected arrival times (ETAs) are inaccurate because of the lack of visibility in conventional routing methods, not to mention higher plan times and an absence of interaction with external and internal stakeholders. As a result, customers are pretty unhappy.
Manual processes
Consumers want speed, reliability, availability around the clock, instant rebate processes, and last-minute changes to orders. This has made the competition more fierce than ever. However, these expectations are hard to meet if your business plans routes by hand or uses old software. If your business uses traditional planning methods that don’t include automation and AI-powered optimization, it could lose out on efficiency and data-driven insights.
As long as your team is shackled to manual processes, there will always be room for progress. Even the best team will have opportunities for improvement. Your last mile activities will be more efficient if you include more automation in the route planning process.
Recurring issues with delivery
For deliveries to be consistently delayed, the absence of real-time transparency and inaccurate route plans are the main culprits. It’s a serious risk if your route planning method doesn’t consider service time variations, changes in driver pace and quickness, and differences in the load and vehicle kinds. Consequently, your vehicles will be late for every day’s trip. Likely, your routing isn’t doing the job if your clients always complain about the delivery being late.
Excessively high fuel costs
Studies after studies have shown that the cost of fuel constitutes a sizeable portion of the overall operational costs of any particular fleet. Moreover, drivers have to go further distances due to a lack of speed and automation in the route planning process, which results in unneeded and excessive amounts of fuel consumption.
Poor use of resources
Combining traditional processes and antiquated route planning software often results in inefficient utilization of available assets. For example, manually arranging routes rarely lead to the most time- and cost-effective itineraries. When this occurs, it takes more time for drivers to get from one location to another, which results in a decreased number of deliveries completed during their shifts. When this occurs, businesses are forced to either increase the number of drivers they employ, the number of delivery vehicles they own, or both.
Low customer satisfaction
Customer satisfaction suffers as a result of the lack of automation. Many businesses lose consumers to their rivals because of delivery delays and the inability to make last-minute alterations. A more flexible and precise delivery routing method can dramatically boost customer satisfaction.
Manual processes and out-of-date technology can have the repercussions mentioned above, so it’s time to consider modernizing your delivery route solution and methods.
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