Multi-stop route planning involves selecting the optimal route for delivery trucks by factoring in variables such as the delivery address, fleet and driver availability, fuel efficiency, the volume of shipments, driver skills, traffic, scheduled returns, and special handling of the package. It also takes into consideration uncertain events like vehicle breakdowns and last-minute road closures to decide on the quickest route to take to deliver the package to the customer. Although using a multi-stop GPS is essential in the transport and logistics industry, it isn’t enough for delivery businesses. For enhanced efficiency, you must use optimized routing software with multiple functions and capabilities to keep up with competitors.
Why is Multi-stop Route Planning Important?
Many enterprises have to deliver thousands of products to consumers daily. Delivery trucks assigned with these consignments must crisscross the lengths and breadths of various cities and towns, navigating multiple routes and stops to deliver packages to consumers’ doorsteps. The high volume of these shipments combined with variable factors like weather, traffic congestion, and roadblocks make it difficult to manage all the deliveries’ scheduling manually.
Proper multi-stop route planning ensures the following:
- More deliveries and order fulfillments each day
- Reduced fuel consumption
- Quicker deliveries and positive customer experience
- Fewer delivery vehicle breakdowns
- Less manual efforts
You can make better and more efficient deliveries by embracing multi-stop route planning technology. It helps your drivers deliver to more stops each day, boosting efficiency and saving you time in the planning stages of deliveries.
How Multi-Stop Route Planning Software Works
Drivers delivering parcels often make a couple of dozen drop-offs each day. For all those deliveries, drivers have millions of possible sequences, not taking into consideration issues like truck and inventory requirements, skill levels, requested delivery times, etc. Fortunately, a modern multi-stop route planning software can help address all these complexities and inefficiencies. It empowers retailers and carriers to improve profit margins and customer satisfaction, boosting business growth.
A route planning software automates route planning and digitizes itineraries. Its objective is to identify the fastest route to take when dealing with multiple stops per route. Although Google Maps and multi-stop GPS offer convenience for everyday drivers, they are not necessarily for multi-stop delivery and commercial drivers. A good multi-stop route planner offers power benefits to commercial fleets, including lowering fuel consumption, meeting customers’ expectations, and increasing capacity utilization.
Essential Features for Multi-Stop Route Planning Software
A premium multi-stop route planner should take into consideration a wide range of business constraints and logistical challenges. These include pickup time windows, inventory details, service time windows, distance, cost structure, time spent on-site, vehicle capabilities, special handling requirements, driver skill set, and resource availability. You must ensure you’re getting a multistep planner that can support your unique needs and goals. Here are the must-have features retailers and shippers must look for in a route planning application:
- AI and Machine Learning: Consider a planner that utilizesmachine learning and AI to analyze historical data to provide optimal route plans easily. Machine learning can effectively estimate how factors like load type, traffic, and driver skill will impact drive and service time.
- Robust Data Analytics: Your planner should be able tocollect more valuable data on drivers and deliveries, with the aim of measuring cost per delivery, variations between regions, on-time percentages, etc.
- Easy Integration: A good solution should simplify the workflow and easily integrate with your existing workflows. It should also offer hassle-free onboarding for contractor partners and current drivers.
- Flexible Route Management: A great route planner should offer you complete control over your fleets. It should automatically optimize routes to ensure seamless routing, analysis, dispatching, and delivery management.
- Real-time Visibility: Your multi-stop route planner should have real-time tracking capabilities to enable dispatchers, delivery teams, and fleet managers to track the last mile as it unfolds.
Streamline Your Logistics with Multi-Stop Route Planning Solution!
A great multi-stop route planning solution is critical to driving efficient deliveries and ensuring your consumers are happy and satisfied. As e-commerce rapidly grows and customers demand swift delivery, you need to invest in technologies that help you manage the complexities of delivering several packages to consumers in various locations. An excellent multi-stop route planning software embraces a consumer-first approach to ensure better deliveries. Even though the features and benefits are more elaborate, the software is still simple to use and manage. Simplify and streamline your logistics, drive your bottom line, and exceed your customers’ expectations with a great multi-stop route planning software!