How to Reduce Costs and Improve Service with Route Planning Software

Have you invested in route planning software for your fleet yet? If not, what’s holding you back? We talk to lots of fleet managers who think of route planning software as an unnecessary expense. Like them, you might reason that your drivers know what they’re doing and will choose the right routes. Either that or you’ve had bad experiences with route planning software in the past. Well, we’re here to show you how using route planning software can help you to both reduce costs, save time and improve your customer service.

Planning optimised routes

There’s nothing wrong with showing faith in your drivers’ abilities, but we believe that route planning shouldn’t be left to chance.  Drivers tend to use the routes that they know best. Whilst experience might have shown them where there’s likely to be heavy traffic or what the shortest route is, this isn’t the same as an optimised route. Planning software will factor in local traffic variations and other road conditions that you may not be aware of.

An optimised route can also cover more than one delivery. If you or your drivers are planning one delivery at a time you may not be making the best use of your vehicles. Route planning software can allow you to create a route that takes in multiple deliveries and work out the best sequence.

Saving money on fuel and maintenance

It won’t come as any surprise to you that an optimised route can mean lower fuel costs. Route planning software will give you the shortest route where that’s the most practical option. However, it also enables your drivers to keep travelling at a fuel efficient speed as they’re less likely to be stuck in traffic.

Keeping your fleet moving will also have a positive impact on your maintenance costs. There’s less wear and tear from making unnecessarily long journeys. Your drivers will also spend less time in traffic, which inevitably leads to heavy braking and increased use of the clutch.

Getting your systems working together

If you’ve had a bad experience with fleet management or route planning software in the past, you’re not alone. We’ve had a number of clients who found that their route planning, task planning and GPS technologies didn’t work together properly. They wasted time trying to get everything to co-ordinate. Their fleet managers had better things to do and we’re sure that yours do as well.

The good news is that our systems are designed to help different technologies to integrate with each other. It means that everything can integrate automatically, saving your fleet manager considerable time.

Keeping your customers happy

Route planning isn’t just about saving costs. When you’ve got efficient and optimised routes it’s easier to deliver great customer service. You can give your customers an accurate window for deliveries which allows them to plan in advance. It speeds things up for both of you. They know that they can rely on you so you become a preferred supplier. When things do go wrong, you can keep them updated without damaging the relationship.

If you’d like more advice on how route planning software could benefit your business, get in touch!