Businesses handling massive logistics operations dispatch a large number of orders per day. Different orders require varied driver and vehicle configurations to schedule and fulfill the deliveries. They need efficient route planning software to optimize delivery orchestration and create ideal routes for scheduled, dynamic, and recurring fulfillment of orders.
Businesses can use the best route planning software to determine the quickest or shortest paths between initial and final delivery points. They can eliminate unplanned or unnecessarily lengthy stops and avoid disruptions to customer service due to poor vehicle routing.
The software tracks and monitors driver availability and vehicle capacity to optimize routes and reduce fuel, maintenance, and operational costs.
Why is Route Planning Important for the Last Mile?
There is a surge in consumer expectations for expedited, on-time deliveries. According to a survey, 41% of customers were willing to incur an additional fee for same-day delivery provided by e-commerce companies.
Organizations can use a route planning software and streamline delivery logistics to
- Reduce time spent on planning
- Eliminate manual tasks and errors
- Achieve fuel and operational cost efficiency
Route planning improves delivery efficiency, boosts delivery volumes, and optimizes timelines. Businesses can adhere to promised SLAs and enhance customer satisfaction. All this is possible with robust scheduling and route planning tools.
Critical Factors for Evaluating Best Route Planning Software
- Powered by AI/ML
An AI/ML-powered delivery management software featuring smart route planning capabilities like Dista Deliver evaluates critical spatial patterns and asset constraints against existing delivery orders. It creates strategic route models that drivers can follow to reduce time spent in transit. This level of route optimization lowers fuel and logistics costs while boosting delivery accuracy and productivity.
- Dynamic Routing Algorithms
Dynamic route planning considers real-world constraints such as traffic and weather conditions to generate delivery routes. The software dynamically adjusts and optimizes routes for upcoming deliveries based on historical route data. It even accommodates customer delivery windows, driver workload, and vehicle capacity. have more flexibility to fulfill orders while adhering to promised SLAs.
5 Best Route Planning Software
A route planning software analyzes total orders, customer locations, driver and vehicle availability, and vehicle type and capacity to enable seamless delivery orchestration.
Here are some top recommendations to consider.
1. Verizon Connect
Verizon Connect route planning software enables faster route planning and delivers accurate results with deep data analysis. Business leaders can generate smart territories and segment routes into equitable and manageable clusters. It analyzes customer locations, driver, and vehicle requirements to fulfill deliveries and provides multi-stop route analysis.
2. Route4Me
Route4Me route planning software analyses fixed and variable delivery constraints to optimize routes. It provides a map-based visualization of multiple stops, planned routes, and live ETAs of vehicles en route to customers. It also simplifies scheduling, increases vehicle fill capacity, and defines smart delivery territories to save time and reduce costs.
3. Routific
Routific is a cloud-based fleet management solution that optimizes routes considering delivery windows, stop durations, and vehicle capacities. It provides an interactive map based visualization of deliveries and enables driving tracking in real-time. The software also generates driver performance reports, provides delivery summaries, expenses reports.
4. Locus
Locus route optimization software enables autonomous route planning with AI-backed insights to reduce dependency on manual tasks. Dispatchers can club similar orders together based on delivery priority. To optimize schedules, the software analyzes multiple delivery factors to allocate orders based on driver availability, vehicle type, vehicle capacity, among other delivery constraints.
5. Dista
Dista’s AI-driven location intelligence platform analyzes spatial data and provides efficient route planning insights. It improves delivery accuracy, streamlines order fulfillment, and supercharges last-mile delivery. The software provides intelligent address geocoding to verify customer locations. Delivery riders improve their First Attempt Delivery Rate (FADR) with verified locations.
Dista’s technology is built from the ground up on patent-pending location intelligent algorithms and leverages Google Cloud’s enterprise-grade security and scalability.
Dynamic route planning boosts vehicle utilization and delivery volumes and enhances day-to-day dispatch. They can also track vehicle location, manage ETAs in real-time, and gain end-to-end visibility into delivery operations.
Final Thoughts
Streamlining logistics operations through robust scheduling and route optimization not only reduces planning time and eliminates manual errors, but also achieves substantial fuel and operational cost efficiency.
Using AI/ML-powered algorithms to schedule and route deliveries enhances delivery accuracy and boosts productivity. A delivery management software streamlines operations, enables businesses to adhere to promised SLAs, and boost customer satisfaction. Investing in the best route planning software empowers business leaders to manage complexities of navigating last mile deliveries.
Are you also looking to supercharge your last mile and achieve delivery efficiency? Book a demo of Dista Deliver, our robust delivery management software that leverages location intelligence to provide efficient route planning insights.
