If you, like many other businesses, are struggling to manage your bookings and plan the most efficient routes for your team, then you’re not alone. Finding a reliable and quality route planner will help save you hours of planning, allowing you to focus more time on improving your business. 

When it comes to finding a route planner that best suits your business, you should be looking to see if it includes real-time tracking, route optimization, customer updates, and proof of delivery. 

All these features will help increase visibility, communication, and efficiency for your business.

You can find all these features by using Locate2u, a delivery management system perfect for businesses wanting the most efficient routes for their team.   

What Is Route Planning?

A delivery route planner is software that allows fleet managers to schedule stops for their drivers.

Depending on the type of route planner, features could include route optimization, real-time tracking, automatic dispatch, and GPS tracking. 

Route planning is a great way for businesses to increase their productivity as they won’t have to spend hours trying to schedule the most efficient routes for their fleet. 

Finding the most efficient route can reduce fuel and labor costs. Driving the shortest route between each stop helps save on fuel consumption and the number of hours spent on the road.

This software also helps you keep track of your driver’s location and behavior, ensuring they are where they need to be and driving safely.

Features Of Route Planning  

When looking for a reliable route planner, it’s best to have a look at all the features included. A cheap or free route planner could seem like a cost-effective option, however, you could be missing features like real-time tracking and delivery updates that are essential for keeping up communication between you, your team, and customers. 

Below is a list of features that a route planner should have so that your business can get the most out of its service. 

How Route Optimisation Saves You Time And Money
How Route Optimisation Saves You Time And Money

Route Optimization

Route optimization is the process of generating the most efficient routes for drivers. Mos route optimization software allows you to plan dozens of stops in just minutes instead of hours.

Optimizing your routes improves ETA accuracy for customers, meaning customers can anticipate the arrival of their delivery instead of being given ridiculously ambiguous time windows.

By optimizing your routes, drivers can spend less time on the road which means more deliveries can be completed, making your team more productive.  

Real-time Tracking 

Real-time tracking is the ability to track your fleet whilst they’re on the road in real-time. This gives you full visibility of your drivers and how productive they are throughout the day.

Knowing where your fleet is at all times helps you keep your customers informed if there are any unexpected delays.

It also minimizes the possibility of company vehicles being used for excessive personal use. 

Customer Updates 

Having a route planner that updates your customers on the status of their delivery is key to providing them with a great experience.

Not being notified of the location of delivery can be frustrating for customers as they want to know how far away their order is.

Not regularly updating them, or not giving them visibility, could lead to missed deliveries and overall dissatisfaction with your service. 

Proof Of Delivery 

Proof of delivery is when a driver provides photo confirmation and an e-signature to confirm that the order has been successfully made.

This benefits both the business and customers as you are made aware of the delivery’s successful completion, and where it would place. It also reduces the possibility of customer disputes if a parcel is missing or damaged as you can account for its condition and location when being delivered.

Most proof of delivery is only on the phone of the driver who delivered it.

A good route optimization solution stores that information on the cloud so head office and customers can access it. If there’s ever a question concerning delivery, anyone can look at the job and see the proof of delivery. 

Locate2u Route optimization
Locate2u Route optimization

The Most Reliable Route Planner

It doesn’t have to be difficult to find a system with all these features and anything else you could possibly need. Locate2u is the perfect solution! 

Locate2u is a delivery management service that offers quality route planning for businesses wanting to improve their efficiency. Locate2u is the route optimization specialist, offering real-time tracking, live updates, GPS tracking, and booking management. 

Click here to learn how Locate2u can help improve your fleet’s performance.

About the author

Marketing Coordinator at Locate2u having completed a Bachelor of Creative Arts, majoring in English Literature and Creative Writing. I have extensive experience in editing and proofreading, as well as creating content for a range of audiences.