Efficiency is paramount for a courier company, and in order to maximise potential profits, successful first-time deliveries need to be happening regularly. Read on to find out how you can achieve this and ultimately make your company smarter and stronger.
What Am I Doing Wrong?
Hopefully you aren’t doing anything wrong yet! The question is, how can you make what you are doing better and more efficient? The first step is learning to accept and trust the new technologies that are becoming increasingly popular for delivery work. Companies are constantly looking for the latest device that will allow drivers to plan routes quickly, avoid hazards on the roads and optimise potential shortcuts and opportunities.
Telematics
There are numerous telematics providers that can help your company achieve these all-important first-time deliveries and, in addition, make the most of your vehicle when it’s empty. Delivery software such as Fleetmatics, Causeway and Masternaut (to name a few) can all provide solutions for your business in terms of maximising profits. This could include tracking software, which involves locating vans with empty loads and allowing exchange members to take more deliveries on their return journeys. Assigning more delivery work to a single driver will not only be better for the environment, but will most certainly be better for your company’s bottom line.
Some software allows data insight into your vehicles (speed, fuel usage, mileage etc). This makes large fleets simpler to manage and more cost-effective. Others such as Microlise can help further reduce the environmental impacts of your vehicles, as well as improve your driver safety and performance.
Mapping Data
Planning and customizing routes can make delivery work far easier and more resourceful. Technology like a planning application can map several routes at once to a location, choosing the most appropriate for your journey based on traffic data. A driver can then visualise the route and compare it with those they have previously driven. Using this software, a driver can also re-order the stops to suit any unexpected changes along the way.
Once a route is accepted on the computer or mobile app, it can automatically notify the customer of a one-hour ETA time slot. This has been largely successful among its users, with 98% of deliveries being received first time. Again, this programming can be customised by the driver.
Informing the customer in this way can make your company appear extremely reliable and efficient – if you are on time, of course. The customer can also begin to trust the couriers, as they are able to interact with them through the technology – choosing a time slot for the delivery of their package and adding extra information for the driver where necessary.
Norman Dulwich is a correspondent for Courier Exchange, the world's largest neutral trading hub for same day delivery work in the express freight exchange industry. Over 5,400 member companies are networked together through the Exchange to fill empty capacity, get new clients and form long-lasting business relationships.
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