Are you still manually planning your routes every day? It makes up a significant portion of your daily payroll costs, doesn’t it?
Research has shown that there’s a better way. Using automated software to optimise your routes can lower your operating costs. Route optimisation replaces hours of manual calculations with smart algorithms, reducing your planning time from hours to minutes.
In this article we’re going to take a closer look at how you can use route optimisation to save hours every week. We’ll quickly cover what route optimisation is, and then show you exactly what you can do with it (and how you make those savings).
What is route optimisation software?
Route optimisation finds the most efficient routes for your drivers over their entire work day.
It considers many factors:
- a driver’s workflow
- the freight they have onboard
- the order of their stops
- the travel time between stops
- the time taken to complete a pickup or delivery.
Route optimisation software takes all of this into account and generates the best possible route for your drivers. When you use the software, route optimisation becomes an automated process that saves you time, fuel and money.
For example, a large retailer in the US was using part-time route planners to dispatch trucks from 80 different stores. They were paying the wages for 80 part-time staff members every day to plan routes. After the company automated and centralised planning, they only needed two people to plan routes for all 80 locations. (Happily, the company was able to redeploy all of their part-time local planners to more strategic, revenue-generating tasks.)
Here’s what you can do
Let’s take a look now at what you can do with route optimisation and how it can save you so much on labour costs.
Stop using inefficient navigation tools
Before moving onto route optimisation software, many companies use free navigation tools like Google Maps to plan their routes. But Google Maps has its limits. The main ones are:
- you need to type in all addresses manually
- you’re limited to 10 stops per route
- there’s no optimisation, only navigation.
General navigation software like this is useful for single trips or even just to understand possible delivery routes. It’ll get you from A to B based on distance alone (or maybe traffic conditions too).
Route optimisation software simultaneously considers many other factors unique to your industry. (The heavy vehicle and transport industry, for example, is governed by road restrictions.)
It takes into account:
- traffic
- vehicle profile
- the order of the trips
- a driver’s work schedule
- the time that the driver needs to complete jobs by.
You’ll know that an efficient route might not be the shortest route. You might need to divert drivers to other jobs so they don’t cross busy roads during peak hour traffic, or avoid bridges that can’t carry their weight.
So you can see, route optimisation software won’t just get your drivers from A to B, but then to C, D and beyond in the most efficient (and profitable) way possible.
Reduce planning time
Like the large US retailer we talked about earlier, you can significantly reduce your labour costs when you reduce your planning time. With TransVirtual, it couldn’t be easier. Scan deliveries into the app, press one button and we’ll calculate the shortest route for you. Something that can take hours every day becomes just minutes.
Stop manually importing addresses
Instead of manually typing addresses into free software like Google Maps, you can scan deliveries into the app or import them as an Excel file from your desktop. From there, we’ll generate fully optimised routes for you with just one click.
Integrate routes into your driver’s workflow
Integrating everything into one workflow will save you a lot of time (and labour costs) over the day. There’s no need for data to be entered into 3rd party websites or apps. Instead of swapping between endless devices and functions, your drivers can see at a glance what they have on board, where it needs to go and the fastest way to get there. Add that up over the week for every driver…
Be more efficient during the route (not just when planning)
Because route optimisation takes so many different factors into account, you’ll lower the other costs associated with your runs too. Reduce your overall cost per delivery when you minimise the distance travelled, the stop duration and fuel usage. You’ll shave your costs, including overtime. Add this to TransVirtual’s many other cost-saving and risk-reducing benefits, and it all adds up to dollars in your pocket.
Re-optimise on the road
When something changes during the day—as it inevitably does in this game—you can re-optimise quickly and easily. Imagine your customer calls about a missing package. Because your transport management system gives you complete visibility, your team can see at a glance exactly where that package was last seen.
After quickly rerouting your closest driver and re-optimising their route (knowing for sure that they have room onboard), it’s sorted quickly and simply. Your driver has all the new info they need in their mobile app, and your team goes back to work.
Recap
It’s clear by now that planning routes is a complex task. It requires a deep understanding of changing traffic and weather conditions, road networks, customers, and of course your fleet.
Route optimisation software gives you back what can be hours of planning, by automating the process as soon as you allocate your drivers for the day. It also shaves time off every trip. Those labour costs are adding up without it, aren’t they?
It also works in real time if there are any sudden changes that are out of your control. The software will let you optimise while your drivers are already on the road.
At its core, route optimisation software is developed to:
- calculate the most effective journey for all stops
- get to each location quickly and efficiently
- generate turn-by-turn navigation for your drivers.
It’s the combination of all of these functions that will significantly reduce your labour costs (and your overall cost per delivery).
Want to learn more?
Using route optimisation software is a powerful way to lower your operating costs.
