The best route optimization software streamlines your fleet’s operations by identifying the most cost-effective routes for your fleet. This offers your fleet various benefits that help throughout the day to ensure that your business runs smoothly. Without route optimization software, your fleet might find itself lagging behind its competitors, and no business wants that. Most fleets use route optimization software in some capacity, but not all companies get the software’s full benefits. This article will discuss how you can use route optimization software to its full potential to streamline your business’s operations.
How Does Route Optimization Software Work?
Route optimization software uses algorithms, machine learning, and satellite data to create the most efficient route to your driver’s destination, including any necessary stops along the way. Efficient in this case means taking the least amount of time and using the least amount of fuel. The best route optimization software updates in real-time whenever a new order comes in or a job is canceled. It also updates whenever traffic patterns change throughout the day. It also uses historical data to eliminate delays such as rush hour traffic or school zone delays that it detects happening regularly. Both of these features ensure that your drivers don’t waste their time sitting in traffic jams instead of helping your customers or making deliveries.
Furthermore, you must ensure that your route optimization software connects with your fleet management software. Otherwise, when jobs come in or change, you’ll have to update that manually, which is a waste of time. Furthermore, you won’t be able to communicate routes with your drivers easily, and you’ll have to give them phone calls, which puts them at risk unnecessarily.
There is a lot that you can do with route optimization software that benefits your fleet immensely. Some of the things you can do with route optimization software include:
- Add multiple stops: The most critical feature of route optimization software is being able to add multiple stops on your route and ensure that you are integrating each of these stops effectively into your route.
- Adjust routes as needed: Your route planning system would be outdated if you couldn’t adjust routes throughout the day. The ability to adjust routes as needed ensures that your drivers aren’t wasting time on jobs that have changed or missing added jobs.
- Hands-free navigation: Navigation can be the most challenging part of being a driver in unfamiliar territory. Luckily, route optimization’s navigation feature makes it much easier to get where they need to be.
- Integrate customer information: One reason that the software must integrate with fleet management software is that it can consider customer information, such as preferences around when they like to be visited. Furthermore, it automatically contacts the customer when the driver is near, meaning the driver doesn’t have to risk making a phone call when driving.
How Route Optimization Improves Operations
Route optimization software does a lot to improve operations across the board for fleets, including everything from driver safety to customer service. There are various features and benefits to consider when taking full advantage of your route optimization software that we will go over here.
Complete More Jobs
There are a few ways that route optimization software can help your fleet complete more jobs. First, when you’re completing jobs faster, naturally, you have more time freed up to complete more jobs. This allows you to potentially expand your business, taking on more customers and expanding to new areas. If you’re looking for your business to grow, implementing route optimization software or harnessing your existing software to maximize the use of your fleet vehicles is an excellent step to take.
Secondly, you can optimize the number of vehicles that you have. This means that if you have too many vehicles doing a small number of jobs in one area, you can get better use out of your vehicles by using route optimization software. It’s beneficial for maximizing the efficiency of your fleet and ensuring that you can complete as many jobs as possible and grow your business.
Save Money
A top priority for any business is saving money, and route optimization software can help your fleet business do exactly that. You’d be surprised at the number of ways that this software can help your fleet save on expenses all across the board. Firstly, one of the top uses of route optimization software is to help you save on fuel expenses. Getting your drivers to their destinations faster and more efficiently allows you to save a significant amount of fuel. This is the most important savings opportunity for your fleet, as fuel expenses are one of the most significant burdens on any fleet business, sometimes accounting for up to 60% of a fleet’s budget.
You may be surprised to learn that route optimization software can also save you money on your fleet’s maintenance expenses. By spending less time idling or driving around lost, or even speeding trying to make up for lost time, your vehicles undergo less wear and tear. With maintenance costs on the rise, anything that can help your business cut costs is a huge bonus.
Finally, you can even save money on insurance costs with route optimization software. Because it is safer to have route optimization software guiding your drivers and communicating with them rather than cell phones on the road, many insurance providers will offer a discount for fleets that implement route optimization software. Reach out to your insurance provider and see if this is an option in your case.
Improve Customer Experience
All businesses are always looking for ways to improve their customer experience. That’s the only way to get repeat business and a positive reputation in the community, after all. Your business can enhance its customer reputation with route optimization software by always arriving on time and communicating.
With route optimization software, your drivers won’t spend time sitting in traffic or looking for their destination. They’ll arrive at each destination at their scheduled time, and their customers will be ready for them because the system will tell them that the driver is about to arrive. The whole process will run much more smoothly because route optimization software has greased the wheels.
Get the Best Route Optimization Software Today!
If you’re looking for the best in route optimization software, look no further than Azuga. We offer a comprehensive fleet management solution that covers everything from fleet safety to finances to, of course, route optimization. You’ll be impressed with everything that Azuga can do for you. Experience it for yourself by trying out our free demo online!
