For those businesses that have been around for decades – like logistics transport and delivery companies – it can be especially difficult to digitize and update systems in accordance with the new technologies available on the market. With this in mind, this article aims to highlight four of the most important digital tools for delivery companies to employ. The latest technology can directly help their business grow and develop, and compete with the new digital startups that threaten their business in the long term.
Digital Communications
Your company and its staff likely already use digital communications for a number of things. Whether this is to notify drivers of their shift patterns or as a way to send updates and urgent messages to those who are on the road between jobs, this will vary for each company. It’s this communication network that you can enhance through the use of tools that actively aim to produce in your workforce an instant reaction to the pressures of the particular day. By using both email and instant messaging, you’ll be able to get in touch with all of your drivers at once for key announcements, and you’ll be able to direct specific instructions to drivers you need to call in immediately.
Reducing Overheads
The biggest cost for delivery companies is the maintenance and running costs of their vehicles. What with insurance, engineering work, and gas, this can add up to hundreds of thousands of dollars each year, representing by far your most substantial cost in delivering your service to clients and customers across the country. Of course, technology can help you reduce these overheads. You can use online comparison websites to compare insurance quotes for company fleets, and you’ll be able to use accounting tools – some of them free – to work out your fuel costs each month, too.
Managing Drivers
When it comes to the big picture – in which you’re trying to get the most effective and efficient performances from your drivers across the country – you’re going to need a software that’s been produced for companies just like yours. You should use a fleet management software, available for all businesses that run a fleet of vehicles, to help you judge and change your management style based on some key performance indicators, also known as KPIs. With this data centralized and at your fingertips, you’ll be able to make those subtle changes that could save you hundreds of thousands of dollars per year in efficiency savings.
Managing Customers
Whether you’re working directly from your own product-delivering platform or you specialize in deliveries for other clients, the other part of your job success rate is to measure the satisfaction of your customers. If you frequently impress customers with the speed and the accuracy of deliveries, you’ll do your brand, and all those associated with you, a great service. Furthermore, you can then help calculate the most accurate delivery times, which you’ll send to the customer, through a planning app or a centralized data plan that’ll show you how quickly a driver can map their way to the destination to deliver the goods they’re carrying.
Getting goods from A to B will never have been easier after you follow the tech tips outlined above.