Delivery companies and couriers are today enjoying a moment of rapid evolution and growing opportunities, partly thanks to the development of internet shopping. On-line purchases have accustomed us to free deliveries; and companies whose deliveries are carried out the same day tend to get more business. But at the same time, the challenges for those who provide this level of service are increasing.
Looking into a fleet’s performance—particularly delivery schedules and estimated times—can be crucial for a delivery company in today’s environment. It is a challenge both for those companies who are rather new to the sector and need to build customer relationships but also for those who are long established yet need to revaluate the current situation.
What, then, do delivery companies need to address in order to be competitive? What are the challenges they need to overcome to have success, and how could telematics help in this?
1. Delivery companies need to comprehensively check their performance. How long do deliveries take? Are drivers using the best delivery routes? Can companies provide an accurate estimated time of arrival?
With telematics, delivery companies can keep an eye on their vehicles in order to understand why there are delays or issues and, therefore, prevent them from escalating further. Providing the best service for customers has to be the priority.
2. Delivery companies need to provide quick, efficient work while being conscious of other costs. On the one hand, customer service is important, but companies need to operate within tight budgets and margins—the need for savings is always a priority.
Again, telematics can help save time in the maintenance process, with administration and the management of fuel consumption.
3. Delivery companies need to operate with different systems: Telematics APIs (Application Programming Interfaces) allow you to handle different types of data all in the same place.
We have been working with different software integrations for different type of companies; you can check out the API section if you want to know more.
Ease of use, full visibility of vehicles, fuel saving, driving style monitoring and consistent improvements in efficiency and customer service were all experienced by Prompto Despatch Limited (a delivery company based in Ireland) after implementing SynX. You can read more in the Case Study we have prepared which documents the experiences of this particular company.
