Automatic Dispatch Software: 5 Must-Have Capabilities

Not all automatic dispatch software is created equal. Some platforms have roots in food delivery, others in “lightweight” apps that can’t be scaled, others in legacy long-haul over-the-road solutions designed to run as cumbersome on-premises installations. For last-mile delivery organizations, matching critical needs to the right software is essential to realizing the expected benefits: optimizing operations, reducing costs and improving customer satisfaction.

But what are those must-have capabilities for dispatch software? The range of features available and marketing hype can make it difficult to zero in on the most important functionality, but here are five that you truly can’t—and shouldn’t—do without.

Seamless Order Import

Dispatch software should start where the delivery starts, with the order. Having an API that directly imports orders from an ERP like NetSuite shortens and improves order input. Many delivery organizations still export orders in a CSV file and then import them into their dispatching software. This does cut down on manual input errors, but direct import makes the process quicker and eliminates a potential source of errors.

The API should also perform two-way asynchronous updating, so that the order system, dispatch and backend finance systems all have the same, most recent, information about each order. The orders are reported ready-for-delivery, scheduled, and delivered, with the dispatch software updating other layers in the tech stack as each step is performed.

Load Management and Optimization

Load management extends far beyond simple cargo assignment. Automatic dispatch software should be able to match each delivery with the right service unit, while also considering truck specifications, driver qualifications, and potential profitability.

The most comprehensive load management systems incorporate multiple layers of intelligence, including real-time tracking, compliance monitoring, and profit optimization. These systems can leverage telematics data, GPS technology, and advanced analytics to provide real-time monitoring of cargo status, track temperature-sensitive shipments, and instantly analyze profitability.

By integrating predictive planning, risk management, and seamless communication, modern dispatch solutions help delivery organizations transform a complex manual process into a streamlined, data-driven system.

Weight limits and HOS can be integrated so that regulatory requirements are respected without degrading the efficiency of the routes. The result is more effective utilization of service units and crews, helping boost customer satisfaction while lowering costs.

Automated Route Optimization

Routing is at the heart of dispatching operations, and at the heart of the best routing solutions are AI and machine learning. Some dispatching software packages have added AI-enabled features to their base functionality, but to get the most benefit from these advanced technologies, they should be embedded in the core of the software, central to everything it does. The software should gather a host of data from each delivery and use that to learn your operation, your fleet, your customers and conditions in your delivery area.

These sophisticated systems consider multiple factors including current traffic conditions, road construction, vehicle-specific constraints, and preferred delivery time windows for each customer. The software can then dynamically generate routes that optimize not just distance, but overall operational efficiency, fuel consumption, and delivery reliability.

The software should offer dispatchers the option of which parameters they optimize for. Different loads, conditions and customers may dictate optimizing for fewest miles driven, for lower delivery cost, for a target cost-per-route, total weight per route, total time per route or another KPI. Giving dispatchers this choice allows them to tailor each daily execution to maximize both profit and customer satisfaction.

Using AI/ML to optimize routing allows some truck dispatch software to output delivery ETAs that are up to 98% accurate. When customers can rely on their stated delivery times they report higher satisfaction. Dispatchers gain unprecedented visibility into their fleet's real-time performance, enabling instant communication, rapid problem-solving, and proactive management. Drivers benefit from highly optimized routing that reduces stress, improves safety, and helps them navigate the unpredictable challenges they face in the field.

Optimized routing has been shown to cut fuel consumption by 10% or more, reducing both wear and tear on the fleet and carbon emissions, transforming route planning from a static, pre-planned process into a dynamic, responsive system that continuously adapts to conditions in the field.

Robust Mobile App

Drivers are the ones performing deliveries and are the point of contact with the customers; they need all of the information about their route, deliveries and customers at their fingertips. The best automatic dispatch software comes with a robust mobile app that can auto-download routes, manifests and customer details, support direct communication with dispatchers and customers, gather and report data to the system and instantly provide detailed proof of delivery to dispatchers and the customer.

Drivers should be able to trigger route-start and one-stop-away messages to customers in the channel they prefer, whether text, email or phone. Scanning products onto and off of the service unit reduces input errors and speeds loading and deliveries.

A simple signature is not sufficient for proof of delivery. The mobile app should allow drivers to make notes—about deliveries that are over or short—and take photos of the goods delivered and the premises to verify the delivery and help prevent loss or damage claims.

Real Time Tracking for Customers and Dispatchers

The dispatch software you choose should provide live ETA updates and real-time tracking for customers and dispatchers. These help set customer expectations and boost satisfaction.

Real time tracking and constant updates from drivers’ mobile apps gives dispatchers unprecedented minute-by-minute visibility into operations. When combined and reported through an easy-to-use dashboard, problems can be flagged by the software, dispatchers alerted before they occur and corrective actions taken immediately.

Key Takeaways: What Will the Best Automatic Dispatch Software Provide?

Perhaps the most important thing to know when evaluating trucking dispatch software is that AI should not be an add-on or a marketing catchphrase, it needs to be deeply integrated into the core of the software, gathering data from every delivery into a central database where it can be analyzed and used to make better predictions. In this way, the software learns over time, becoming more proficient—and offering additional productivity boosts—as it becomes more experienced. To do this, it must:

• Have the ability to gather and aggregate an enormous amount of data from each delivery
• Use advanced AI/ML algorithms to continuously improve its predictions
• Have a robust mobile app that can both gather and upload that data and provide two-way communications with dispatchers and customers
• Analyze incoming data in real time and use it provide dispatchers with a constantly updated picture of how the daily execution is unfolding
• Integrate with the rest of the organization’s tech stack, from order in to billed and analyzed

DispatchTrack, the global leader in last-mile delivery software, offers all of these capabilities and many more. Its performance is grounded in a decade and a half of real world experience, managing more than a million deliveries per day. Its customers operate fleets ranging from a few trucks to several thousand trucks and its dedicated cloud-based servers scale seamlessly, so dispatchers never see their screens slow to a crawl. If you’re ready to take the step from merely keeping your operation running to running your operation at a high level of performance and profitability, talk to one of our solution specialists.