How to Seamlessly Implement the Best Fleet Routing Software

It’s easy to fall into the trap of assuming that technological solutions will act as cure-alls—e.g. that rolling out fleet routing software will instantly ensure that every drop-off is using the most optimal routes. Sure, a route planning tool might be highly valuable and work wonders for fleet operators—but success can’t always be taken for granted.

One of the biggest pitfalls when it comes to choosing the right software? Making sure you’re adopting a solution that will actually support your drivers. The right solution enables companies to use their drivers' experience and knowledge to make the most out of the technology—while solutions that give less careful consideration to driver needs might fail to yield the expected ROI. 

In this article, we’ll go over some of the best practices for successfully implementing new delivery route planner solutions in a way that works for drivers and other stakeholders alike.  

How to Find the Best Fleet Routing Software

The best fleet routing software is in the eye of the beholder—different organizations need different things out of their software stacks, and there’s no one-size-fits-all answer to the problem of route planning. 

That said, there are a few things that the best fleet routing software options have in common:

• AI and machine learning: We’re not talking about the trendy chatbots that have been making headlines the past few years (though they also have a place in logistics) but tried and true techniques for turning route and delivery data into improved predictions and performance. 
• SaaS-powered speed: The problem with most legacy fleet routing solutions is that they’re too slow to be useful in many situations. When you have to get the next day’s orders onto trucks and they don’t fit nicely with your existing routes, you just have to figure it out by hand—eroding efficiency in the process. When you have scalable, SaaS-powered software, you can generate and adjust routes in minutes, which can decrease your delivery lead times. 
• Calendar-based routing: If your team currently uses calendars for routing and scheduling, finding a software solution that lets you plan fleet routes from a calendar screen can go a long way towards speeding up your time to value and helping to keep existing domain knowledge in place. 
• Configurable service times: Half the battle with fleet routing and finding an efficient sequence and distribution of stops. The other half? Getting your ETAs right. This requires not just the ability to factor in traffic patterns and drive, but to factor in service times at each stop. These might be different, which can increase complexity, but the right fleet route planning software will be able to handle it with ease. 

With the right solution in place, you can easily implement fleet route best practices for improved cost-efficiency and more seamless fleet management across the board.

Fleet Routing Software Implementation Best Practices

Choose a Connected Solution

The first hurdle to effective implementation is choosing the right solution to implement. You need something that plays nicely with the rest of your technology stack, provides you the capabilities you need, and is easy to use and implement. 

Looking out for the features and capabilities that we listed above is crucial, but it's equally crucial to look for a track record of successful implementations and integrations. If a software providers can show you a clear project plan for how they'll get you up and running on the solution and support you going forward, that's a huge green flag. 

Gain Drivers' Trust

From there, a lot . With proper tracking, you can even compare the original route plans against the actual routes drivers have taken. Depending on how much these two differ, fleet managers can discuss with drivers if it is necessary to change route plans or if the driver needs to follow route instructions more carefully.

But even the sleekest combination of tracking and fleet routing software won't be of much help if the drivers aren’t going to use the solution properly. To drivers, the ELDs and telematics systems can feel like surveillance tools—which is why businesses have to show drivers the benefits of this technology to ensure buy-in.

Sadly, many fleet managers don't realize the value of gathering drivers’ feedback and often fear getting complaints when they ask drivers for their input. This creates an "us versus them" mentality among drivers and dispatchers which can be disruptive to successful operations.  

To ensure successful deployment of your route optimization software, it's helpful to create a culture where drivers are made to feel that their opinions matter to the management. This can start with including driver input in the selection process, and it can open pathways to communicating with drivers that telematics solutions, route optimization systems, etc. can make their lives easier and help them do their jobs more effectively.

Here, it can really help to make sure that your fleet routing solution comes with an intuitive driver mobile app that will immediately provide benefits for drivers without being complex or unwieldy to use. 

Emphasize That Drivers are Part of the Solution

To gain seamless adoption of any new solution, it's crucial emphasize to drivers that they also play a crucial role in achieving business goals by embracing and properly using fleet routing software. 

The best way for companies to ensure that drivers use the technology well is, simply, to incentivize it. Incentives can be in the form of money, like giving top-performing drivers a bonuses or or awards. To make this possible, you'll need to start keeping driver performance scorecards that rank drivers based on who is over and underperforming. The scorecards can use key performance indicators (KPIs) such as on-time delivery performance metrics or safety indicators like harsh brain or speeding. The scoreboard can be placed in a visible location and each driver has his or her scorecard. 

Keeping track of metrics including drivers' KPIs and sharing them is crucial in transportation management. Regardless of whether the company decides to make the scoreboard accessible to all or not, drivers should know how they are performing based on the KPIs decided by the management. Of course, this functionality is only possible with solutions that are easy to use, easy to integrate, and built to create a constant flow of data between drivers and dispatchers. 

Listen to Driver and Dispatcher Input

Constantly asking drivers, dispatchers, route managers, and other members of the team for feedback is important. Some companies make the mistake of asking for feedback in the first few weeks of implementing a new optimized route planning solution and then stop when the teams seem to have adapted well to the new technology. 

As an example, a customer might officially have delivery hours that start after 9:00 am, but the driver or sales rep, based on experience, knows that the business’ distributors often arrive at 7:00 am. Communicating this knowledge allows the route planning team to either alter route plans or include additional stops closer to the shippers' store to reduce miles driven by the driver. If you’re not providing a path for open, two-way communication on the day of delivery, you stand to lose out on this knowledge. The result? Preventable disruptions and delays.

Simply put, fleets will have better results when they’re able to gather feedback and incorporate that feedback into plans. Asking drivers for their input makes them feel valued, which also helps reduce driver attrition, while other teams may find that providing input helps the entire last mile flow more smoothly. 

In fact, this goes beyond the last mile. Across your entire operation, the left hand needs to know what the right is doing, which is why prioritizing visibility and integration in both the choice of solution and the implementation plan is key.  

Ensure Fleet Route Compliance and Track Performance

Despite companies' efforts to make drivers feel more involved in the rollout of the fleet routing solution, some drivers may decide to rely on their "real-world knowledge" rather than follow the route plans generated by the delivery route planner app. As you can imagine, this sometimes causes issues. 

For this type of hurdle, it’s important to prioritize visibility. If you can’t compare planned and actual routes, you can’t even identify these situations. Once you’ve identified areas where drivers might not be following the planned routes, conducting a driver performance debriefing session is important. The session should not be confrontational—instead, it should be conversational and collaborative. The goal is for managers to know why the driver deviates from the planned routes. Debriefing sessions help identify the source of the drivers' non-compliance and also gather useful information that can be incorporated during the planning stage next time.

In the end, having open communication with drivers is crucial to getting the most out of the route planning solutions.That's why it’s so important to have the right technology. Make sure you’re seeking out an application that really makes life easy for drivers. This might mean an incredibly easy-to-use mobile app, the ability to collect proof of delivery easily (including pictures and video that prove that they did their jobs correctly), and turn-by-turn instructions that are actually efficient.