With the number of small and midsize logistics companies growing every day, the last-mile delivery has grown too big to ignore. It is essential for each company to keep a check on its shipments, in order to avoid the hassles of delivering goods after a delay. A delivery tracking system can help you manage the last-mile delivery effectively.
The last-mile delivery entails multiple deliveries, which too at times with just one or few packages. As a logistics company, you have to deal with several different affairs simultaneously. But all deliveries may not always be perfect. Therefore, tracking systems enable transparency in the delivery process right from dispatch through the delivery point. Thus, logistics management system can not only manage last-mile delivery but also track the route, time and load details of every delivery, right from the pick up to delivery.
One of the challenges in the last-mile delivery is the irregularity in routes. Sometimes the truckers and carriers make last-minute changes in their routes without informing the shipper. In such cases, it becomes a tedious task to follow the route and incur extra expenses. However, with tracking solutions, the logistics managers can easily trace the new route of each delivery, especially if the location is not very far from the customer's location. Moreover, this can give the shipper's a fair idea about the costs and risks involved in transporting goods over long distances.
Last-mile delivery management software allows you to easily forecast the delivery costs, including fuel expenses and the taxes, among others. The software can also make any manual calculation redundant, thus saving the valuable man hours. In addition, the management system can provide critical information on the routes to avoid the delivery of goods where there is an increased risk of accident, fire or theft. This makes last-mile delivery software more efficient than the traditional methods used earlier.
In real-time tracking, the driver logs in information about each delivery step. Then, the system can automatically generate a map showing the delivery route using latitude and longitude data. Depending on the application of the software, the map can be augmented using street-level mapping data, airport traffic data or building elevations. Thus, this application enables easy monitoring and avoidance of costly route missteps.
Another major advantage of real-time last mile delivery software is its ability to alert the carrier or trucker to potential safety hazards and other anomalies. For example, last-mile management systems can alert the carrier about a sharp turn in the driver's route, so that he can avoid a deviation to the delivery route. The same is true for truck drivers. Whenever a truck driver encounters a road hazard, the last-mile management application can alert the trucker, who can then take necessary actions to avoid accident. For example, when a truck driver senses the movement of a small animal crossing the highway, he can take evasive action, such as pulling over the truck, and avoid any accident.
In fact, the most popular application in real-time tracking uses Google Maps. The program enables the user to create custom routing optimized for last-mile deliveries from any location in the world to the specified destination. Moreover, with e-commerce applications like shopping, browsing and searching, the last-mile delivery provider can provide personalized service, such as custom routing optimization, which enables clients to search for local products in a convenient manner.
Route Optimization
As mentioned above, real-time GPS delivery maps enable clients to search for a pre-determined set of encoding parameters. These parameters can include route planner like speed limit, volume limit, vehicle route type, and even route duration. Once these parameters are entered into the application, they are updated at the push of a button, and the delivery route is immediately optimized. The key benefit of this type of real-time routing is its flexibility and convenience, allowing companies to make last-mile delivery decisions based on current and real-time delivery information.
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