Avoiding Delivery Disasters

Thinking and Planning Ahead to Avoid Delivery Disasters

So, you are a delivery driver who has been up since the crack of dawn, you have been and collected your deliveries for the day and head toward your first destination. You have your radio tuned into Heart or Capital, but you fail to hear the traffic report that warns of severe congestion on the M25—Junctions five to six, Godstone to Sevenoaks—there’s a surprise. Too late, you’ve already climbed the on-ramp, and there’s no turning back now.

On the one hand that might have been the only route you could have taken to get from your point A to point B, but effectively there were probably about another five ways you could have got there. You probably chose the M25, despite your knowledge of it being the world’s biggest car park at seven in the morning, because you hoped it would be quicker…oops.

Getting around the Problem

There are quite a few ways you can get around the issue of choosing the right course for your delivery journey. One is to leave before the traffic gets going but on the M25 it could be a long wait. Another is to check the traffic reports long before you head on to the motorway so that you can choose an alternate route to avoid this kind of trouble.

Another is to have your company install a combined delivery route planning / in-cab mobile software solution that (a) not only plans the optimised route in advance but (b) can suggest modifications based on real time traffic alerts. Modern route planning software develops efficient routes that plan for fuel economy, reduced running costs and less wear and tear on the vehicle and also can take into account ‘real world’ driving issues.

Planning ahead for safety

In cold and icy weather – very topical this week – planning ahead is also a safety precaution. You never know what the state of the roads will be, and if you have to navigate around ice, snow and black ice, you could find yourself in all sorts of trouble. Delivery route planning gives you a look ahead so that you can see what’s coming – a number of clients have “winter routes” so drivers stick to the gritted primary road network avoiding smaller roads wherever possible. The delivery route planning software that is available has plenty of helpful features that can assist your drivers and your company in many ways and can prove highly cost effective. Looking into that would benefit you more than you could imagine.