The pandemic likely changed consumer behaviors and expectations forever. For shippers and carriers keeping pace with that change, your final mile logistics capabilities are most important.
Consider the current climate:
- Online shopping continues to rise, straining supply chains.
- Consumers want packages next-day, and they expect visibility to shipment status and real-time delivery updates.
- Parcel and less-than-truckload (LTL) volumes continue to rise, leaving carriers scrambling to dynamically update day-of planning to optimize drivers, vehicles, and resources.
Responding to the seismic shift in e-commerce and our customers’ critical need to get goods from the container to their customers’ door, MercuryGate acquired Cheetah Software Systems. This acquisition extends our platform to deliver intelligent last mile, parcel, and (LTL) capabilities.
Now, users can take advantage of the system’s delivery route planner that predicts arrival times. At the same time, the route plan adapts, live and automatically, to changing conditions such as weather, traffic, customer cancellations, new stop insertions, and driver exceptions.
This means our customers in the retail, food, manufacturing, and healthcare industries can move more orders in a shorter timeframe to more customers at a lower cost. That’s especially important for shipments that are perishable, time-sensitive, or life-critical.
Let’s take a closer look at the First and Final Mile logistics capabilities platform. You’ll see how enhanced fleet management and the delivery route planner help MercuryGate customers adapt, automate and communicate movements in real-time.
First and Final Mile Logistics Capabilities for Private or Dedicated Fleets
- Static route planning.
- On-demand decision support for dynamic stop assignments.
- Fully autonomous routing of pick-ups and deliveries.
A day in the life of a private fleet begins with route planning, creating an initial plan for the day or work cycle. MercuryGate private fleet routing meets and exceeds all the routing requirements, such as:
- Tight customer appointment windows.
- Vehicle freight capacities.
- Driver skill sets.
- Workday lengths.
Executing and Adjusting Final Mile Delivery Routes in Real-Time
MercuryGate’s dynamic optimizer responds to changes as they occur. It reports on what has happened and predicts what will happen in the future. Through “always-on” optimization, the tool provides updated estimated times of arrival (ETAs) on remaining stops and adjusts routes to meet customer expectations. ETAs are constantly updated from our driver mobile app, and potential problems with promised service-level agreements (SLAs) are identified and averted.
The MercuryGate Autonomous Router, or Autorouter, executes dispatch decisions without manual intervention by the dispatcher or transportation planners. This activity is recorded and available for the dispatcher to track decisions.
Service Desk and Mobile Apps Accelerate, Track, Communicate Final Mile Delivery
MercuryGate’s easy-to-use mobile app for drivers allows for quick onboarding and daily execution of dispatch activities. Available as an iOS or Android download, this mobility feature provides real-time tracking of drivers. ETAs are constantly updated utilizing GPS data. Historical and actual time-of-day traffic inputs provide the most accurate ETA calculations.
The driver mobile app can be easily configured to individual customer needs. It includes custom workflows, image capture, sign-on glass, electronic proof of delivery capture, barcode, and near-field communication (NFC) scanning capabilities.
In the customer-facing version of our app, our customers’ customers gain the unique ability to track their shipments in transit. Filter options and real-time driver positions can be displayed to give your end customers an Uber-like tracking experience on their shipments.
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Test the Fit of our First and Final Mile Logistics Capabilities
First and Final Mile logistics capabilities are game-changers for MercuryGate’s customers – and your customers. It significantly elevates transportation network visibility and our capabilities in private fleet vehicle routing and scheduling.
Of course, not every solution is a fit for every company. That’s why we created a Final Mile self-assessment questionnaire to help you determine if our Final Mile solution can deliver maximum benefits to your organization. Answer 10 questions for a quick assessment to determine if MercuryGate can improve your efficiency, customer satisfaction, and bottom-line performance.
