Efficiency is crucial for every supply chain process. Logistics and transportation for challenging delivery routes are no exception.
Booming e-commerce and home delivery industries increased consumer expectations for speed and visibility. Large online retailers assertively managed to establish expectations for delivery in hours, not days.
These expectations subsequently landed on small retailers and transportation providers, and they highlight the need for improved optimization in the world’s most challenging delivery routes – LTL and last mile delivery.
Route optimization creates an opportunity for shipping companies to increase customer satisfaction and minimize logistics and transportation costs. Still, it requires a deep understanding of the modern customer experience, an open mind to new technology, and a strong commitment to the optimization process.
To keep up with today’s customers, shippers and transportation providers must prioritize the optimization of supply chain processes, including less-than-truckload and last mile route design.
Understanding Route Optimization
Delivery routes optimization refers to the shipping and logistical process of optimizing delivery services and methods to meet customer expectations, improve efficiency metrics, and minimize transportation costs.
Nearly all shipping and transportation companies benefit from optimized routing, but last mile delivery and LTL providers need it to maintain a competitive advantage in today’s consumer-driven market. Delivery routes optimization provides specific benefits of improved delivery visibility, greater driver productivity, streamlined operations for routing and dispatch teams, and cost-savings through improved resource allocation.
Transportation management systems (TMS) have long provided solutions to eliminate manual labor processes within the supply chain and logistics teams through digitization and automation.
As delivery routes design has become increasingly complex with growing consumer demand for speed and accuracy, TMS optimization engines aim to simplify routing processes and minimize the need for manual routing and dispatch functions. TMS engines are designed to quickly analyze historical data and current market trends to create efficient driver routes, with the flexibility to adjust to environmental changes and unexpected disruptions in real time.
Minimizing Manual Work for Delivery Routes Design
- Account for routing constraints and parameters to ensure the highest number of deliveries with the least number of drivers and miles.
- Support dynamic, real-time routing that can auto-correct when delivery factors – like added stops, traffic, or weather events – threaten route efficiency.
- Evaluate scenarios before a potential routing environment change (i.e., relocating distribution centers or running fewer drivers) to aid in strategic decision-making.
Calculate your potential Saving While Using an enterprise TMS
Route Design Made Easy with TMS Optimization
The days of manually routing LTL and last mile deliveries are undoubtedly ending. Technological advances in machine learning and artificial intelligence enable delivery route planning and optimization in a matter of minutes, far more effectively and efficiently than their human counterparts.
Improvements in LTL and last mile routing results in improved customer satisfaction, increased cost savings, and overall supply chain efficiencies for shippers and transportation providers. Learn more with our eBook, MercuryGate TMS: Route Design Made Easy.
