Best Route Planning Software in 2024

What Is Route Planning Software?

Route planning software is used to manage and optimize delivery routes for different geographical locations and multiple transportation types. It helps businesses to manage vehicle routes and schedule time efficiently. The system is useful for transportation and goods dispatchers, fleet supervisors, and courier drivers.

It has multiple features such as route optimizing, tracking, fuel monitoring, automated messages to avoid late deliveries and planning fuel-efficient routes. It reduces operational costs, improves customer experience, boosts revenue and shortens delivery time.

Why Use Route Planning Software?

The system can help businesses in multiple ways such as-

1. Prompt goods delivery
2. Less wastage of resources
3. Gathers real time field data
4. Low fuel and labor costs
5. Multi stop route planning
6. Automated route planning
7. Develop better distribution strategies
8. Compare planned with actual routes
9. Decide vehicle numbers for fleet delivery

Who Uses Route Planning System

The vehicle route planning solution is useful for multiple businesses serving different industries. Here is a list of industries that use route planning solutions.

1. E-Commerce and Food Delivery: Delivery route planning software enables users to decrease the fuel cost, calculate estimated time for arrival (ETA), measure worker's performance, get order delivery proof, parcel info, etc.
2. Home Services: Businesses rendering home services can benefit from the use of GPS route planning software. It can help professionals reach the destination on time, while customers can track routes and shipment.
3. Healthcare: This software ensures prompt delivery of medical supplies, data collection and documentation, routes archive, stop details, etc.
4. Fleet Managers: Fleet route planning software assists fleet managers in the timely delivery of their goods and services. Fleet route planning software enables managers to plan the routes of their fleet in advance, adding multiple stoppages while fleet in transit and tracking driver’s movement in real time.
5. Marketing: Sales route planning software enables sales managers to find the best route for client meetings. Thereby reducing travel time and improving work efficiency.
6. Garbage and Wastage Collection: The use of multi drop route planning software can help waste collection authorities in multiple ways. The users can add multiple stops for garbage collection, get real time updates, manage workloads, and maximize wastage collection per driver.

Key Route Planning Solution Features

Each route planning software has several distinct features. However, there are some key features of the best route planning software as enumerated below-

1. Route Planning and Optimizing: Route planning and optimization is one of the core functions performed by the service route planning software. After analyzing road conditions, estimated time of arrival, stoppage number, etc., the system enables users to find the best route for prompt goods delivery.
2. GPS Tracking: The tracking feature enables users to track the movement of delivery agents in real time with the help of GPS. It can also help in assisting employees by providing them with the best routes to deliver the goods.
3. Fuel Monitoring: Users can easily monitor the fuel usage by every delivery agent throughout the travel time with the system. It helps fleet managers to notify the employees about the fuel used by their vehicles.
4. Alerts: The software sends notifications and alerts regarding route changes and traffic to drivers in real time. When there is a change in routes, the system sends automated messages and alerts to drivers on their mobile, notifying them about the same.
5. Multiple Stop Routes: This enables businesses to add multiple stops within a single route for multiple delivery orders. Drivers need not maintain route details manually as everything would be notified to them by software on their phones.
6. Automated Messaging: The route planning system has an automated messaging feature to send updates to customers regarding their shipment. The status update helps customers to get the estimated time for their shipment delivery and notification for late delivery.
7. Analytics: The software stores all the data related to the worker's performance, goods delivered, fuel usage, etc. This helps users to create reports to find improvement areas in their on ground operations and measuring the employee's performance individually.
8. Geocoding: Geocoding is one of the most essential features of drone route planning software or routing system. It helps businesses to convert bulk addresses into precise geographical locations to deliver goods to precise addresses.

Benefits of Route Planning Software

The route planning or optimization system is beneficial for several businesses in many ways. Some benefits of this system for users include-

1. Prompt Delivery: Vehicle route optimization software enables businesses to deliver their shipment promptly. The software enables users to optimize the best route for drivers and avoid crowded routes. Therefore, reducing the number of miles driven, driving time, and promoting prompt goods delivery.
2. Low Fuel Costs: With the help of the route planning system, the agents can deliver the goods in less time by avoiding busy routes, resulting in fewer miles driven. Therefore, reducing the fuel usage per day. Fewer miles driven help businesses to reduce the fuel cost and complete the tasks on time.
3. Goods Delivery Proof: The route planning solution automatically generates the goods delivery proof and sends the same to the owner. It helps in tracking every shipment delivered and addressing the false claims made by the customers.
4. Enhance Customer Satisfaction: Software sends shipment tracking links to customers via SMS or emails. This enables customers to track the shipment till the time it reaches their doorstep. Therefore, getting notified at every step of the delivery process helps in improving customer satisfaction and overall work efficiency.
5. Real Time Updates Regarding Activities: The GPS route planning software enables users to get real time updates on all the activities via SMS and notifications. These updates enable users to track worker’s location, locating busy routes, and shipment delivery updates. It enables businesses to keep track of all the operational activities within a single database.

Considerations When Buying Route Planning Software

There are a few considerations users need to consider buying the right service route planning software for them including:

1. The time taken by the software to manage and optimize the routes for workers.
2. It should be able to import and export all the data.
3. The users should be able to add at least 10 stops within a single route.
4. The route planning tool should be affordable
5. The tool should be accessible from any device such desktops, laptops, and mobile phones, etc.
6. It should have a geocoding feature for precise geographical coordinates

Route Planning Software Market Trends

There are currently two most popular trends regarding route planning solutions such as-

1. Vehicle Telematics: The vehicle telematics technology will be integrated with route planning system in the future. The system would combine the GPS system with vehicle telematics devices. It will help businesses track and record the vehicle’s data such as its speed, location, servicing requirements, etc. This real-time data will help businesses to enhance the overall driver’s safety and improve the vehicle’s functioning.
2. Data for Route Optimization: Route planning systems will gather real time data through numerous resources such as traffic data, weather data from forecast systems, vehicle diagnostic data, location data, etc. This data can be used to analyze road infrastructure, finding the right route, and the right vehicle for the task by businesses.