If you’re a trucking company owner or dispatcher, the route planning process is probably one of your most time-consuming tasks. It’s also the most critical part of planning for each driver and ensuring that they’ll arrive at their destination safely and on time. With so many factors to consider, it’s tempting to think that there’s no room for improvement, but I’m here to tell you: there is! And it doesn’t take much effort, either. All it takes is a little bit of knowledge about how dispatchers choose their route-planning software.
How to Choose the Right Software
Many factors go into choosing the right software, but here are some of the most important ones:
- What features does it have? Does it have a simple interface, or do you need an IT expert to use it effectively? Is there support for multiple languages and currencies, or must you pay extra for them?
- How much does it cost? How often do you need to upgrade your system in order to keep up with evolving industry standards, new safety regulations, and other factors that could impact your business over time?
There are several ways for truck route planners like yourself to find out which products meet their needs best:
What are your current software needs?
Before you can decide which software to use, it’s important to know your current software needs. The more trucks and drivers you have, the more complicated your route planning process will be. Do you need to plan routes in multiple states? Are there any special regulations or restrictions on trucking routes that must be considered? How much time do you spend planning routes now?
If all of these questions apply to your company’s situation and none of them are answered by existing systems (or if they’re answered poorly), then it may be time for some new software!
Is your current software working for you?
If you’re not satisfied with the results of your current software, it’s time to find a better solution. You can start by asking yourself the following questions:
- How often do I have to add or update routes manually?
- How much time do I spend on creating and editing routes, adjusting their details, and adding new stops?
- Can I easily access all information about my drivers in one place?
How much time do you spend planning routes?
Dispatchers are the first people involved in a trucking company’s operations, so they often have to plan routes for drivers. As a result, dispatchers may use different software tools depending on their roles and responsibilities within the company. For example, a dispatcher who manages only one or two drivers might use an online maps service like Google Maps or Bing Maps to manually plan their routes by hand before printing them out for each driver. On the other hand, if you have many more drivers under your supervision (or even just one or two), it might be better for efficiency if all of those drivers used their own computers instead of having one person do all of their work manually at once.
There are ways to make the route planning process easier.
In order to make the route planning process easier, you should look for software that offers the following features:
- A good user interface. The user interface is part of your software that allows you to interact with it and use its features. It should be easy to navigate and understand and comfortable enough so that users don’t feel like they’re working with something unfamiliar.
- Ability to plan routes quickly and easily while saving time in doing so. This means being able to enter all necessary information into one place instead of having multiple tabs open at once (and switching back and forth between them), which can get tedious when trying to figure out what goes where on each leg of a journey, especially if there are multiple stops along each route!
Conclusion
Choosing the right software for your company is important, but it doesn’t have to be difficult. The first step is determining what you need from a route planner and the most important features. Then you can start looking for software that fits those needs. It’s also helpful if you know how much time you spend planning routes on average each day so that when it comes time for evaluation, your options will be narrowed down automatically by their ability to save time or money over traditional methods like paper maps or handwritten lists of stops.
