The Best Apps For Delivery Drivers

Last mile delivery businesses need the best delivery routing app for delivery drivers to streamline and automate their logistics and routing processes. When trying to make your delivery business more efficient, you need to ask yourself:

• How can I find the shortest route to make multiple deliveries?
• Are there any hidden routing costs that I need to uncover?
• How can I create the most efficient stop sequences based on my unique business rules, fleet constraints, and customer variables?
• Can I make more deliveries with fewer drivers and vehicles?
• How can I compare Planned vs. Actual routing metrics?
• How can I track and coordinate my drivers and fleet vehicles in near real-time?
• How do I solve the Traveling Salesman Problem (TSP) and the Vehicle Route Problem (VRP)?

You can answer all these questions by finding the best apps for your delivery drivers. Here are some examples of delivery route planner apps and software your last mile operation might need:

The Best Apps for Delivery Drivers

The best apps for delivery drivers are useful for fleet managers and dispatchers alike. So, when looking for apps or software that can help you increase your last mile business’s overall fleet efficiency and profitability, you need to think outside the navigation-only box. Here’s a list of useful apps and tools to look for:

Delivery Management App

A delivery management app, system, or software will not only help you plan and manage your delivery routes but will enable you to collect and analyze data about them as well. Also, the right delivery management app will help you fuel data-driven decision-making. Moreover, an ideal delivery management system should offer:

• Remote team and fleet management and coordination tools
• Planned vs. Actual delivery routing metrics and operating KPIs
• Customer database and order management tools
• Driver and delivery tracking tools

Route Mapping App

Besides managing your team of drivers and fleet vehicles, you will also need an app to map efficient routes. Ideally, your delivery route mapping app – also referred to as route planner app or route optimization software – should help you plan and optimize multi-stop routes with multiple drivers. On top of finding the shortest and the most cost-efficient routes, a capable route mapping app should:

• Let you dynamically add stops to already dispatched routes and sync the changes with your drivers’ mobile devices
• Plan routes and factor in customer variables, vehicle capacity parameters, weather conditions, traffic slowdown, and more
• Enable you to import hundreds of thousands of addresses and automatically turn them into optimized routes with zero manual planning

Delivery Dispatch App

After creating time and cost-effective delivery routes, you need to dispatch them. Your next delivery dispatch app or delivery dispatch software should help you assign the most suitable drivers to each route by their qualifications, experience, availability, and driver’s license types. Furthermore, your delivery dispatch app should also be able to monitor dispatch statuses and support dispatch tracking.

Delivery Navigation App

GPS navigation is what actually helps your delivery drivers find delivery locations when out in the field. After dispatching your delivery routes to your drivers, you need to ensure that they have a reliable delivery navigation app that will provide short and safe navigation directions.

There are thousands of options for a GPS route app for delivery drivers out there, and the market size can be intimidating if you don’t know what you’re looking for. So, to make sure you’re choosing the best delivery route navigation app for your last mile operation, look for features like:

• Voice-guided navigation to improve driver safety – allow your drivers to focus on the road instead of watching a tiny map on a mobile device
• Geofencing to help you automate customer visitation and departure tracking processes
• Ability to navigate by GPS coordinates to customer locations without an address
• Ability to mark navigated route stops as visited and departed to track completed deliveries
• Commercial GPS Truck Navigation to ensure your commercial motor vehicles don’t break road regulations and restrictions while navigating routes

Delivery Driver Tracking App

Once every routing-related process is set, you need to ensure that all your hard work pays off. To do that, you need a delivery driver tracking app to closely monitor your drivers and prevent such things as:

• Unauthorized breaks and route detours that can increase your fuel expenses or lead to unnecessary and expensive overtime
• Aggressive driving and traffic laws violation. Consequently, this will help you avoid fines and accident risks
• Personal use of company property and fuel card fraud

Proof of Delivery App

Physical proof of delivery or POD slips are almost obsolete. Instead of wasting time collecting, sorting, and filing POD slips, you can let proof of delivery apps do the job for you. On that note, with a POD app, you can easily track electronic POD and avoid losing paper slips or investing in expensive signature pads or other POD gear.

A reliable POD app should enable your drivers to collect e-signatures take photos, add notes to stops, etc., using only their smartphone.

The Only App You’ll Ever Need

Your last mile operation needs all the features mentioned above. From delivery management to delivery navigation, proof of delivery and everything in-between those lines is vital for optimizing the last mile. The bad news is that using a separate app for each of these will lead to integration issues, routing and navigation data discrepancies, and other inconsistencies.

Moreover, the time spent jumping between apps can add up, switching apps while driving can be dangerous, and most importantly, you will have to pay for multiple subscriptions. And nobody wants that!

Instead of looking at each process individually and using dozens of different apps, Route4Me can address any needs of any size last mile delivery business.

The Route4Me Route Planner provides seamless continuity from the moment you import delivery addresses for optimization to tracking completed deliveries. Plan, optimize, dispatch, and monitor the progress of your multi-stop routes in near real-time with Route4Me:

• Automate route planning processes – import hundreds of thousands of addresses and automatically split them into optimally-sequenced routes
• Apply business rules, customer variables, and fleet constraints to your route optimizations
• Distribute, dispatch, and track your last mile routes in near real-time
• Communicate and coordinate your remote teams and fleets in near real-time
• Customize last mile reports and analytics dashboards
• Dispatch routes to Route4Me’s iOS and Android mobile apps and sync with drivers in near real-time

Use Route4Me’s iOS and Android mobile apps to replace expensive and limited GPS trackers, telematics devices, signature pads, barcode scanners, and other enterprise equipment.

Discover the hidden costs of inaction and opportunities for savings with Route4Me’s free 7-day trial.