5 Ways To Improve a Delivery Team's Efficiency
If you're running a delivery business, you know how important efficiency is. You're managing drivers, taking orders, and trying to deliver on schedule. How can you improve operations and overcome inefficiency?
This article offers five practical ways to boost your team's efficiency. They will help improve customer satisfaction, delivery management, and profit regardless of whether you want to grow your business or have just started it.
1. How efficient are your routes?
Using delivery management tools to optimize routes is one of the best ways to improve service efficiency. Generally, shorter routes mean shorter delivery times. They also mean less vehicle amortization and lower fuel consumption, so they will reduce your costs per delivery, too.
If you're ready to equip your fleet with route optimization software, make sure you choose tools that can handle the type and number of deliveries you make and take your vehicle size into account. They should also let you give customers delivery time windows. Apps that automatically find the fastest route to work will come in handy.
2. Identify and measure critical metrics
The critical metrics are the total delivery number, average delivery time, average time at stop, driver performance, the average cost per delivery, etc. If you can't measure them, you can't manage them, plain and simple. You need to track them weekly and even daily in some cases. If you don't, you won't know if there is room for improvement.
The most important metric is the total number of deliveries per month, week, day, etc. Everything else is based on this. Track how long drivers take to make deliveries, from the beginning of the route to completing the next drop-off. You can reduce the time per delivery by planning routes more efficiently.
Late deliveries not only incur additional costs and cause inconvenience but are also a sign of an inefficient delivery process.
Average stop time and performance
The stop time includes the time it takes your drivers to drop off the order. This includes parking, unloading, the actual drop-off, getting proof of delivery, and going back to the delivery vehicle. If you find ways to cut the time, you can schedule more stops per route. This is another aspect delivery management software can help with. It can also assist in tracking driver performance so you become aware of opportunities for improvement.
Average price per delivery
The final metric is the average delivery cost, which is the number of deliveries divided by the total delivery cost. It includes fuel costs, drivers' wages, insurance, vehicle maintenance, and back office expenses. You can try to reduce the cost per delivery to make your team more efficient.
3. Maintain delivery vehicles
Check and service your fleet regularly to avoid delays due to breakdowns, reduce gas costs, maximize fuel efficiency, and keep drivers safe and satisfied. Keep your fleet well-organized and clean because it reflects the quality of your service and brand.
4. More efficient dispatching and management
The costliest part of the supply chain is last-mile delivery because many factors go into it, and plenty can go wrong. A sick driver, traffic congestion, or a last-minute pickup or order can wreak havoc on your delivery schedule.
Use delivery management and dispatch software to give your delivery team the information and resources they need to complete their deliveries efficiently and in a timely manner. Your software should let you easily change routes or add stops, dispatch routes directly to a driver's phone or an app, and track delivery progress in real-time.
5. Train your team
A good driver knows convenient places to park, traffic patterns, and customer preferences. Good drivers don't magically appear out of thin air, though. You can improve their skills by dispatching routes via an intuitive app, keeping them in the areas where they feel comfortable and are most knowledgeable about, and training them in app use, efficient packaging, and advanced driving techniques. Schedule reasonable breaks and reward outstanding performance.
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