How does route planning work in this day, and age and what are the nuts and bolts?
While yes the ezbz App has a lot of features to help you create efficient routes, how should you actually go about planning those routes using the ezbz App?
There are times when you need to get somewhere in a hurry whether it’s picking up supplies at a store or delivering something important to a client. If you want to do this efficiently and effectively then you need to do route planning before you head out on your trip.
As a Field Service Business owner there are several things that you should consider when planning out routes. This includes the time of day, amount of stops, the distance between stops, and even if you should stop at all. In the end, these factors will determine how efficient the process is for both your business and your employees.
There can be so many variations within the planning of a route, but depending on the type of business that you run, you may require different strategies than others. Companies that deliver products to customers won’t be able to use the same strategies as companies that provide field services at customers’ homes.
If you provide services, then you have different needs than someone who provides products. Think about it… if you needed to deliver some lumber from one place to another, would you just go straight down the road or would you take the back way? That makes sense right? So if you have workers driving their own vehicles and they need to get somewhere quickly then the best bet is usually to take them along the most direct route. However, that doesn’t always make the most economic use of time because a lot of the time the roads are congested with traffic slowing people down.
Factors That Can Affect Routes
I recommend that businesses plan routes as early as possible so that they can account for any delays and still get where they need to be on time. This means planning routes well in advance so that you aren’t caught off guard by events like construction zones or accidents.
The next factor that determines the efficiency of your route is the size of your fleet. Are you running small fleets of one truck or large ones of 100+ trucks? Also, how many miles do you travel each week? Each mile driven requires fuel and maintenance costs which add up over time. You also don’t want to have a huge number of vehicles in one area not working because they are too expensive to maintain.
For example, imagine an independent contractor who has 20 trucks traveling 10,000 miles per month. They may think that they only drive 2 hours per day but in reality, they only spend 1-hour driving! That sounds like a really good deal until they realize that they have spent $1,000 per month on gas alone, and now need more money for repairs and insurance. Once they add those expenses into the mix, suddenly the cost of having full-sized equipment becomes very high. I recommend smaller companies set aside a budget for fuel every single week, as it starts adding up pretty fast.
In addition to size, you also have other considerations to keep in mind such as weather conditions. For example, during the winter months, you obviously want to avoid the snow. When you try to predict the weather ahead of time, you must take into consideration variables such as temperature changes, wind speed, precipitation, etc. There are certain areas that experience less severe weather than others depending on the region.
Also, consider seasonal changes. Many companies plan routes based on when they expect heavy traffic to occur. A typical workday morning might look a little something like this.
You start out in rush hour traffic and once you arrive at your destination you find that no customers are around. Now comes the “what do you do?!” part. What you could do is call everyone who was supposed to deliver that day and ask them to contact you when they get there. At least, that’s how companies used to operate. Eventually, customers started complaining that they never got deliveries and some stopped ordering due to poor service delivery. They were forced to come up with better ways to plan their routes.
I suggest using historical data instead of calling people when it’s convenient for them. If you know where you are going, why would you go through the hassle of calling someone who isn’t home or doesn’t answer? Do you really believe that these people will always make themselves available whenever you want them to?
Let’s say that you live near a college town and the first thing you notice after arriving at work is that the campus has been closed for finals. Now, what can you do? Should you just sit, wait, and hope that the roads clear soon enough? Maybe if you had a fleet of small vans and tried to use smaller neighborhoods as drop-off points, you could save yourself from getting stuck in traffic. However, if it takes you 15 minutes to get to a couple of customers then you need to consider another solution. For example, you could use pre-written messages to let your customers know that the campus is closed. Then, you tell them exactly what you did.
If you are stuck on a busy freeway, you should definitely pull over at a nearby rest stop or exit ramp. Some drivers aren’t accustomed to pulling off the road in order to give themselves time to catch their breath, but sometimes that’s the best thing to do.
I want to mention one more important tip that applies equally well to any type of route planning: remember the customer! This goes without saying, but it bears repeating. Your goal should be to help make lives easier, not harder. If doing so means taking a detour because of a construction project, be sure to let customers know about the delay. Don’t forget to mention the reason why you couldn’t finish delivering by your scheduled appointment or showed up late to provide a service. Just follow this rule, and I guarantee you will see positive results.
By using the tips and tricks laid out in this article, we hope you are able to develop a route plan that works for your business. The ezbz App gives so many opportunities to plan routes easily, all it takes to start is for you to decide what kind of route you want to create.
