How Courier Dispatch Software Helped One Courier Scale Daily Deliveries by 300% in 12 Months

Getting a package from A to B sounds simple, but courier companies know that a lot goes into making a successful delivery — especially when there are dozens (or hundreds) of other parcels in the mix, and dispatch HQ has to manage multiple couriers driving different routes on the same day.

As you scale a courier company, managing the drivers and deliveries becomes yet more complex. This is where courier dispatch software can come in useful. When you have a tool to help you manage delivery lists, plan optimal routes, monitor drivers, update recipients, and capture proof-of-delivery — you’re in a better spot to grow your courier business by completing deliveries more efficiently.

In this post, we’ll look at how one Dutch courier company scaled their delivery business from two couriers to ten in just one year, and how they used Circuit for Teams for route optimization to boost their courier efficiency and deal with a significant increase in deliveries.

If you’re looking for a user-friendly courier software that helps you manage deliveries, optimize routes, track drivers, update recipients, and capture proof-of-delivery, sign up for Circuit’s free trial.

How a Courier Company Scaled to More Than 400 Deliveries per Day

We work with a bicycle-powered courier company, anonymous by request, based in the Netherlands. They specialize in delivering medication from pharmacies to patients’ doorsteps. This company has seen a 300% increase in deliveries over a 12 month period. And during the first 3 months of the COVID-19 lockdown in their area, they saw a 20-25% boost in demand.

The team was able to successfully keep up with orders with the help of Circuit for Teams.

Pharmacy deliveries can be complex, because you have the recurring prescriptions for chronic patients, but you also have the one-off and more “immediate” needs of acute patients who may be too ill to get out to collect their medicine. These are often same-day deliveries, while the recurring orders are received in bulk by the pharmacy and usually don’t need such a fast turnaround with the courier.

Faced with these logistical challenges, and plenty more, the founders started searching for courier software to help manage their deliveries and optimize the routes that their bicycle riders were taking. After trying Circuit and seeing the impact it had on their delivery operations, they never looked back.

How This Courier Uses Circuit in Their Delivery Operations

This particular courier benefits mostly from Circuit’s delivery planning and route optimization functionality to make their dispatching and courier management more efficient.

First, they receive the recurring orders for chronic patients from the pharmacy, and import the list of addresses into Circuit — which automatically creates a time-optimized route for the courier.

Next, the courier collects all the parcels from the pharmacy, including the extra same-day prescriptions that need to be delivered alongside the recurring ones. These extra stops are entered into the Circuit mobile app on the rider’s smartphone, and Circuit recalculates the optimal route for the entire load.

And if there are prescriptions that need to be prioritized, they can use Circuit’s priority feature. This organizes the most efficient delivery route around certain stops that need to be completed first — or stops that need to be done at a particular time of the day.

All of this is done without extra hardware. The couriers simply need to have the Circuit app on their mobile device, and they can use their favorite GPS navigation tool — e.g. Google Maps, Waze, or Apple Maps.

By using Circuit for delivery planning and route optimization, this courier has been able to grow to 400+ deliveries per day, without having to worry about whether their people or processes can handle it.

If you’re looking for a user-friendly courier software that helps you manage deliveries, optimize routes, track drivers, update recipients, and capture proof-of-delivery, sign up for Circuit’s free trial.

How Courier Dispatch Software Helps Dispatchers Beyond Route Planning and Optimization

As delivery companies grow, a number of complicated issues can start to get in the way. These include:

• Higher fuel and/or labor costs
• A larger number of recipient inquiries
• More failed deliveries and packages going missing
• Increasing complexity in sorting and managing delivery lists

When it comes to higher fuel and labor costs, a courier service can get more efficient using a delivery software like Circuit to optimize each delivery route — thereby reducing fuel usage, maximizing the number of deliveries a driver can make, and reducing the hours they spend on the job.

And when it comes to handling recipient inquiries, managing failed deliveries, reducing missing parcels, and sorting long lists of orders into the right trucks (or bikes), Circuit can also make a difference:

• Real-time courier tracking: There’s no need for a GPS tracking device or third-party tracking software when you use Circuit for Teams. Dispatchers can do their driver tracking easily in the Circuit app — monitoring couriers in the context of their whole route.
  
  This real-time tracking allows courier businesses to update recipients easily, without the dispatcher having to disrupt the driver’s day by calling to find out where they are.
  
  
• Proof-of-delivery (PoD): Circuit has built-in proof-of-delivery functionality, including signature capture and photo capture. With the Circuit app, the driver’s smartphone can be used for the recipient to sign on the screen, or the driver can snap a picture using their phone camera.
  
  The proof-of-delivery record is then uploaded into the back-office, and the dispatcher can see whether a courier delivery was successful — and if so, where (and when) the package was left. This means fewer disputed deliveries, and you can easily help the recipient if they can’t find it.
  
  
• Recipient updates: Delivery companies can increase customer satisfaction by providing an accurate estimated delivery time. And our live tracking page for last mile delivery — plus our automatic SMS/email messages — minimize the risk of missed deliveries, meaning you don’t have to send couriers out to the same address twice.

• Optimized manifest distribution: When you’re route planning for multiple couriers, you also need to be sure that you’re making deliveries efficient to optimize overall fleet management.
  
  For example, giving every courier a manifest of addresses around the city means they’ll be cris-crossing each other and darting from one side to another.
  
  By letting Circuit figure out which parcels should be in which vehicle, you’re not only making sure that each individual journey is efficient, but also that your business operations are efficient as a whole.

Summary: Using Courier Software to Improve Your Delivery Service 

The best courier software solutions improve the whole delivery experience for four different parties: the drivers, dispatchers, clients (e.g. pharmacies) and the recipients.

Delivery management and optimal route planning are at the core of this, helping courier companies deliver their parcels faster — which keeps everybody happy. And with a tool like Circuit, courier drivers can keep their own smartphone (also for PoD) and use their favorite navigation, and dispatchers can still track their vehicles and inform recipients of when their package is due to arrive.

If you’re looking for a user-friendly courier software that helps you manage deliveries, optimize routes, track drivers, update recipients, and capture proof-of-delivery, sign up for Circuit’s free trial.

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