Courier Tracking Systems – Buyers Guide

The importance of vehicle tracking systems for courier services

Courier companies provide a time critical service and often charge more for faster delivery. Failing to deliver as scheduled could mean compromising reputation and lost money in refunds to dish out.

The best courier services offer real time updates to customers regarding estimated times of arrival. They also inform customers of any unavoidable delays. Using mobile phones to connect drivers with base can help smooth out some problems. But mobile phones can lose power, have patchy signal, and get lost.

GPS based courier tracking systems are far more powerful and reliable. They can provide information quickly, reliably and take less work to manage. Married to an appropriate delivery management software they provide a complete solution for courier businesses of all sizes.

The importance of on-time delivery

Every successful courier service understands the importance of on-time delivery. The ability to deliver packages and documents in line with your customers’ expectations is vital to your entire business operation. If you fail to do so then your customers will leave you for a competitor who can deliver on time, every time. Achieving consistent on-time delivery is considerably easier with the right tools: a reliable vehicle and asset tracking system in conjunction with professional delivery management software.

Vehicle and asset tracking

Knowing the exact location of every vehicle in your delivery fleet, in real time, gives you a whole new level of control.

You can:

• plan routes more efficiently
• predict potential delays and take remedial action
• inform your customers about the exact time they can expect delivery
• reduce unnecessary fuel costs
• increase customer satisfaction levels

These maximise your profitability.

Pick-up and delivery verification

Whether you’re delivering to businesses or individuals it’s vital to have accurate information on delivery times. Few things are more frustrating than waiting for deliveries that don’t turn up as planned. It wastes time for both you and the customer, wastes money, and damages your reputation. By tracking each vehicle in real time you can inform your customers of accurate ETAs. This improves customer satisfaction and leads to bigger profits and new customers from referrals. The same applies to pick-ups; you need to be sure that your pick-up is ready for collection in time for your arrival.

Unanticipated delays

Some delays are unavoidable; they will happen from time to time. The way in which you manage them is important to your business reputation. Providing customers with information on potential delays is vitally important. Customers will feel more trusting and confident in your service if you can inform them how far the driver is away from their location, and how many other stops they will be making before they reach them, even if the delivery is later than scheduled.

Courier management software

For courier fleets with 10+ vehicles, simply knowing where your vehicles are isn’t enough. Your vehicle tracking solution needs an additional level of intelligence. This can be provided by professional courier management software. Courier management software solutions may be run in-house or in the cloud as SaaS (software as a service). They can include every aspect of your courier operation including:

• on-demand shipping
• scheduled and routed deliveries
• cross docking and distribution operations
• less than truckload (LTL) shipping

They may also provide integration with your back office functions.

Optimise pick-up and delivery routing

Running your courier business at maximum efficiency means optimising your pick-up and delivery routing. Professional courier tracking solutions allow you to locate the closest vehicle and find the most efficient routes. Not only will this save you unnecessary costs, it will improve customer experience.

Mileage auditing and unauthorised use

GPS tracking allows you to keep a close eye on mileage driven and other expenses in real time. Not only does this flag up any unauthorised journeys, the various reporting functions are far more efficient than conventional paperwork approaches. You can arrange for alerts to be sent to you if any of your vehicles are being used in non-scheduled hours, or if the vehicle is being driven off-route, and its current location if it has been stolen.

Improve driver bad habits

Courier drivers have a reputation for bad driving. The pressure to deliver parcels on time can lead some drivers to speed, jump lights or drive in the wrong lane to beat traffic jams, especially if they’re turning right at the lights.

GPS vehicle tracking for courier services can flag up alerts for instances such as when:

• drivers pass a specified speed
• drivers accelerate harshly
• drivers break heavily
• drivers stop and leave the engine running for more than a specified length of time, wasting fuel

Erratic driving behaviour can be pointed out to the driver. They are likely to drive more safely and effectively if they know that bad driving habits could jeopardize their job.

Next steps

Are you hoping to provide your customers with a service as powerful as DHL courier tracking- but you don’t want to pay too much? Or are you just looking for a better courier tracking solution than talking to your drivers on their mobile phones? If you complete our web form we will supply you with several courier tracking quotations tailored to your specific requirements. It’s a real time and money saver.