In an effort to provide end-to-end visibility across entire logistics chains, ClearDestination is thrilled to announce that its manufacturer, carrier and retailer customers can now benefit from advanced data visibility and analyses powered by Microsoft Power BI. Power BI gives business and logistics teams the ability to easily visualize real-time data regarding first-, mid- and last-mile deliveries to make better decisions that can improve operational efficiency and reduce costs.

Thanks to Power BI, logistics teams can also limit the number of touchpoints, increase consolidation, optimize routes, and eliminate non-value-added miles, all of which contribute to offering a stellar, on-time delivery service for customers.

Interested in learning more about ClearDestination’s elevated capabilities with Power BI? Schedule a demo today!

Are you trying to find the most efficient routes? Are you looking to cut your driving time down? Do you want to save money on gas?

If so, you’ve come to the right place.

We’re going to talk about an artificial intelligence tool that will help you do all of those things and more. It’s called a route planning tool, and drivers everywhere love it.

A route planning tool can help your drivers track their delivery route, manage their fuel costs, track customer alerts, and more.

To learn more about our route planning tool and how it can help you, keep reading.

Benefits to Investing in Our Route Planning Tool

No matter how skilled you are, everyone gets lost now and again. Whether it’s because of a road closure or a confusing direction, route planning isn’t easy.

However, with its advanced artificial intelligence, our route planner can help you and your drivers navigate the roads like a pro. Let’s get into the details.

Get Real-Time Updates

When your drivers are heading to their destination, there could be a change in road conditions that affect their route. Whether it’s a crash or a change in weather, our system can detect and report it.

This means that your drivers can get updates about their route without having to pull over and map out a new course. Our automated system accounts for these changes and gives your drivers a new, faster route where applicable.

By investing in route planning software, you’re making the job easier on your drivers while improving drive time.

Deliver On-Time Every Time

If you’re experiencing problems with delivering things on time, a route planning tool is exactly what you need. Whether you’re late on deliveries because you’ve got the wrong routes or the wrong time, a route planning tool can help.

By finding the best routes, anticipating changes, and understanding day-to-day traffic patterns, our artificial intelligence can help you make sure that you’re staying on track with everything that you and your drivers need to get delivered throughout the day.

Reduce Greenhouse Emissions

Greenhouse emissions are harmful to the planet and – in turn – they’re harmful to humans. If your company is looking to meet environmental regulations and show its customers that you care about the planet, having a route planning tool is a great way to do it.

Our route planning tool finds the fastest ways to get to your destinations. This means that your vehicles are going to be on the road less. In turn, they will release fewer gases like carbon dioxide into the air.

Making green, planet-consciousness choices like this will help you make a good reputation for your business. Plus, it’s a great selling point for clients who are also trying to do what’s best for the planet.

Decrease Spending on Fuel

Gas has been getting more and more expensive over time.

If you’re looking to save gas and reduce your fuel costs, route planning is the answer. By planning out your routes strategically, you can make sure that you’re not unnecessarily using fuel.

Our route planning tool keeps fuel efficiency in mind as we’re finding the best options for you and your drivers. By using our tool, you’ll see your fuel costs down.

In fact, the amount of money that you save on fuel is likely to make up for the cost that you’d spend on delivery software.

Then, you can reallocate that money elsewhere in your budget. We’re sure that there’s something that you’d love to spend the extra money on.

Reduce Back-and-Forth

Delivery personnel usually have to be in constant communication with route planners, coordinators, and other drivers. Whether there’s a storm coming in or a new traffic event that is causing a change in traffic, the drivers are constantly being reminded and rerouted.

However, with route planning software, it’s different. Drivers don’t have to spend all of their time communicating back and forth with delivery personnel.

The software handles all of the communication and makes all of the potential changes needed for the driver along the way. Your drivers don’t have to worry about making the changes themselves.

By reducing communication and streamlining changes, you’re going to make your drivers’ jobs easier. They don’t have to spend precious driving time pulled over talking about traffic.

In fact, reducing communication may actually be able to reduce traffic accidents, too. Many drivers may take calls while they’re driving. By reducing the number of calls they have, you’re going to reduce the likelihood that they’re distracted while driving.

Maximize Deliveries

Our route planning software can help you maximize nearby clients’ products in the same vehicle. If you have two clients near one another, you should take advantage of this fact and ship their products in the same truck.

This saves gas and time. Plus, it makes the driver’s job easier.

In turn, who really wants to take the time to map every single client out and decide what trucks need to carry? We’ll tell you: route planning software.

Our advanced system can help you determine the most efficient way to organize all of your clients’ products. By using location and traffic patterns, we can reduce the amount of distance that your trucks are traveling. Plus, this will decrease the number of stops that the trucks need to make.

The Best Route Planning Tool

If you’re looking for a route planning tool that does all of these things and more, look no further than our tool, Clear Destination.

Talk to a route planning expert today to get your free discovery call. This free demo will let us figure out how we can help you. The sooner you call, the sooner we can get you set up with your very own route planning tool.

Our route planning tool was made with artificial intelligence that can help your drivers complete their job faster and better. Whether you’re looking to impress clients or make your job easier, our system is the way to do it.

Businesses understand they have to be able to ship products on time if they’re to survive in this digital world. Why then do so many still underestimate the import of last mile delivery?

We suspect it’s because many aren’t quite familiar with the term. Today we’ll detail what “last mile delivery” means, why it’s important, and offer some solutions if you think your current methods are lacking.

How Does Last Mile Delivery Work?

You likely already know that shipping something doesn’t mean it goes straight from your mailbox to your customer. It goes from the delivery truck or post office to a warehouse (sometimes multiple), and only later does it get sent from a warehouse to the person the package is intended for.

That last stretch of the delivery is the “last mile delivery.” It is when the package is ready to go from the final facility processing and storing it to a customer’s address. (Also, to clarify, it doesn’t literally mean the last mile of the delivery process but rather the “final stretch.”)

Many would argue it’s the most important part of the delivery process, as there is no room for error. Delays or damages at this stage almost guarantee the package will be late. Moreover, more than 1 in 10 customers are estimated to never return to a business that fails to deliver their package on time!

What Is a Last Mile Delivery Company?

While traditional delivery companies (and the USPS) don’t always ignore the last mile, it also isn’t their focus. This is where last mile delivery companies excel.

Last mile delivery companies put an emphasis on perfecting that last part of the delivery process. This helps to tighten up logistical inefficiency and better ensure the customer gets a product on time and undamaged.

It’s also worth noting that this doesn’t mean ignoring the other parts of the delivery process. After all, it doesn’t make sense to ignore some links in a supply chain to perfect the last one. What niches of the delivery chain a given last mile delivery company can also operate in depends on the company in question.

What Is the Last Mile Problem in Logistics?

Last mile delivery services help solve what could be called “the last mile problem” that many companies face.

The fact is, most delivery services aren’t very transparent. It can be difficult to tell what’s happening to your packages and thus hard to catch inefficiencies. Moreover, all problems with deliveries can compound at the last mile unless caught early, where there is no longer time to fix them.

This is part of why many experts view it as a mistake for most companies to promise same-day delivery. It causes so much strain on the average logistical chain that it becomes a promise that may be impossible (or quite expensive) to keep to. Correcting for error becomes almost impossible unless your logistical chain is near perfect.

The last mile problem requires a multi-step solution. Whatever delivery company you go with needs to be transparent, honest, and efficient to help you achieve your delivery needs (and to quickly outline obstacles in your way). 

What Is Last Mile Delivery Software?

Last mile delivery software is, as the name implies, software meant to increase the efficiency of last mile delivery. Depending on how robust the software is, it may be able to pool large amounts of useful data on your current processes and help you improve your delivery model.

This all brings us to the last mile delivery solutions that ClearDestination can offer your company. Put simply, ClearDestination has developed cutting-edge logistics solutions that combine operational research, artificial intelligence, machine learning, dispatch automation, advanced algorithms, and location-based technologies to automatically plan the entire delivery process.

That may sound like a big promise (and it is). However, pun not intended, ClearDestination delivers. On top of that, the technology is multimodal and can support the movement of any type of goods.

If you’re curious about this technology and how it may help you, contact us. Not only can any questions be answered, but there is a free demo available! There is no need to take big promises at face value; you can see for yourself.

Our model is essentially crowdsourced, with our technology able to improve as we gather more data from more and more clients. It works fantastic now but that means it will only allow for greater efficiency and cost reduction in the future!

How Can I Reduce My Last Mile Delivery Charge?

Reducing your last mile costs is often a multi-faceted effort. This is because efficiency in one part of the delivery process often translates to the entire process being easier and able to handle more pressure without the need to rush. (Rushing not only increases costs but risks your company damaging or losing goods.)

Every part of the delivery process should be examined when looking to improve efficiency, including:

• Purchase
• Delivery/pick-up
• Pre-delivery
• Delivery
• Post-delivery
• Billing & reporting

Put another way, delivery is about time. Saving time in one part of the process means more care can be put into another. Combined with a good last mile delivery company or robust software to help you further, time saving may be just what you need to help reduce costs.

If you believe you’re overpaying on your last mile delivery specifically, ClearDestination can help. Not only can we help make sure you’re paying competitive rates, but we can also help make sure things are running efficiently. Both these facts together translate to big savings for our clients.

This is all in addition to the aspects of our model meant to address last mile delivery directly. Wherever time and money are being wasted in your delivery process, we can help.

Consider ClearDestination For Your Logistical Needs

ClearDestination can help companies with the entire purchase and delivery process. From the moment the customer adds an item to their cart to billing & reporting, we have the technology to simplify the process. This includes helping make last mile delivery more efficient and data-driven.

With expert staff always trying to grow and innovate, and a free demo available, there is no downside to contacting us today to see why we believe in our logistical solutions. If you’re not yet sure, explore our site and see what else we can offer you!

You want to offer your customers the ultimate delivery experience, and shipping plays a huge role.

Our software tracks and links each part of the delivery chain process, making it easier for businesses of all types and sizes. As a result, the customer sees realistic delivery timelines based on information such as your transport schedule. You can eliminate errors often seen with manual delivery scheduling this way.

2. Increased Efficiency

Improved communication is one of the best ways to increase the efficiency of your business and boost the productivity of your employees. Using eCommerce shipping solutions ensures better (and faster) communication between everyone involved in your delivery chain, from manufacturers to retailers to carriers.

As a result, this reduces errors and misunderstandings.

Shipping software helps your business to provide more realistic delivery timelines, making the customers happier. No longer do you have to worry about customers asking where their package is or why it’s late.

3. Adapt to the Future

There’s no doubt that COVID-19 changed eCommerce and retail in general. A 129% year-over-year growth in both Canadian and US eCommerce orders proves that. More consumers are making the switch to eCommerce, and they have certain expectations about shipping.

To provide stellar customer experiences, your business needs to adapt to survive in this new world. You need to understand the customers’ needs.

From the first mile to that last mile, delivery management software helps you optimize and monitor deliveries to provide the best experience possible.

4. Beat the Competition

In this day and age, customers have so many options it’s tough to beat your competition and get through to them. However, a delivery management software solution can help you outpace the competition and win customers over.

From the moment a customer clicks “buy,” our eCommerce shipping management system allows them to book and track their deliveries. We make tracking shipped items simple and reliable.

5. Track Everything With Ecommerce Shipping Software

Our delivery management solutions make it easy to track an order at any moment in the delivery process. Additionally, thanks to real-time insights, it’s easy to spot and overcome any issues that might arise during the delivery process.

We also make it easy to communicate with any stakeholder in the process to reduce headaches, hassles, and questions about the delivery. 

Get Started and Ship Smarter

Now that you know the benefits of eCommerce shipping delivery management software, it’s time to take the next step.

Let ClearDestination be your go-to for unbeatable e-commerce shipping software. We’re a Montreal-based company, and we want to help take your business to the next level. That’s why we’re offering our free ebook, so you can learn invaluable tips for your eCommerce business.

Start shipping smarter with delivery management software. If you have any questions, please contact us and let us know how we can help!