How can you use delivery management software to deal with unexpected events during a delivery route?

Published on 9 September 2021 • Reading time: 5 min read

Are you responsible for organising deliveries for your company? Between unexpected customer requests, delivery driver absences, not to mention traffic jams, your day-to-day work can be anything but smooth sailing.
However, dealing with these unexpected events using only maps and Excel spreadsheets is very difficult, if not impossible. Fortunately, artificial intelligence, combined with new communication technologies, is helping route managers to make the best decisions without wasting time. Delivery management software such as AntsRoute, for example, offers effective solutions for dealing with unforeseen situations and providing customers with a smooth delivery!

Table of contents

• Integrate last-minute customer request into the delivery route
• Manage the absence of one of your delivery drivers
• Reorganise the route in the event of traffic problems
• React quickly to customer absences or incorrect addresses
• Communicate with customers in any situation

Delivery management software is ideal for dealing with unexpected events. For the person in charge of organising deliveries, it’s the guarantee of smooth delivery routes. The deliveries become a quality experience for customers.

Integrate last-minute customer request into the delivery route

Do you have a priority customer who needs a parcel delivery or an extra pick-up, and it’s an express delivery of course? To meet this request, good delivery management software should enable you to easily insert the task into a current delivery route, without disrupting the smooth running of the operations.
In this configuration, AntsRoute has a number of features to help you choose the right route and quickly reschedule deliveries:

• Prioritisation of routes to reduce the time and cost of the extra stop.
• After your validation, the new task is added to the route of the delivery driver.
• Further optimisation of the delivery driver’s route, with real-time information via the mobile application.

Manage the absence of one of your delivery drivers

Is one of your delivery drivers unexpectedly absent or unable to carry out his or her duties, for example because of a vehicle breakdown? To deliver to all your customers on time, and avoid disappointments and cancellations, you can assign his work to one or more of his colleagues. AntsRoute software lets you choose between two solutions:

• The first method, which is fully automated, involves recording the delivery driver as absent for the whole day. The software then reassigns as many deliveries or pick-ups as possible to his workmates. The deliveries that are not replanned are moved in a sort of “basket”, to be rescheduled for the following days.
• You can also manually assign certain deliveries to other drivers. Although less optimised, this solution is still interesting if the driver is absent for a short period, to find a replacement vehicle, for example.

AntsRoute software manages delivery drivers’ absences.

Reorganise the route in the event of traffic problems

Difficult traffic conditions are another frequent reason for route disorganisation. When optimising routes, delivery management software such as AntsRoute obviously takes into account the history of known road congestion in order to avoid it or work around it wherever possible.
But this preventive effort isn’t always enough, and a road accident can quickly ruin a delivery route! When this happens, our software offers two complementary solutions:

• Using the integrated GPS (you can choose between Google Maps and Waze), the software suggests a new, optimised route in real time, so that you can quickly leave the congested area.
• If road problems persist, in the event of a pile-up or severe accident for example, you can also reassign certain pick-ups to other drivers, based on priorities and traffic conditions recalculated in real time.

AntsRoute software reorganises routes in case of unexpected events.

React quickly to customer absences or incorrect addresses

Despite your best efforts to deliver the best possible customer experience, it’s often in the home stretch that things go wrong:

• Unexpected absence of the customer from the appointment, despite reminder emails and text messages.
• Incorrect address or insufficient information.
• Incorrect GPS coordinates, etc.

If necessary, the delivery driver can contact the customer directly from the AntsRoute mobile application, without even having to dial the number. Just fill in the end customer’s telephone number.
Despite all these attempts, the recipient remains unreachable? The delivery management software then allows you to inform your client of the first delivery attempt’s failure, while at the same time providing proof that the delivery person has been there (note of absence on the door, photo of the letterbox that has not been emptied, etc.). You can also send a link to the end customer by email or SMS to reschedule a new delivery from the application.

Delivery management software enables you to react quickly if a customer is absent.

Communicate with customers in any situation

Whatever the cause of the difficulties, AntsRoute delivery management software always offers you a solution for communicating proactively with customers, and thus preventing signs of frustration or anger.

• Even before the delivery driver leaves, we advise you to send the end customer an automated email or text message, to keep no-shows to a minimum.
• As soon as the driver starts his route, our delivery management software allows you to send a tracking link to your customers. This way, they can track the delivery driver’s journey in real time on a map, without the need for customer service to be involved. Has your driver been delayed by a delivery that took longer than expected? If you’re impatient, all you have to do is click on this tracking link to see how many customers the driver still has to visit, and find out the new estimated time of arrival (ETA).

Geotracking link for a delivery driver sent with AntsRoute.

As you can see, we’ve already developed a number of very useful solutions to help you manage the many unforeseen events that too often disrupt the last mile. And that’s not all! Every month, we add new features to our software to help you further improve your performance and quality of service. Would you like to see for yourself? Try our delivery management software for free for 7 days. Go to this page to register!