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Dynamic Routing is the answer. But what was the question?
By Lee Wintrode
Dynamic routing solutions have the promise of wringing additional profit dollars out of your operation by reducing miles traveled in pickup and delivery operations. This in turn reduces fuel consumption, power equipment needed and ultimately, driver labor.
If dynamic route scheduling is so great, why aren’t trucking companies jumping to use this promising technology? Actually, the projected savings are part of the problem in adopting the technology—it just sounds too good to be true! The heart of the problem is that companies engaged in pickup and delivery generally believe that they have too many exceptions in their operation to allow for computer assistance in routing— specifically appointment times and drivers assigned to an account. Most carriers believe they are already operating efficiently since drivers are working overtime to get the work done. Of course, if drivers are consulted they will confirm that they are overworked and underpaid. Conventional wisdom tells the carrier that the projected savings cannot be realistic.
Some of the problems encountered in routing are real. Appointments for deliveries can be handled neatly by computer models. Assigning drivers to specific customers can also be accommodated, but this situation can reduce routing efficiencies and may require management attention to current practices. While the present routing method may be comfortable like an old pair of shoes, there is no doubt that dynamic routing will produce operating savings in most operations.
When discussing dynamic routing the use of air miles (crow flies) vs. actual street miles must be reconciled. When air miles are used there is usually an adjustment made (plus) to the air miles to account for triangulation, so the differences are usually not large. But there are exceptions—cities with lots of water and limited crossing points (i.e. bridges) are better handled with actual street paths. The only downsides to using street paths are the cost of the maps being used and a slight penalty in computing time to follow street paths.
Will your drivers like the new computer-assisted dynamic routing? Probably not. Dynamic routing is a big change, and change is not easily accepted by most of us mortals. First, drivers won’t like the fact that routes may vary from day to day. Familiarity is the driver’s friend. Second, any system that holds the promise of reducing drivers or routes is considered bad by the drivers and sometimes local management as well. This requires the attention of management to help the drivers adjust to running computerized routes.
Some carriers choose to use static route plans which can be done with zip codes, latitude and longitude of stops, and in some cases territories. Static route plans are built using historical data which gets out of date unless updated regularly. While static plans are more comfortable for all concerned, running the operation according to a static plan will result in higher costs than for a dynamic plan.
In conclusion, dynamic route planning technology should provide significant savings in your pickup and delivery operations. It is not unusual to save 7% to 20% of your costs. Why not start evaluating your operation today? Synergistic Systems’ Synergy Dispatch® can provide dynamic and static routing for your pickup and delivery operations, as well as call taking, inbound planning, outbound linehaul planning and wireless mobile data.
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