Delivery Route Scheduling Software

Leading fleets around the globe build profitable, achievable delivery schedules with Descartes.

Route Scheduling Software for Delivery Vehicles

Our advanced delivery route scheduling software will streamline planning, reduce costs, and enhance customer satisfaction with continuous optimisation.

Delivery routes optimised with every order

Scheduling time reduced by 75%

Enable customer self-selection of delivery time

Improve customer service with accurate ETAs

Route Scheduling Software for Delivery Vehicles

Unlock the potential of your delivery operations with Descartes' proven delivery route scheduling solutions.

• Eliminate manual route planning
• Save planning time
• Increase fleet efficiency and productivity
• Improve on-time deliveries.
• Enhance customer satisfaction
• Reduce fuel costs

By continuously analysing each order as it is taken alongside the resources and capacity available to make the delivery, customers can be given their choice of delivery slots at the point of purchase sale.

This ensures:

• Vehicles and drivers are fully utilised
• Routes have higher delivery densities
• Resources are not over-committed
• Deliveries are made in normal working hours
• Drivers’ hours compliance ETA’s are accurate and achievable

Reduce Costs and CO2

• Offer delivery slots that take into account profitability, capacity and environmental impact.
• Eliminate paperwork with digital proof of delivery.
• Minimise environmental impact with reduced fuel consumption and CO2 emissions.

Features & Benefits

Customers select reservations

Provide an enhanced delivery experience with costed delivery options at the point of sale. Increase sales of goods and value added services.

Eco-friendly delivery slots

Promote environmental delivery slots and increase route densities.

Incentivised delivery slots

Differential pricing possible for self-selection of delivery slots, influencing selection and ensuring profitable deliveries.

Dynamic slot scheduling

Increased customer satisfaction and increased sales through self-selecting delivery times and days.

Depot selection

Automatic selection of the best depot from which deliveries are to be actioned, improving operational efficiency.

Enhanced Traffic Data

A combination of the latest traffic flow data that includes; day, time, and direction of travel, improves optimised routes, leading to accurate ETAs and happy customers.

Continuous background optimisation

Achieve more efficient route plans for your fleet than traditional batch-based optimisation techniques and provide costed delivery options at the point of sale in seconds.

Cloud-based software

Our fleet route scheduling Software is available over the internet wherever you have a connection, providing team access to our solution, working from any location at any time.

We Enable Your Success

“Descartes ePOD solution has unlocked considerable benefits for both our business and our customers. We have seen the number of requests for PoD decline dramatically and have received increasingly positive feedback from our customers.”
Peter Russell, IT Director, Carpet & Flooring

Customer POD requests reduced 80%
Successful 1st time deliveries Increased
Delivery operation costs Reduced

“We were impressed by the investment and support that Descartes put into this product and the roadmap. This technology has allowed us to be agile, forward-thinking and work optimally with our fleet with benefits on costs, sales and satisfaction across the business and with our customers.”
Edward Corbett - Head of Programme

Delivery capacity increased 25%
OTIF deliveries increased 15%
Fleet size 500+

“Overnight our business was transformed. Our planning team and drivers love using Descartes.....Since introducing Descartes, Stop Start’s daily delivery volume has increased 50%. This rate of growth would not have been sustainable without digital planning tools.”
Andrew Bayne, Managing Director

Daily planning time reduced 75%
Annual distribution costs saving £450k
Delivery capacity Increased 12%

“Descartes Reservations™ and Route Planner™ solutions were integral to our strategy of offering a more extensive, but unified delivery service. The advanced optimisation capabilities and architecture of the Descartes solutions were critical, bringing new delivery service options to our customers in an economically feasible way.”
Andrew Gay - Systems Manager

Fulfilment costs reduced £1.8m
Increased delivery productivity 35%
Delivery windows provided at POS

“Working with Descartes, we’ve saved 13% on annual fuel costs, which equates to approximately 354,000 fewer miles driven.”
Lee Holmes, Transport and Logistics Director

Annual Fuel bill reduced 13%
Productivity improved 56%
Annual savings £2 million

Delivery Route Scheduling FAQs

• How does delivery route scheduling work?
  Using clever algorithms to analyse various factors such as delivery locations, traffic conditions, and vehicle capacities Descartes’ software will calculate the most efficient routes for making deliveries, whether that be by:

  • Lowest miles and shortest distance
  • The quickest route
  • The lowest cost route
  • The most economical route for fuel usage

• What are the benefits of using delivery route scheduling software?
  Improved efficiency, reduced costs, enhanced customer satisfaction, and increased driver productivity are some of the key benefits. A big benefit for many customers is moving away from manual planning of delivery schedules to an automated process which saves many hours of work.

• What are the most important elements of creating a delivery route schedule?
  All orders need to start with quality data for the order itself;

  • The delivery address
  • Operating hours, or hours in which a delivery can take place
  • Any unloading restrictions
  • Product data
    • Dimensions
    • Weight
    • Stacking rules
    • Materials carried in case they are hazardous or need special handling

After the details of the product and customer, comes the data about the vehicles available, such as;

• Size and capacity of the vehicle
• CO2 Emissions, (so entry into Clean Air Zones can be considered)

Without such details delivery schedules will be inaccurate and could result in missed deliveries or over utilised vehicles, all of which will impact customer service levels and the efficiency of the fleet delivery operation.

Next is the Route Optimisation software that will accurately model the real-world conditions and the most efficient routes to achieve the deliveries.

• What are the benefits of scheduling delivery routes for your fleet?
  The benefits of scheduling your delivery routes using routing and scheduling software are;
  • Increased delivery density and improved utilisation of delivery vehicles and drivers, resulting in fewer miles per delivery and lower costs.
  • Reliability of delivery routes that are achievable in the time available.
  • Customers’ goods are delivered on time in scheduled narrow time slots.
  • Improved performance and customer satisfaction.
  • No over utilisation or over capacity of vehicles.
  • Goods don’t have to be left behind resulting in disappointed customers.
  • Underutilised delivery vehicles and drivers add unnecessary costs.
  • Advanced warnings of high delivery volumes so additional vehicles and drivers can be secured in advance.
  • Reducing the miles per delivery also reduces CO2 per delivery and is better for the environment.