The Importance of Analytics in Logistics Optimization

Updated on February 10, 2020 by Andrey Baturin

If your business involves deliveries of any kind, managing driver logistics is a critical component of improving productivity and efficiency.

With a logistics management solution, such as a proof of delivery platform, your business can track deliveries, send ETA notifications, capture evidence of shipment, and more.

While these delivery logistics enhancements give businesses the tools to track deliveries, platforms enable tapping into data to drive improvements in your processes.

Learn about pros and cons of using shipment analytics 

Tap into logistics analytics for ongoing improvements

While your drivers are out in the field making deliveries, they generate data on everything shipments, travel time, varying routes, and a host of other crucial components of daily delivery operations.

Information on shipment weight and size can help route traffic more efficiently and can help simplify your supply chain. Most importantly, since logistics data is a real-time picture of your delivery process, it provides transparency, accountability, and insights into how to improve deliveries.

Analytics for traffic performance

Insights into such factors as delivery performance during certain times of the day can help companies estimate future deliveries. With predictive analytics, businesses have a richer picture that goes far beyond mere estimation. 

With the power of data analytics, logistic planning is smoother, leading to fewer transportation errors. Trips can be optimized through the development of unique logistics key performance indicators.

Through data analysis, businesses can clearly define optimal delivery time, so you can provide more accurate and valuable ETA estimates, and can develop plans to reduce redundancies and make efficient route maps.

Logistics analytics in action

In shipping, the last mile is crucial. This is because most of the shipping process before final delivery to the recipient is less prone to outside interference. A business can create several safeguards internally to ensure an efficient process, but the last mile can be dotted with complications.

Local traffic and parking concerns and the risk of damage right up to the moment of delivery can cause bottlenecks that lead to delays and other problems. Insight into this last mile of delivery can help minimize risks and reduce costs.

Access to data is simplified through driver GPS — often found in a driver’s smartphone or a growing number of IoT sensors and scanners for different components of the supply chain. Getting the data is no longer a problem. The challenge is turning a vast amount of data into something valuable and actionable.

Final thoughts

Track-POD is the delivery logistics solution that provides a clear window into driver activity. Accessing analytics through Track-POD is simple.

Users can dial down to individual drivers to see real-time insights into driver activity, time, and performance, which then can be viewed in report format or used to optimize routes and take other steps to deliver faster and with fewer delivery exceptions.

Track-POD is constantly providing relevant information to help logistics managers ensure a smooth and successful process for the last mile of every delivery.

For more information on how Track-POD can help your business collect and give value to logistics data, book a free demo or start your 7-day trial (no credit card required) today.