Truck Route Planner: What Can It Do For Your Business

Updated on July 30, 2024 by Alisa Cvilij

Route planning comes in all shapes and sizes. It could be planning a trip for your upcoming vacation. It could  also be a multi-drop delivery route.

Trucking involves planning routes, too. These scenarios all have different needs when planning a trip.

This blog post is all about planning commercial truck routes.

We dive into truck-specific how to plan a truck route that minimizes mileage and cuts fuel costs.

What is truck routing?

Truck routing refers to designing  the best routes, that are quick  and cost-efficient. To achieve this, truck routing extends to optimization. Route optimization software considers vehicle and road constraints, drivers' working hours, customers' preferred time slots, and more.

Routing can be a manual function. However, route optimization is more difficult without the help of software. Imagine optimizing routes for multiple commercial vehicles with so many variables to consider.

If your commercial fleet consists of  more than one vehicle, you're better off using route optimization software or an app.

Can I use Google Maps and Waze to plan truck routes?

First things first: you can use Google Maps or Waze to plan truck routes. Both are free tools, and you might already be using them for personal trip planning, which means you're familiar with the interfaces.

However, when it comes to commercial truck routing, dedicated software will save time andmoney. It will also win you many brownie points in your customers' eyes. But don't take this at face value - see for yourself.

Use Google Maps and Waze if

You have 1-3 trucks that deliver locally.

Your trucker staff is small and works one schedule.

You don't need to optimize based on truck size, mileage, number of pallets, etc.

You know the area well and can apply local knowledge to double-check routes.

Your truck routes involve fewer than  9 stops.

You don't need to send shipping notifications with ETAs automatically.

You don't need 1-click GPS tracking of trucks in real-time.

• As you can see, Google Maps and Waze are fine for truck routing, but  you need to know your risks. Ensure that your business can still deliver with limited to no routing automation.

Use a truck route planner tool if

• You have 2+ commercial trucks in your fleet.
• Your truck drivers work different schedules and have breaks during the day.
• You want to optimize routes based on vehicle and time constraints, cargo, etc.
• You don't have first-hand knowledge about all locations you deliver to.
• Your plan multi-stop truck routes with 10+ drop locations each.
• You want to automate customer notifications.
• You want to offer customers 1-click live tracking.

Track-POD route planning software, for example, offers a selection of navigation systems.

These include: Google Maps, Apple Maps, Waze, TomTom, HERE WeGo, Sygic, and Hammer.

With Track-POD, you can choose any navigation system you like and use it  at no extra cost.

As much as it's a personal preference to adopt a route planner for truck drivers or not, using one puts you ahead of the companies that don't.  Not to mention enhanced efficiency and business benefits.

Why you would need a route planner

Whether it’s a free truck route planner, or something that offers more functionality at a price, a route planner is essential for any business with a busy logistics operation. Let's look at what you gain from using a route planning and optimization tool for  your trucks.

1. Deliver more

Trucking is about getting cargo from A to B cheaply and efficiently. A route planner has optimization features that recommend using  your trucks to their full service capacity. This allows you to deliver more without growing your fleet.

When you deliver more in one route, your cost per delivery drops.  Delivery routing software helps with fuel management. The   lower mileage helps you to keep your transportation prices low or even provide free delivery.

For example, using Track-POD, you can specify larger loads for each truck. The weight, pallets, volume, maximum sites/orders, worktime, distance, speed, cost, etc.,  are all used by the software to maximise your loads 

The software also assigns the vehicles according to the cargo parameters. For example, pharmacy delivery might require refrigerated trucks with special equipment in them.

2. Deliver on time

The best truck route helps your drivers avoid traffic and low bridges. It provides accurate directions and saves them time finding parking.

Meeting time slots or docking schedules is crucial  if you want to avoid idling and extra costs.

Track-POD comes with a driver app that gives your truck drivers directions and helps them stick to the optimized routes.   The driver app also helps with Proof of Delivery by  collecting e-signatures. Drivers take  photo proof for paperless & contactless deliveries.  This also saves time and helps minimize misunderstandings and disputes.

Route planning software  also plans routes based on how long it takes to serve each delivery stop. When it comes to multi-stop routes, delivering on time is impossible without sticking to the plan.

3. Deliver safely

Every delivery route must be safe for everyone involved. This applies primarily to truck drivers. However, it also includes customers, warehouse staff, suppliers, andanyone else your truckers come in contact with.

While you can't predict everything on the road, you can create safe conditions for your truck drivers to work in. Using truck routing software helps you to keep track of drivers' working hours, breaks, and the number of stops in each route, It also records speeding, excessive braking, and other bad driving habits.

 Safety assurance is also about having the right equipment on board and following operating instructions.Examples of this is loading equipment and a first aid kit in case of emergencies.

4. Deliver in full

Delivering on time is half of the job; the other is to deliver in full. Ensuring all items and packages are loaded onto the trucks in the correct order and arrive undamaged is an essential part of commercial truck routing.

There are two steps to ensuring delivery in full.

1. Load check with unique, scannable shipping labels.
2. Delivery confirmation that allows partial and overdelivery.

On the one hand, you reduce mistakes in loading to avoid situations where a customer receives the wrong or damaged package. On the other, you have the tools to document partial delivery or overdelivery.

Types of trucks

No matter the size or type of delivery vehicle, route planning is important if you want to improve efficiency and remain competitive.

The loading of the vehicle is also important. 

• The goods should be well distributed so that the vehicle is balanced.
• Loading should happen according to the delivery schedule. This is done by placing the first items in the front for easy access.

Delivery vehicles come in all shapes and sizes. Route planners take these factors into account when doing the calculations. Here are some of the different trucks and their uses.

Cargo vans and box trucks: E-commerce businesses usually deliver many small parcels to individual customers who shop online. A light delivery vehicle is sufficient for this use.

Flat bed trucks: These come in various sizes. The smaller ones can be used for transporting furniture as they are easy to load with bulky items. Large flatbed trucks can take a substantial weight, such as heavy steel pipes. 

Heavy duty trucks: Companies that make large deliveries use the larger heavy goods vehicles (HGV) trucks. Route planning needs to take the weight and size of the load into account. Some roads have weight limits, and vehicle owners will be fined if they are in contravention of these limits.

Semi-trucks: A semi-truck has a detachable trailer. They are versatile and known for their ability to transport heavy loads. The coupling, or articulation point, enables the truck and trailor to pivot for easier manoeuvreability.  The trailer can be unhitched during loading and offloading. 

It also makes sense to use smaller vehicles in built-up areas with a lot of traffic. Large trucks and the larger delivery vans find it difficult to change lanes and to turn corners in the middle of heavy traffic. 

If practical, logistics operations should invest in a range of vehicle sizes to suit their cargo and the different routes.

How to plan a truck route

1. Add trucks and truckers

• First, you need to add all of the vehicles in your fleet, as well as all of your truckers, to the system. The more information  you provide,  the more efficient your route planning will be. . Truck data includes weight, capacity, and size of the truck.
• Driver data includes the driver’s name, license details, and their preferred routes. You can record their driving skills.

2. Set up order import

To speed up the planning process, , you need to set up an  order import so that you don't have to add orders manually. This will pull through the customer information on the orders as well as the products to be delivered. Different types of system integrations exist to cater for the order placement system that you use: Built-in integrations with eCommerce sites like Shopify or WooCommerce.

• Built-in integration via Zapier, Quickbooks, Unleashed, and more.
• API integration with your ERP, CRM, or any other system.

3. Customer adresses

Incorrect delivery addresses can play havoc with your delivery schedule. This is why verification of addresses is so important.

Order systems should pull the addresses through from the CRM database.

 It does sometimes happen that customers relocate and the address is not updated on the system. 

To help validate addresses, an email can be sent to the customer once you have confirmed the ETAs on the delivery schedule. Emails should include a notification of the ETA and confirmation of the delivery address. This places the onus on the customer to notify you of incorrect address details.

4. Plan & optimize routes in 1 click

Now that you have your vehicles and drivers in the system, and orders have been imported, you can start planning and optimizing your routes. Track-POD will consider all stops in the route, including priority locations, if any.

Voilà! You're all set for dispatch and delivery. All details and directions will appear on your drivers' mobile phones instantly. This ensures no further delays in order fulfillment.

Benefits of automating your route planning process

The benefits of automating your route planning process are clear:

• You save time in the planning phase, freeing personnel up for other tasks.
• Optimization of routes enables you to cut down on fuel and vehicle maintenance costs.
• You are able to provide accurate ETAs for your customer.
• More visibility of your trucks out on the road makes remote route management easier.

Wrapping up

Trucking is an expensive business, with fuel and fleet maintenance costs constantly on the rise.

Planning routes as a truck driver is not the same as planning a personal trip - that much is clear. You need more than Google Maps, and your efficiency grows with the right software.

Consider  your options and gear up with reliable routing software for truck routes with unlimited stops.

• Whether it’s a semi-truck route planner, or a moving truck route planner that you’re after, the Track-POD software will do the trick.

If you need help choosing particular features and want to see how a route planner works, book a demo, and let's talk.

About The Author

Alisa Cvilij

Content Marketer at Track-POD. Passionate about building meaningful and helpful content for the readers.