Better route planning the best way to cut costs, Microlise operator poll reveals

Enhanced route planning and optimisation are seen as better methods of improving efficiency and reducing costs than driver performance and safety, according to a survey of transport professionals.

More than 1,000 representatives from the transport and logistics industry were asked which aspects of fleet management have the biggest impact on cost reduction and 60% said a modern approach to route planning saved them time, cut road miles and harmful emissions and removed significant operational costs.

Microlise said the poll results showed that in the wake of the Covid 19 pandemic, consumer habits had changed and the demand for faster delivery models were here to stay.

“The pandemic signalled the need for a step-change in the way many businesses organise their supply chains and general logistics models,” said Stephen Watson, Microlise product director.

“Manual planning is rapidly becoming a thing of the past, because the sheer human effort involved in marrying up jobs with resources and organising them into workable routes is a tremendous cost burden and riddled with potential inefficiencies.”

The survey was conducted at this year’s Microlise transport conference.