Road haulage for many means traffic, breakdowns and other unknowns, all of which can impact on delivery times substantially. When things go wrong, it’s your customers that suffer a knock-on effect when all they require is timely, honest communication.
Ideally, people want to know about any problems before being notified by their customers so that they have the opportunity to best protect their own brand and service provision. So, for a haulage company looking to improve speed and operational efficiency, how do you also meet customer expectations?
Meeting Customer Expectations
To help provide and maintain timely communications; keeping up with the latest technology innovations is crucial, particularly in the logistics industry. Technology is an imperative factor in the delivery of strong communication. The greatest transport companies are underpinned by technology solutions that help to streamline and improve their businesses and keep their customers informed.
Such implemented technologies renowned for keeping customers happy, include:
1. Tracking Devices on Vehicles
Vehicle tracking has become a key component for delivering fleet management benefits of increased productivity, improved driver behaviour and simplified compliance management.
Telemetrically tracked vehicles allow for close management of the fleet and accurate ETA’s in real time, ensuring customers are kept informed.
By possessing insight into vehicle location and gaining activity reports and details of driver conduct, vehicle tracking software provides the latest in technology innovation and means fleets operations can be taken to the next level. Benefits of vehicle tracking include:
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Fleet-wide control
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Optimised productivity
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Reduced fuel spend
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Improved driver safety
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Reduced overtime cost
2. ETA Notifications
Providing visibility of delivery via notification is a relatively new concept that allows customers to get alerted throughout the stages of their delivery through SMS or email messaging.
Customers can take advantage of such delivery notifications simply by providing their email address and mobile phone number at the point of despatch. Such Estimated Time of Arrival (ETA) notifications keeps the status of a consignment updated and can include the likely time of arrival at the chosen destination.
3. Digital Signature Capture
Electronic signature capture software supports a wide variety of electronic appliances, including mobile devices, making it ideal for logistics personnel. The benefits include:
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No more paper - helping to reduce your carbon footprint, house all important customer data electronically, and save on paper costs
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Signatures can be captured immediately and saved automatically, improving efficiency
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Security is enhanced, particularly if digitally encrypted
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The automated processes of uploading electronic signatures can reduce the financial impact of human error
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Timestamps can be applied to deliveries
4. Electronic Proof of Delivery
The use of Digital Signature Capture can allow Electronic Proof of Delivery (ePOD) to be produced. This is the digital format of the traditional paper delivery. EPOD lets you get delivery details and an image of the consignee’s signature, so you can view, download, print or email your proof of delivery documents within minutes of the delivery taking place. EPOD provides a great solution for drivers who are out on the road and need to report back their deliveries at the end of each working shift.
Keeping Customers Informed
Continued improvement and advancements in the logistics industry will be data-driven, so it’s vital for companies to stay one step ahead of their competitors with the help of technological advancements.
If like many companies, it's an important part of your service quality to keep customers informed of when deliveries are scheduled to arrive and to ensure that things are on schedule, you’ll find that using a logistics company that utilises Vehicle Tracking, ETA Notifications, Digital Signature Capture, and Electronic Proof of Delivery will help achieve this, ensuring a better level of communication amongst your customers and greater levels of satisfaction all round.
For more information on our full range of services, from Storage to General Haulage or from Specialist Lifts to Contract Distribution, please get in touch today at Welch's Transport.