Your new year’s resolution this year is to commit to offering same-day deliveries to your customers. But you are not sure if your drivers will be able to cope. You’ve heard about delivery driver apps.
But here’s a stumbling block: Your budget is small, and you can’t afford to commit to a year-long subscription, especially if you don’t know what the rest of the financial year holds for your business.
Here’s what you can consider – researching the best delivery apps that will suit your business needs.
Before committing, try it out for a bit. See for yourself how the features work. Test it on real-life orders.
Let’s help you find the best delivery driver apps that offer a free trial to ensure they fit your business needs.
But first, let’s see what are the basic features and what should be on offer from these apps.
What Can You Do With A Delivery Driver App?
Delivery driver apps offer features that help small and big businesses compete and deliver faster. It’s a digital tool designed to streamline dispatching, routing, and tracking deliveries.
Whether it’s an e-commerce store, local business, restaurant, or startup, make sure it provides features that can make your business overcome hurdles in the delivery process and make it more manageable.
Here’s how small businesses can benefit from delivery driver apps.
- You don’t have to hire extra staff; the driver app works with delivery management software.
- The app reduces human error when dispatching vehicles for deliveries.
- It also helps to track each driver during multiple deliveries.
- Driver app can give customers updates on where their order is (customers love transparency)
- The app simplifies operations by automating delivery schedules and routing.
For larger businesses, albeit retail, logistics companies, or big brands, there are also specific business needs that the driver app fulfills.
- The delivery app helps to optimize large delivery fleets, even if they are scattered over multiple regions.
- Managers can track each driver’s performance, holding each member accountable.
- You increase profitability by reducing the number of failed deliveries and fuel.
Learn more about a driver app: What is a driver app, and how can my business benefit?
What’s the Purpose of a Delivery Driver App?
There are four main functionalities that any business needs to perform better, scale, and compete.
Route Optimization
Using route optimization with your driver app helps drivers find the most efficient route (and no, it’s not necessarily the shortest route.) Drivers view the route and the next stop, ensuring no confusion and a delayed delivery.
Real-Time Tracking
With real-time tracking, drivers are monitored, which provides customers with accurate information on when their delivery will arrive at their doorstep. This helps to improve customer satisfaction.
Proof of Delivery
The app helps drivers electronically capture a signature, photograph, and special instructions to confirm a successful delivery. This helps avoid future disputes between the business and the customer.
Communication
The driver app facilitates communication between drivers, customers, and managers. This makes it easier for dispatchers to make changes when needed, and customers can talk to the delivery man.
Top 5 Delivery Driver Apps: Offering Free Trials
Here are five delivery driver apps that are worth considering for your small or large business.
1. Locate2u
Locate2u offers comprehensive delivery management features, including real-time tracking, route optimization, proof of delivery, and driver ratings and feedback.
This software is unique because of its user-friendly interface and top-quality software. It’s also scalable making it easy for when your business grows.
Western Australia Return Recycle Renew Limited (WARRRL) uses Locate2u’s software, and its CEO Tim Cusack says it’s “easy and simple to use.”
Locate2u’s driver app automates route planning and provides real-time tracking which helps businesses with different sizes to reduce delivery time and operational errors.
It offers a 30 days free trial to make it easier for customers to try out the software before committing.
During the free trial period, customers can also communicate their main priorities, be it route optimization, real-time tracking or any of the other features.
2. Track-POD
Delivery drivers use the Track-POD app to receive assignments, navigate optimized routes, scan barcodes, and capture delivery confirmations.
The app offers features like proof of delivery, real-time tracking, and load checking.
It’s entirely paperless and contactless, which makes it efficient and fast.
It makes the dispatching process easier, allows for barcodes on orders to be scanned, and provides real-time updates to customers via the app.
It only offers a 7-day free app trial, after which you’ll be charged the full rate. Nevertheless, you’ll be able to see what features work for your business and what not.
3. RoadWarrior
RoadWarrior focuses on route optimization for individual drivers and teams, offering features like multi-stop routing and real-time traffic updates. Drivers can put in the stops into the app which then calculates the most efficient route.
The aim is here to help customers to deliver more deliveries in less time. Making the waiting period for orders far shorter than competitors.
RoadWarrior also offers a 7-day free app trial for potential customers to try out.
4. SmartRoutes
SmartRoutes offers route planning, driver tracking, and customer notifications that are made for businesses of all sizes.
The app provides drivers with up-to-date notifications and allows them to capture proof of delivery afterward.
SmartRoutes offers a 7-day free app trial, but after a week, you’ll have to choose a pay plan that suits your business needs.
5. Circuit
Circuit specializes in route optimization and offers proof of delivery to customers. The driver captures all the necessary information via the app which gets synchronized with the dashboard.
It helps to reduce delivery times and keep transparency so customers know where drivers are.
Their 7-day free trial allows businesses to explore all its features, but it’s limited to a maximum of 10 stops.
How to Choose The Right Delivery Driver Apps?
Here are five important steps that can help you when you are making your final decision on which app suits your business needs best.
Step 1: Make sure the app aligns with your specific delivery needs.
Step 2: See if the interface is user-friendly for drivers and dispatchers. You want an app that is easy to use and understand by anyone using it.
Step 3: Confirm whether the app improves your business efficiency and reduces costs. You want to save money in the long run.
Step 4: Make sure it integrates smoothly with your existing systems. If you are not sure, contact support and ask those questions.
Step 5: Look for customer reviews and case studies. What are other users saying about the app after using a purchased version?
About the author
Mia is a multi-award-winning journalist. She has more than 14 years of experience in mainstream media. She's covered many historic moments that happened in Africa and internationally. She has a strong focus on human interest stories, to bring her readers and viewers closer to the topics at hand.
