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RouteiqueApr 20, 2022 3:22:00 PM5 min read

What Transportation Management KPIs Should Your Team Be Tracking?

What Transportation Management KPIs Should Your Team Be Tracking?

Last week's blog focused on setting your transportation operation up for success. In this blog, we're building off that theme by going into more detail about what essential KPIs your business can track to ensure success.


Key Takeaways:

  • Measuring transportation KPIs helps equip your organization to delight customers and set customers up for success.

  • Transportation management KPIs we recommend tracking include revenue per KM, route profitability, time per call, and driver time per call.

  • Routeique’s tools help easily track all aspects of your transportation operation.


This blog is part of our series on KPIs, which also includes:

4 Transportation KPIs to Track

Like our similar warehousing-focused blog last month, we won't recommend specific numbers to track since every business is different.

However, we will list some key metrics that our expert Client Success team recommends that clients track. Routeique's system and reporting tools enable users to track any outstanding items easily.

 

1. Revenue Per km

Revenue per kilometre allows you to measure route profitability.

 

Potential Causes of Low Revenue/km

Low revenue per kilometre can be due to having a minimum order value that's too low for customers in hard-to-access locations. This could also be due to using an assigned route model. Having drivers deliver the same route regardless of how many orders are on it can make for some inefficient days.

 

Tips for Enhancing Low Revenue/km

Many software solutions only offer route optimization, leaving you to cluster orders onto routes. Instead, look for solutions that provide route planning & optimization to make the most of your available delivery units. By reducing mileage by up to 25%, our tools enable you to enhance your revenue per kilometre

 

2. Route Profitability

Measuring route profitability can help you better interact with your sales and planning team.

 

Potential Causes of Low Route Profitability

Routes may be unprofitable for several reasons. Some can be directly related to the transportation and delivery process, such as an unnecessarily long route or high frequency. External factors, like product pricing or the number of products in a truck, can also affect the route's profitability.

 

Tips For Enhancing Route Profitability

The steps needed to remedy an unprofitable route depend on the abovementioned reason. For example, if a truck is full yet the route is losing money, it may be a time to either increase the price, lower delivery frequency or make another adjustment.

 

 

3. Average Time Per Call

Knowing your business' average time for a call, including drive time, can offer a broad view of how efficient your operations are.

 

Potential Causes of Long Call Times

Some of the culprits behind long call times can be varied, such as poor or unclear delivery instructions for the driver, bad address or geocode generation, wait times, and more.

 

Tips For Lowering Call Times

At the same time, aggressively attempting to cut call time at all costs isn't always the answer. If drivers are performing customer service, merchandising, and other tasks, the best option can be to focus on areas that add unnecessary time to calls.

Nothing is more expensive and detrimental to service than drivers going an hour in the wrong direction because of a bad address. An address management tool can cleanse and save good address data for each customer. Similarly, route optimization helps cut driving time and digital tools to streamline tasks like collecting proof of delivery. All of this cuts down on overall drive time without cutting into valuable and relationship-building tasks.

 

 

4. Driver Time Per Call

How long does it take a driver at each drop? On an individual level, tracking call time enables a company to measure a drivers' performance, set up an incentive program, and for performance reviews. However, this situation is nuanced–some things, such as customer service, upselling, or merchandising, can take time but aren't something you want to cut short. That is why monitoring this KPI carefully is important.

 

Potential Causes of Long Call Times

Elements that can add unnecessary length to call times can include inefficient routes or difficulties
on the delivery side. They can also include difficulty capturing proof of delivery, errors with the order,
and more.

 

Tips for Lowering Call Times

There are numerous possible ways to reduce call times when needed. Most follow from the section above. Additionally, recommend setting up drivers for success with a comprehensive transportation management system, like our Delivery Management system. This streamlines drivers’ jobs by managing routes and getting all of the information they need to communicate with customers, collect proof of delivery, and more.

 

 

The Benefits of Measuring Transportation KPIs

The benefits of KPIs aren't limited to a more efficient operation. They also help foster relationships with both your end customers and your team. In today's fast-paced space and competitive hiring market, these things alone can help you sharpen your competitive edge.

 

Delight Your End Customers

By taking service windows into account and cutting down delivery time, your operation can provide the speedy and accurate service that customers expect.

 

Set Your Team Members Up For Success

Tracking the right KPIs can help you create a healthy environment for your team. For example, understanding the above KPIs can enable you to distribute work evenly among drivers, ensure they have a volume that they can handle, and track driver performances to offer bonuses or other rewards.

 

Not Sure Where To Start?

 

Tools for Measuring KPIs

 

Routeique's Unique Approach to Route Optimization

Our route optimization system's unique process has two phases that optimize routes while considering delivery windows, location, and the number of drivers.

First, our system analyzes available resources and clusters the drops into route plans. Next, it organizes the drops in the most efficient order for your drivers to tackle.

All data from the field sync directly back to the Digital Control Tower, providing real-time visibility into order fulfillment status and POD. Additionally, all route plans are shared with drivers’ delivery management apps.

 

Real-Time Visibility

Many of our clients' transportation problems arise because they can't see where drivers are, and lack real-time delivery status info.

Our war room map and digital control tower enable you to track all deliveries in real-time. This includes vehicle location, delivery status, any order modifications, and even cold chain compliance.

 

Get In Touch

Once your team knows where you are and where you want to be, you can use these KPIs to target your improvements.

We can recommend a variety of solutions, including:

  • Our route planning & optimization tools
  • Our Delivery Management System app is an easy-to-use transportation management system for drivers
  • Cold chain management tools
  • A robust digital control tower

 

To learn more, get in touch with our team members by booking an intro call through the button above. Or, browse the rest of our blogs for more information on transportation and route optimization.

 

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