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1. Why last mile logistics is important?
Last-mile logistics is the most complex and, happened to be believed, most costly part of the distribution supply chain. While there is a growing buzz around the expression, the last mile implies different things for different industries. So, before moving forward with the recommendations of how to optimize last-mile logistics one should first define what it actually means for the specific operating model and where the inefficiencies are?
With the accelerated growth of e-commerce, increasing requirements is creating burdens on the logistics chain, which amplifies the final mile. According to a 2022 report by Deloitte, as consumers’ delivery-related demands increase—as does the cost and complexity of meeting those demands—new, nimbler options are arising to enable retailers to outsource last-mile delivery to the gig economy. Amazon Flex and Walmart’s Spark Delivery enable independent drivers to deliver online purchases to the retailers’ customers. Along with the growth of e-commerce, last-mile logistics has its specifics and new challenges for traditional sectors as well. These challenges can be sector-specific, such as decreasing delivery times and increasing density of fulfillment centers but also can result from general macroeconomic trends such as shortages of employees and supply chain problems.
2. Last mile delivery logistics is not just home deliveries
“Last-mile” logistics or deliveries might have different meanings for different sectors and industries. First of all, different companies might be implementing final mile deliveries using private fleets or hiring carriers. Thus, we can differentiate between private fleet shippers and for-hire carriers. While for private fleet shippers logistics operations are supplementary to their main businesses, for-hire carriers or logistics service providers (LSP) generate income for transportation services. Secondly, the last mile will be different for companies that are in the B2B business such as wholesale distributors, or focusing mainly on home deliveries such as retailers. Some e-commerce companies could be put into a category of their own as they mostly don't own vehicles but may combine both retail and wholesale operations.
Retailers and e-commerce
“Last-mile logistics” in the retail sector mainly implies the organization of store-to-customer small-size delivery processes.
According to U.S. Census Bureau News Total e-commerce sales for 2021 were estimated at $870.8 billion, an increase of 14.2% from 2020. Total retail sales in 2021 increased 17.9% from 2020. E-commerce sales in 2021 accounted for 13.2% of total sales. E-commerce sales in 2020 accounted for 13.6% of total sales.
Demands for faster, cheaper shipping result in a growing complexity of last-mile delivery operations. Consumers can now choose to get their purchases in a variety of ways: home delivery, ship-to-store, ship-to-locker, or reserve online and pick up in-store. Returns can now be made in-store or by shipping the product back to the retailer. Linear supply chains have given way to complex, interconnected supply chain networks. And the subscription services offered by a growing number of retailers often subsidize or waive delivery fees, making it incredibly easy for consumers to place many small orders instead of a few large ones. The result? More—and more frequent— orders, a sharp rise in demand for expedited delivery, an e-commerce logistics market with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 20.4 percent, and rising costs for retail and consumer goods companies. Amazon is able to meet consumers’ demands by spending 15.6 percent of its net sales revenue on shipping costs and an incredible 27.9 percent on combined fulfillment costs. Retailers, by comparison, spend about 8 percent of revenue on e-commerce fulfillment on average; in the current retail environment, it would be hard for them to cover more of the delivery costs and still stay profitable.
Different companies prefer different last-mile delivery logistics models. Larger retailers tend to run private fleets of vehicles, while smaller ones rely on outsourced transportation. It should be mentioned that most private fleet companies usually combine both operational models. Hence, processes and problems may differ for different types of shippers.
We can also divide retail deliveries into grocery and the rest as delivery patterns and velocity are quite different. The average lead time for delivery of groceries is 0.7 days, compared to electronics which take 3 days, and 5 days for apparel. Thus, consolidation and logistics management models can vary substantially.
Logistics service providers (LSP) and delivery companies
We can conditionally divide logistics service providers into long-haul and local delivery models. There are a number of LSPs that operate on both markets, we see a growing number of specialized local delivery companies, especially during the Covid 19 pandemic. We see also the emergence of platforms that connect shippers and individual vehicle owners. Later are essentially networks of independent couriers and delivery agents connected to a delivery ecosystem that pick up and deliver small packages. The other distinct difference between long-haul and local deliveries is that local deliveries are usually on the same day while long-haul deliveries can vary from 1-7 days.
As it turns out that the final mile can be used to describe the sharply different distribution and delivery models there is a wide range of estimated market sizes. The Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) reports that the last leg of overall transportation costs makes up as much as 28% of logistics expenses. Transportation’s contribution to the economy can be measured by its contribution to gross domestic product (GDP). The Bureau of Transportation Statistics reports the final (finished) transportation goods and services purchased by people, businesses, and governments in 2018 contributed $1,489.7 billion, or 8.9%, to U.S. GDP. If we apply the aforementioned 28% BEA figure, we could say the market for the final mile (from a GDP perspective) is an astounding $417 billion. Contrary, if we narrow down the final mile to home deliveries and assume that these are small-sized we need to look into parcel delivery numbers in the picture below4.
There is also another important distinction between the organization of long-haul and same-day logistics - long-haul deliveries are usually done using semi-tractors or sleeper trucks while local deliveries are implemented by smaller trucks or even passenger cars. Thus, contracting, company and driver onboarding are different for long-haul transportation needs. The latter is a highly regulated industry that needs special licenses and drivers. The value of the average delivery is also much higher hence the carriers are going through much meticulous due diligence. The important peculiarity is that while more individuals can be involved in local deliveries, continued driver shortage, increasing insurance, and, lately, fuel costs make long-haul capacity scarcer and pressure on the costs higher.
As you may see in the picture above, the ground transportation rates almost doubled during the last two years.
Wholesale distributors
Wholesale distributors are the middleman between producers and retailers with slight differences from industry to industry. It is one of the more complex industries driven by high numbers of SKUs, customers, suppliers, and transactions, and their pricing and rebate structures. They can be grouped into major ones such as food, beverages, pharmaceutical, electronics, industrial, and building materials. According to the National Association of Wholesale Distributors (NAW) total wholesale distribution revenue ended the year at $5.970 trillion, just slightly below the April 2019 record high. GDP for the year totaled a record-high $21.734 trillion with a growth rate of 4.0%. The Wholesale Distribution industry is 27.5% of U.S. GDP.
Last-mile logistics from the wholesale distributor perspective is different. As they are middlemen between producers and retailers/local businesses their last mile will be the leg between the distribution centers and local warehouses/shops. The wholesalers tend to rely on private fleet operations as they operate in an environment of rigid deadlines. The average size of a single drop also tends to be larger and distances longer, while the number of stops in daily routes will be fewer compared to home deliveries. We observe changes in the industry in the form of growing concentration as well as the emergence of disruptive business models as well. For example, Amazon’s sales platform is supported by more than 2 million third-party sellers worldwide. Of those sellers, 26% sell products using a wholesale sales model.
3. Challenges of last mile logistics
Scheduling and routing is a great challenge
Scheduling and routing daily package deliveries for a relatively smaller delivery radius, i.e. 50 miles is different from scheduling and routing deliveries of hundreds or even thousands of boxes per one drop for a 300 miles radius. The first is going to be for home deliveries from warehouses of fulfillment centers located closer to city centers. The latter is the case of a food distribution operation to stores, restaurants, and other businesses. Large building or construction material distributors may have lesser stops per route but their route can strain through the weeks. Apart from the difference in distances, route durations, and the number of stops per route, this distribution model requires drivers with different skill sets and driving habits/work models as well as sometimes radically different equipment. When it comes to large 3PLs or LSP this process may combine all of the abovementioned with the need to solve the consolidation problem to/from multiple warehouses and the involvement of different counterparts.
Planning multi-leg deliveries creates delays
As we have already established, last-mile delivery logistics can mean different things for different industries. So, the complexity of the operational model hence the complexity of the planning process can sometimes differ cardinally. It is becoming even more cumbersome when planners are trying to coordinate the timing between the different legs of the supply chain, such as the first, the middle, and the last miles. While manufacturers and distributors will mostly use last-mile consolidation centers and warehouses, transportation companies and logistic service providers (LPS) might even bypass these centers and implement multi-day delivery to the final customers. It is going to be the case, especially for B2B or heavier deliveries.
Coordination between different delivery operators
It can be a great challenge when planning the last mile. It is generally assumed that when the last mile is concerned there is one delivery party that moves the freight. While that could be a case for home or packaged deliveries, in many operational models or industries there are more than one or even two delivery/transportation partners. Thus along with the larger planning range (weekly or biweekly) and multiple consolidation locations involved, the need for coordination between multiple counterparts is going to pose another challenge.
Visibility is important
When it comes to visibility, logistic managers usually imply to the consumer that they know where your truck is. While it is good information to have, especially in real-time, locating your delivery is one (small) part of the total visibility. It should help not only track deliveries but also make preventive operational management and long-term data analytics and efficiency optimization.
Capturing data: Capturing data is essential as it is created in real-time or near time and distributed across different operational decision-makers. It particularly includes stops or order level updates of estimated times of arrivals (ETA) at a driver, customer, dispatcher, or DC level. Post factum delivery data such as late deliveries and actual service times is also important to capture and store properly. To minimize late deliveries by implementing dynamic routing, dispatchers need timely data that shows ETAs with service times and other variables not being produced by GPS tracking software.
Aggregating data: Capturing and aggregating delivery data per different instances and layers is the key to efficient operational and strategic middle-mile network management. The difficulty of it is that systems across different parts of the logistics chain are captured and stored differently, so it is not always possible to have different levels of data aggregation without a synchronized ecosystem.
Supporting decision-making: Aggregated data is a foundation for retrospective and prospective data analytics. One of the major problems of growingly complex logistic supply chains is the absence of full digitization and synchronization of all the necessary information across different layers of an organization.
Trucking capacity is scarce
The ongoing truck driver shortage is now estimated at 80,000, up from 61,000 just three years ago. A new study by Bob Costello, chief economist for the American Trucking Associations (ATA), estimates that the industry will have to recruit 1 million new drivers within the next nine years to replace retiring drivers. This shortage makes it really hard for fleet-light shippers to cover loads and implement proper long-term transportation planning. This is also one of the main reasons for the rising freight costs described above.
4. Less Platform as the best last mile delivery software
Depending on the type of the operational model and or the sector of industry, last-mile deliveries can span from a couple of stops per vehicle per day to high volume short distance stops. Less Platform is capable to route and scheduling deliveries that are peculiar to any distribution model.
Types of industries using last mile logistics software
Lest's discuss several use cases.
For B2C type of high volumes deliveries that are peculiar to e-commerce and retail, it is important that the algorithms could plan 10’s stops in the routes. These deliveries are usually planned daily while vehicles usually cover shorter distances. Dynamic capabilities are also more important as a high level of discrepancies between optimized delivery plans and live deliveries can happen
The next type of local or city dispatch operations is fleet-light operations in case of which delivery companies don't own vehicles. In this case, they may either crowdsource deliveries before or after planning or signup with major carriers (FedEx, UPS, DHL).
The separate operations model of deliveries is the delivery companies that don't have warehouses or distribution centers. These companies usually do high-volume pickups and deliveries during the day. Hence, a different class of algorithms is developed for these types of movies in Less Platform.
For the wholesale distributors and also retailers that need to plan B2B moves such as DC-to-Store or Store-to-DC in case of reverse logistics, a distribution model covers a larger area. In the meantime, the number of stops on the routes will be lower, while the weight of each delivery higher. Vehicles are going to be larger as well so capacity becomes more important.
There are also large use cases of long-haul delivery planning and routing by 3PLs, large shippers, and carriers. Two types of moves are being planned; a) consolidation and routing of LTL’s (Less than truckload) shipments into FTLs (Full truckloads) both by asset-light and asset-based shippers, b) Forward planning of FTLs. It is worth note that in the former case the main optimization parameter is the mileage for fleet-based operations while for fleet-light shippers and 3PLs total cost should be minimized. In the case of FTL forward planning the main optimization parameter is the deadhead or the empty moves between stops (which should be minimized). Decision-making functions also might differ depending on who is making these decisions - shippers and 3PLs would be interested in mainly cost optimization by finding cheaper carriers, although 3PLs might also reach that via better preliminary consolidation or forward planning. Fleet-based logistics service providers (LSPs), such as LTL trucking companies might be interested in an increase in loaded mileage.
A special case is the companies that run a mix of fleet-based and fleet light operations. These are large 3PLs such as Hub Group or JB Hunt as well as retailers such as Walmart, Hope Depot, or Pepsico. They need to combine delivery routing technologies with load outsourcing or even by relying on spot markets.
Software Functionality
The are many features in Less Platform that support or work for almost all the abovementioned delivery models.
Multiple DCs. For example, multiple depots or distribution centers (DC) planning functionality. It is very convenient for companies that have centralized operational planning activities. Secondly, it helps to generate data for separate DCs as well as aggregate it on a company level. A number of warehouses or DCs is growing and getting closer to customers these days, making both operational and strategic routing harder and potential inefficiencies bigger. In the meantime, companies that run multiple pickups and delivery operations without consolidating their shipments in the warehouses can use Less Platform’s pickup and delivery routing and scheduling algorithms.
Delivery windows and variable service times. Two important constraints that make it hard to plan are daily delivery windows and variable service times. These two constraints can also drastically affect capacity used and routes planned. The absence of proper planning tools can make a planner's work daunting and consume too much time. It is also the main cause why distributors use excessive capacities, drive unnecessary miles and have late deliveries. These effects are being amplified due to increased demand variability, speed of deliveries, and tightening delivery windows.
Dynamic planning. Automatic routing is easiest the job but there are plenty more situations requiring manual planning. Less platform as a delivery software provides dynamic planning functional for both pre-dispatch and post-dispatch stages. After getting a route plan, a planner can reroute different stops by assigning them to different routes both individually and in bulk. Then sequencing algorithms will re-optimize the total plan. After making changes algorithms assess the feasibility of delivery windows by checking with recalculated ETAs. All the changes are instantly visible for drivers post-dispatch.
Scheduling. Planned loads can be scheduled both daily and weekly for respective drivers. Less Platform’s dispatch
management software is connected to the driver app so all drivers have planned loads once they are assigned to them. After the dispatch, the driver app updates all ETAs and synchronizes them with the dispatch board. Less Platform’s algorithms then check potential late deliveries by comparing ETAs with delivery windows. This way dispatchers can be proactive to avoid late deliveries or dynamically optimize the delivery process otherwise.
Optimization with contracted carriers. Less Platform also brings together demand and supply by helping shippers cover more loads at lower cost and carriers increase loaded mileage and earn for additional stops. According to our calculations and based on the information provided by more than 50 trucking companies, the average over-the-road truck has 10 linear feet or approximately 10,000 pounds of unused capacity. This “dark capacity” has a market value of over $200 billion. We help carriers to fill a partially loaded truck as fast as an empty truck, leading to a dramatic increase in asset utilization, the main driver of profitability for carriers. As shown in the picture below both shippers and carriers can find shipments or available space in the trucks using our AI algorithms.
This was a small list of various tools and innovations that Less Platform offers to different industries and companies.
Please contact [email protected] if you want to learn more about Less Platform's Last-mile delivery logistics orchestration capabilities.


Are you looking for a new routing software?
Shopping for routing software can be difficult. There are many different options to choose from and it’s hard to know which one is the best fit. We’ve created this guide to help you make an informed decision about what type of routing software would work best for your business.
Our goal with this guide is not only to provide information, but also offer insight into how we think about these decisions at our company and why we recommend certain things over others. Hopefully by the end of reading this article, you will have a better understanding of what makes good routing software and feel confident in making your own selection!
In this guide we'll cover:
- What makes good routing software.
- Knowing your needs before shopping.
- Steps to take during the purchase process.
- How to use a free trial for the best results
- How to compare software and costs
- The bottom line about what we've learned over the years of choosing routing software for our own use and helping others along the way.
Read on to begin the journey of shopping for routing software? Let's dive in!
What Makes Good Routing Software?
First things first, what exactly is routing software?
Routing software helps guide drivers to their destinations. The vehicle navigation system within the truck communicates with the routing software, which calculates a route based on customer addresses and locations of other customers en route. To give you an idea of how this works in practice, think about the last time you used Waze. You would enter your start and end points into the app, which then calculates a route based on traffic patterns and other users in the area to save you time.
Routing software is important because without it truck drivers would not be able to efficiently plan their routes or get paid for driving them.
What Industries Use Routing Software?
Routing software is used in many different industries. Each industry has its own unique needs and requirements, which makes it necessary to have specialized software that works well for the given industry. Here are some general examples of who might use routing/navigation software :
- B2C Transportation - Door-to-door delivery services like Fedex or UPS. Large fleets like DHL and Amazon.
- B2B Transportation - LTL (less than truckload) and FTL (full truckload) shipping services with large fleets, such as UPS Freight or Enterprise Truck Rental. Courier services for banks, hospitals, etc.
- Food & Beverage - Sysco, US Foods, other food distributors with large fleets.
- Construction - Electric, plumbing, HVAC. Any business that does site work requiring heavy equipment.
- Government/Military - Since routing software is used for mission-critical transportation, government agencies and the military are likely candidates to use routing software within their own operations.
- Public Safety - Fire, ambulance, and police services.
As you can see, when it comes to routing software, the possibilities are endless! To help us narrow down which options would be best-suited for your company, we’ll need to understand what your business needs.
How to Determine Your Business Needs
The first step in selecting a routing software is to figure out what your business needs. We call this the “who, what, where, when and why” of routing software:
Who will be using it? - Who will most likely be driving routes with the routing software you choose? Will your drivers mainly be sales teams visiting customers or a customer service team visiting clients? Will it be the whole fleet or just certain individuals within your organization?
What will they be using it for? - Do you need to plan routes based on time windows, as in home deliveries where customers want their product as soon as possible? Or do you have set geographic zones that must be covered daily, like warehouses that service customers within a certain radius? Do you track where your trucks are during the day or do you need to rely on drivers to communicate what work they're completing at each stop?
Where will your drivers be driving (and how will they know)? - Will your drivers rely heavily on their own devices to determine what roads to take, or will they receive turn-by-turn directions that come with preloaded points of interest? Do you want to be able to upload your own POIs, or are there certain locations that need to be included within the routing software out of the box?
When should routes be created (and when should drivers use them)? - Will your drivers be using predefined routes to complete their day’s work, or will they be able to plan their own routes on a per trip basis? What type of guidance would you like your drivers to have when starting a new route?
Why do you need routing software in the first place? - Do you want real-time updates projected onto a digital map so you can see where your drivers are at all times? Would you prefer a turn-by-turn voice option for drivers using a mobile device? Will the routes be created by dispatchers based on updates from customers, or will your drivers be doing it themselves?
Now that we’ve gone over some of the basics of who, what, where, when and why routing software can be used for, let’s discuss the kinds of features you might see in different types of routing software.
Routing Software Features
Route Planning - This is the ability to plot out multiple stops along a route. Most common for large fleets or drivers using their own devices to create their own routes.
Driver Communication - This is the ability to communicate with drivers during route assignment or while they are out on a route. Most common for small fleets, managers giving directions to employees, and/or dispatch communicating with individual drivers.
Geofencing & Geolocation - These features allow you to create geographic zones (geofences) around areas you want to track. Common for large fleets that need real-time location updates on every vehicle driving in the fleet, tracking stolen vehicles, and/or monitoring fleet compliance with hours of service regulations.
Static Routing & Navigation - This is planned routes that are not flexible or dynamic. They will be used by drivers who are located at their starting point. Common for non-fleet use cases where drivers are provided with clear instructions before starting their route, such as making sure employees comply with daily meal and rest breaks required by federal law.
Dynamic Routing - This is planned routes that can be adjusted based on changes in the schedule, deliveries being added or removed, etc. Drivers will be able to plan their own routes, or a dispatcher will be able to assign them. Common for use cases with flexible scheduling, such as field service companies where each user is assigned territories and different employees can complete multiple stops on any given day, especially if those employees are using their own devices.
Route Sharing & Collaboration - This is the ability for multiple people to collaborate on the same route at the same time. Common for use cases like field service or pest control where several employees are assigned to complete a single job, such as servicing ten homes in a subdivision over the course of a day.
Driver Feedback & Notifications - This includes real-time alerts about weather conditions, road closures, detours, or other events that might impact a driver's ability to complete their route. Common for use cases where drivers are either using their own devices, or will have access to routing software on a tablet mounted in their vehicle.
Fueling Stops - This is the ability for drivers to fill up the fuel tank at the same stop throughout an entire day. Common for use cases where fuel costs and/or mileage per tank is critical, such as fleets of trucks who must complete a certain number of deliveries within a given time frame or return to the garage with enough fuel to get through the next day.
Employee Access - This includes the ability to add and remove employees from access groups, determine what data they are allowed to see, and how that data is presented. Common for use cases with multiple drivers who need access to the same routing software at different times, such as managers working in a field service environment with hourly employees using their own devices.
Electronic Signature Capture - This is the ability for drivers or dispatchers to sign for deliveries or other tasks on a tablet, handheld device, or smartphone. Common for use cases where drivers need to sign for deliveries of goods, such as couriers who sign for delivery of packages and/or documents.
Any combination of these features would be okay, especially if it meets your specific use case.
Make a Checklist For Your Specific Business Needs
Once you have a better understanding of what you are looking for, make a list of the features that are most important to your business. The items on this list will be different for each business. Here are some questions to ask yourself while making it.
This will become your "Must-Have" list. When you start evaluating software solutions, these will be the features you want to make sure are included.
Since this is your "Must-Have" list, is there a reason why you absolutely need each one of those items on that list? You may find it useful to write down the business problem(s) that feature solves and why you need it.
This list of items will help you focus on only the features that are necessary for your business to run. You can then use this information to make a more informed decision about the routing software you choose.
The goal is to make sure your "Must-Have" list isn't too long, where every routing software solution you consider can be used for your business. If that's the case, then you are probably not being specific enough in your search for routing software .
Now that you have a list of features that are important to your business, it's time to start your research.
The Research and Purchase Process
The first thing you should do is a little research and find out what software solutions are available to meet your "Must-Have" list. There are a lot of different routing software options out there, so this might seem overwhelming... but don't worry! We can help you work your way through that list efficiently.
Step 1: Make a Shortlist
For each software solution you consider, make a list of all the features that are important to your business and see how many of those features are included.
Keep going until you have a list of at least five software solutions that meet your criteria.
Once you have a list of options that will work for your business, it's time to contact each company and start a conversation about your business. We recommend asking the following types of questions for each software vendor you consider:
- What types of businesses are you currently serving?
- Who are your current customers?
- What are your plans for the future, including improvements to existing features or adding new ones?
- Do you have a free trial available?
This conversation will help you better understand how each routing software solution works and what their company has planned for the future. It also gives you an opportunity to ask questions specific to your business.
Of the options you have on your shortlist, which are the most promising?
If they meet all of your "Must-Have" list items, then these are the best options for your business! If they do not currently have some of them or have limited availability or functionality, then you may want to keep looking.
Step 2: Put Together a Team to Help You Evaluate
At this point you should have a shortlist of at least five routing software solutions that are worth investigating further. This is where you will start to see some variation in the approach to making a purchasing decision, depending on your company's size and number of employees. If it's just you, then obviously this is an easy choice. Just pick the one that seems best and get started!
However, if you have a team of people involved in this decision it's important to gather everyone together at this point. This is your opportunity to learn more about these routing software solutions and ensure everyone agrees on which of them is the best fit for your business needs, and each business function.
Step 3: Jump on a Call or Product Demo
Now it's time to start getting hands-on with the routing software. If possible, schedule some time to connect with someone from the company you are considering and either jump on a call or do a product demo (depending on what is available).
Assemble your team and make sure they are all available to attend the demo. Each person will have their own perspective, questions, and pain-points. It is important that you all have the opportunity to participate in this conversation.
Most companies will offer a trial version of their software so you can try things out before purchasing it. If they don't, then we recommend asking about a free trial or money-back guarantee. This gives you the opportunity to try the routing software out for yourself and decide if it's the right fit for your business. But we'll go into that in more detail later.
Step 4: Take Some Time To Think About It
After you do the demo or try out a free trial, take some time to talk with your team and decide if any of them have concerns.
If they do then you may want to keep looking at routing software solutions that better meet everyone's needs. If the routing software you are considering seems to meet everyone's criteria, then it is time to...
Step 5: Make an Informed Decision
Remember when we talked about making a list of features your business needs? Now it's time to use that list. Look at each potential solution and compare how well they support the items on your list.
Doing this will give you the chance to determine which software solution best fulfills your business requirements. If they meet all of your "Must-Have" list items, then this is the one for you! Otherwise, it's time to keep looking.
How to Make the Most Out of Your Free Trial
A free trial is the best way to truly understand if a routing software will work for you. But there is a time constraint on trials, so it's important to be prepared before starting one. Here are some of the things you should plan in advance:
1. The Time You Will Need for the Trial
Remember, this is your chance to not only understand how the routing software works but also ensure it meets all of your business needs. For most software companies a 30 day trial should be enough time to fully evaluate their solution.
Just make sure to dedicate some time in your calendar to fully testing out the trial -- should shouldn't be something that's done "when you have time". It should be done with focus.
2. Prepare a List of Dummy Data to Play Around With
If the routing software allows for importing data, it's important to have a list of dummy/sample data ready so you can get an idea how using the software is like in the real-world. This will give you a more realistic feel for how things will work once your company starts keeping their own clients' data on the platform.
You can spend less time scrambling around if you prepare this before you start the trial.
3. A List of Features You Want to Test
There are many capabilities that routing software can offer. It's important to know which ones are most important to your business. You may want to prioritize this list by moving the items you consider "Must-Have" up higher, and anything else lower.
4. A List of Questions You Want Answered
If any features were skipped over during the demo, you can always ask about them when you contact the routing software company. But in addition to feature questions, it's helpful to jot down some other questions that are more specific to your business. For example, if you don't have a lot of experience with this type of software then ask how easy it is to learn or what types of training are provided.
5. A List of People You Want to Experiment With the Software
Remember, everyone will have different questions and comments so it's important to invite each person who needs to be part of the decision-making process. And don't forget to invite your boss! Let them know the time constraints and let them know when the trial is running so they can be part of the conversation.
6. Avoid Distractions
During the trial you will probably have a lot going on – that's ok! The best thing to do is block out time in your calendar or leave any other activities that might take you away from your computer. Once you start the demo those 30 days WILL go by quickly so it's best not to risk missing any of it. If something unavoidable comes up, then just contact the company and let them know you need a few days extension.
The last thing you want is for your trial to expire without getting everything you needed done. Proper planning can help ensure you have the information you need to make an informed decision about routing software.
How to Compare Software Costs
If you're in the midst of a free trial, then you obviously have your software narrowed down to a few choices. Now it's time to start doing some math and crunching numbers! It's helpful to know what features come with each solution so there is no confusion when looking at pricing.
You can get this list from their website or spend a little time on the trial itself to make sure you understand each feature.
Once you have these two lists then it's just a matter of comparing apples to apples – or in this case, features to features. You might be surprised at what a few numbers here and there can do for your routing software cost! One of the best ways to do this comparison is by making a simple table.
List out more than just the price of the software one the table. Be sure to include: Price of additional modules, support costs, yearly maintenance fees and other fees.
By knowing how much each feature is going to cost you every year then you can make a better decision about what features are worth their price. This way you don't end up paying for a lot of unnecessary extras that will inflate your overall product cost.
Don't make the mistake of only focusing on the cost of the software itself. While this is a major part of your decision, you should never forget to factor in all the other costs as well – they will definitely make a difference over time.
For example, if you are paying $10,000 per year on support and maintenance on top of your software, but you can get the same feature set for $5,000 per year somewhere else then it might be better to go with that option.
A Sample Routing Software Price Comparison Table:
There are many different ways to set up a price comparison table and it all depends on the features offered by each routing software company, so we'll just use one here as an example. If you get confused, please ask for help because there are some things that need explaining.
For instance, some companies charge for support and maintenance on a per-user basis – meaning it gets more expensive as you add users. Other companies pay a flat fee no matter what, but the price may go up each year. This table assumes a flat rate per user:
Routing Software A | Routing Software B | Routing Software C |
Price after 1 year with 10 users: | Price after 1 year with 10 users: | Price after 1 year with 10 users: |
$1,000 + $10,000 = $11,000 per year for a total of 12 years. | $5,000 + $500 = $5,500 per year for a total of 12 years. | $10,000 flat fee per user per year for a total of 12 years. |
It's always better to do the math yourself , but if this seems like too much work then just get in touch with us and we'd be happy to help.
But here's a pro-tip: Don't get too hung up on dollar signs! These numbers don't tell the whole story and if you focus on them, you might miss some of the value each option brings.
The Bottom Line
And there you have it, a step-by-step guide to shopping for routing software. If you follow this process then hopefully that will help alleviate any concerns your business might have and ultimately help lead you to finding the best solution.
You will also want to take some time to look at what your company needs are now, as well as where it might be in the future. Some routing software companies offer excellent long term support options that are friendly for growing companies – others do not. Make sure you know what kind of growth you expect before you make a commitment!
If all else fails, just get in touch and we can help you through it!
The route planning software landscape has changed a lot over the years. Not all the changes have been positive but many of them definitely have. Here's how it used to be: not so long ago if you wanted good routing software for your business, you'd be looking at spending somewhere in the neighborhood of $10,000 – $30,000 per year.
While that's still a lot of money, there are now more options available on the market than ever before. Not only this but routing software is cheaper than it used to be so more companies can afford it!
Today you have all kinds of options available to you, no matter what kind of business you have or how big it is. Even though the price has come down significantly over the years, there are still some things to look out for when shopping around.
It can seem overwhelming at first but don't worry - we're here to help! You can even start your research by taking a look at Less Platform's free trial.


Grocery delivery is a booming industry.
As the demand for grocery delivery continues to grow, so does the need for route optimization. Route optimization will help you get more out of your fleet and use this as a growth channel.
Here's what you need to know.
Why is Grocery Delivery So Popular?
Grocery delivery has become one of the most popular business models for entrepreneurs to invest in. In fact, it's been estimated that there are now more grocery delivery companies than chains and independent stores combined.
In a time when many businesses struggle to keep up with demand, supermarkets have an edge over other retailers because they already have a built-in customer base. Because of this, they're able to quickly convert trial users into paying customers.
With their existing infrastructure and customer base, supermarkets can ride out the initial challenges that come with such a strenuous business model more easily than other businesses.
Having an efficient fleet helps these companies expand even further and stay ahead of the curve when it comes to the quickly-changing grocery delivery landscape.
What Makes Grocery Delivery Difficult?
Delivering products to customers' homes is a difficult business model that comes with a number of unique challenges.
For one, it's a labor-intensive process. Unlike going to the store, checking out products, and bringing them back, grocery delivery requires users to have their items delivered straight to their doorstep - which involves many more steps overall. In addition to this, grocery delivery companies need their employees to cover a much larger territory in a limited amount of time.
Freshness is also a concern. Grocery delivery is still a relatively new industry, so the shelf life of products isn't as guaranteed as other retailers might have you believe. If an item spoils or expires en route to the customer, it's the driver who will be held responsible - making this issue even more difficult.
Customers are very picky when it comes to their groceries. They don't just want a bunch of bananas -- they want the right bunch of bananas. And according to a recent study, almost half of the grocery shoppers in the US cite product assortment as their top issue with eCommerce.
Because online stores have a limited amount of space for displaying their products, they need to make sure they get it right - which sometimes means making multiple trips to fulfill the customer's order. This eats up valuable time and increases the chance of human error.
So why are grocery delivery companies so reliant on route optimization?
Route Optimization is Needed to Make Delivery More Efficient
To ensure that they provide the best customer experience possible, grocery delivery companies need to maximize their efficiency through an optimal route planning system. By using a dedicated route optimization tool, you can optimize your drivers' routes so they cover more ground in a limited amount of time, visit fewer places and return home sooner.
Most importantly, this helps you ensure that each driver is continuously working on a route that makes sense for them. This way, they can focus on getting their assigned areas done rather than wasting time trying to figure out where to go next as they make their rounds.
This is important for grocery stores for a few reasons:
1. More Efficiency = Lower Costs
More efficient delivery means more customer orders are fulfilled, which boosts revenue per driver. This, in turn, leads to fewer drivers needed to operate your fleet -- which means lower costs on labor and gas.
2. Time is Money
When you're working on the same route every day, it's easy to get into a routine. Routes that are visited daily can be planned out in advance, allowing drivers to finish faster and spend less time on the road. This gives them more time to visit multiple stops and keep their workday going longer without sacrificing time at home with family or friends.
3. Less Driving = More Rest
Drivers who operate on less-efficient routes are more likely to arrive home tired and worn out because they're spending so much time behind the wheel. This, in turn, increases the risk of accidents - hurting both your company's reputation and increasing liability costs.
How Can I Optimize My Deliveries?
The good news is that there are several software solutions available that can help you maximize your efficiency. These are especially helpful for smaller independent grocery stores who are just starting out -- they have fewer resources to dedicate to developing their own route optimization system.
There are three main aspects of a delivery service that need to be optimized: customers, drivers, and routes.
Customer segmentation means being able to identify the best customers to visit on a given day. In the morning, some customers may receive their groceries before others -- meaning it makes more sense to visit them first.
On the other hand, you might want to prioritize certain customers who live greater distances away from your store location. That way, you can use up hours of time driving past these locations without stopping.
Even if customers live on the same street, the time of day affects which customer you should visit first. One may be on their way to work or school, while another might be at home with nothing to do but wait for their groceries!
Customer segmentation is especially important when it comes to delivery services because they are reliant on making frequent stops. With fewer visits, they can deliver more orders and increase their per-driver revenue and efficiency.
Knowing the best time to visit is even more important for grocery delivery companies who offer same-day service. Customers expect fresh produce and meat - which means groceries need to be picked up from your store as soon as possible! If you're using an automated route optimization tool, you can also specify when they need to leave the store.
This allows you to guarantee a faster turnaround for pick-ups and deliveries - which keeps customers happy and saves them a trip back to your store.
Another important aspect of route planning is driver allocation. Because grocery delivery companies have a lot of drivers on the road at once, it's essential to make sure they're equipped for the right tasks. In some cases, you might want to allocate drivers by area for a certain number of hours, then change their status.
This way, they can be working on one part of the city while someone else is taking care of another -- making more efficient use of your entire fleet!
What Software Can I Use?
Great question! There are a number of different solutions available that can help.
We've put together a helpful list here. But we think that Less Platform is your best option.
Less is the only route optimization tool that helps grocery stores find their most profitable deliveries. It automatically determines which stops to visit in the morning based on the best number of drivers and hours you have available.
The best part? It's free to try for 30-days.


Struggling to plan efficient delivery routes?
You're not alone. Many business owners find it difficult to create an efficient delivery route that takes into account traffic, time, and distance. That's where a delivery route planning solution comes in handy.
A good delivery route planner can save you time and money while making your business more productive. It can also help you stay organized and on schedule.
Keep reading to learn everything you need to know about delivery route planning.
What is Delivery Route Planning?
Delivery route planning is the process of creating an efficient delivery or pick-up route to serve customers.
A typical business owner will choose several options for each customer, then use a route planner to create the most efficient route that meets all requirements. Some of these requirements include:
- Distance and travel time
- Vehicle size and weight (for delivery trucks)
- Customer location
- Time of day (can affect traffic flow)
Each of these elements adds a layer of complexity to the delivery route planning process.
For example, if your business delivers small packages in a large metropolitan area, that means taking into account traffic for each option. Vehicles traveling at lower speeds can still cause congestion when there are high volumes of cars on the road.
This becomes more complicated when you factor in time and distance for deliveries that must be made at a specific time.
The delivery route planning process becomes even more complicated when you're dealing with both large and small vehicles. Businesses that offer deliveries and home pick-ups must create several options to ensure that their customers can choose what works best for them.
Delivery Route Planning vs. Driving Routes
It's important to understand the difference between a delivery route and a driving route.
Almost every business uses some type of spreadsheet or Gantt chart to track deliveries. These documents can help you keep track of shipments, invoices, and your daily schedule – but they don't create an efficient delivery route for you.
A typical spreadsheet doesn't take into account traffic, travel time, distance, and other elements that can affect how long it takes for a vehicle to complete a route.
A delivery route planning solution will account for these variables, then use satellite mapping technology to create the most efficient route based on those calculations.
Why Delivery Route Planning is Important
In business – just as in life – time is money. No business owner wants to waste time and resources on delivering goods to customers in the least efficient way possible.
There are several benefits for creating an efficient delivery route:
Increased productivity – When your employees know where to go and how long it will take, they can work more efficiently and stay on schedule.
Customer satisfaction – Customers expect deliveries to arrive on time. If you're able to meet that expectation, your business will gain customer loyalty.
Improved cash flow – By creating an efficient route that's designed to save you time and money, you'll be able to see an improvement in your cash flow.
Customer retention – One of the best ways to retain customers is by meeting their expectations. If you're able to deliver on time, your customers will be more likely to continue doing business with you.
Improved safety – When drivers have a clear idea of where they're going and how long it will take, they can drive at a safe speed. This means fewer accidents and increased safety for everyone involved in the delivery process.
Industries That Benefit from Delivery Route Planning
The industries that benefit most from delivery route planning are any type of business that makes deliveries or pickups. In fact, any business that provides a service can benefit from route planning.
Some of the most common types of businesses with routes to plan include:
- Construction companies
- Public transportation companies
- Courier and messenger services
- Logistics companies (trucking/shipping)
- Transportation businesses (taxi, limo, Uber)
- Food delivery services
- Medical supply companies
- Inventory logistics companies/warehousing operations
- Distribution centers for large retailers such as Amazon or Walmart. Large warehouses and distribution centers can create and track dozens (if not hundreds) of deliveries and pick-ups per day.
Who Uses Delivery Route Planning?
Delivery route planning software is used by businesses of all sizes, including small businesses that have a few employees and large organizations with hundreds or thousands of delivery/pick-up routes to manage.
To determine if your business needs route planning software, think about what you would do without it. How many phone calls are you making each day to track the status of your deliveries and pickups? How much time is spent trying to determine the best route to take through multiple stops?
If you find yourself spending up to 5 hours per day creating delivery routes, it might be time for you to look into a delivery route planning solution. Not only will this save you time each morning when you create your daily routes, but you'll also have more time to spend growing your business.
What to Look for in a Delivery Route Planning Tool
Delivery route planners come in many shapes and sizes. Some are extremely simple and easy for employees, while others offer more advanced features that you can use to track your entire supply chain.
If you're evaluating different products, here are some of the most important factors to take into consideration:
1. What does it cost?
The first thing you should do is calculate how much your business will be willing to pay for the solution. Look at what types of features are available, then consider whether or not they're necessary for your business operation.
2. Does it integrate with other apps?
One of the most important things for any business is to make sure their apps work together. For example, if you run an e-commerce website and process orders online, you'll want to look for a delivery route planner that integrates with your web app.
3. Is there training available?
If it's unclear how to use the product or if you need help setting things up, you might want to look for a product with training videos or tutorials.
4. What features are available?
Different products offer different features, so it's important to not only look at the price of the solution but also what types of capabilities you need to manage your business operations.
Do You Need Delivery Route Planning Tools?
Every business can benefit from having a delivery route planner in place. Even if you're just making deliveries to customers, an automated solution will save time and ensure all your drivers are working efficiently.
If your business makes deliveries or pickups, has multiple employees that use their own vehicles, or operates in an industry where the delivery process is complex (such as shipping, wholesale, retail), having a route planner is extremely beneficial.
Route planning solutions are available for companies of all sizes - big or small. If you're not sure if it's necessary for your business, the best option is to simply give one a try and see how much time you could free up by automating your process.

When you run a business that requires excellent, efficient, and productive last-mile logistics, delivery route planner software is becoming a necessity rather than a nice tool to have. Delivery route planning software means that you can determine the best route plan for hundreds of multi-stop deliveries to save mileage and delivery time.
There is a misconception that route planning software helps find the best route between 2 or more locations on the map. People usually imagine google navigation or other navigation software that helps you to decide which route to take. How strange may it sound, the route planning for last-mile operations generally has little to do with maps or navigation. It is rather a complex process of deciding the number of vehicles needed to implement the job, the number of orders in each vehicle, and the sequence of stops so that total mileage or driving time will be the minimum. This is becoming more complex when stops have tight delivery windows and variables service times. Juggling between fitting everything into time constraints, keeping costs down and drivers happy seems an impossible task.
So, using a route planner rather than attempting to plan your deliveries manually will save time, money and ensure that each driver is fully aware of what they should be doing and when. To be the best in business, you need to be the most efficient, you need to work hard, and you need to make use of as many tools as possible – a delivery route planning tool is exactly what any business linked to logistics needs to get ahead.
There are a number of different reasons why a delivery route planner app could be the ultimate piece of software for your business; read on to find out what some of those reasons are, and set up your delivery route planner as soon as you can.
https://youtu.be/7MYtkV5jAd8
Industries For Which efficient Last-Mile Logistics Is Crucial
The delivery route planner is one of the very best investments a business can make. For small-scale operations, you can sign up to delivery route planners free of charge – there’s really no reason at all not to start using this technology when you’re in an industry for which last-mile logistics is crucial.
1. Wholesale Distribution
Wholesale distribution is all about logistics; transporting large loads, whether food and beverages, paper products, building materials, electrical products, medical supplies, and plenty of other products, is the backbone of this sector. A small distributor can have 100-300 stops to make a day, while for large distributors, thousands of deliveries from tens of distribution centers could be made. A proper route planner for these businesses should be able to create route plans in minutes and save mileage and time.
Wholesale trade is definitely big business. It makes up around six percent of the US GDP and can generally be separated into two categories – durable and non-durable. As time passes, both of these groups of commodities are growing, but non-durable goods have a higher profit margin, probably because they can travel further. In 2020, $5.824 trillion worth of wholesale distribution goods were sold.
2. Retail
It is estimated that total retail sales in the US will be around $5.94 trillion in 2024. In 2019, the amount was $5.47 trillion. Of course, in 2020 retail sales fell due to the global pandemic, and the amount was $4.89 trillion.
The importance of the final mile deliveries is skyrocketing in the retail sector. Customers request quicker deliveries in tight delivery windows. There are a number of operational models that retailers are currently using, which we can combine into 1) deliveries using their own fleet of vehicles 2) outsourced deliveries. Some retailers might also have mixed delivery models.
The last-mile logistics are also split between journeys from the distribution centers to the stores and the stores to the final customer. In most cases, the former is a more extensive operation than the latter, but it might be argued that, since customer service is so crucial to get right, the final delivery to the customer has at least as much importance as the initial delivery to the store.
So, multiple legs to plan and different delivery models make it a really complex task to have it done in a short amount of time, keep tight delivery windows and in the meantime, try to keep costs under control.
3. Logistic Service Providers
Logistic service providers such as package delivery companies, fleet-based delivery companies, and other delivery services will find that last-mile logistics are crucial. Parcel transportation sales in the US amounted to $114.4 billion in 2019 and are only set to increase. With more and more people working from home and buying online, these kinds of logistic service providers are sure to only increase their hold, and the last-mile logistics required to ensure that all deliveries go as smoothly as possible is a vital step in this growth.
LSPs also may opt to use joint route planning and delivery management with their customers, especially when customers want to be in charge or participate in route planning and stop sequencing activities.
Why And How Does A Delivery Route Planner Help?
Now let’s see how a delivery route planner can help to improve your last mile logistic experience. There are many ways a good delivery route planner can help your last-mile logistics. In this post, we have presented three of them:
- Saving panning time
- Cutting costs
- Improving visibility
1. Time-Saving
We have demonstrated mentioned benefits on the example of Less Platform route planning and delivery management functionals.
In business, time is money. The more time you can save, the more money you can make. A good route planner app should have planners to implement the daunting task of route planning and sequencing in minutes.
Rather than the planner having to manually look into each drop-off point and plan a route from one to another, something which, when done correctly, can take many hours, you can simply upload the data into Less Platform and you’ll have the optimum route plan. This comes in handy when your orders or stop locations are different from day today. It also helps you to factor in tight delivery windows and variable service times (see the video).
Consolidation of a planning process can also save time and resources, especially in companies with multiple distribution centers. Currently, many companies have different planning teams in different distribution centers, making sense to consolidate these operations. Less Platform can help to manage multi-depo route planning in one place.
Having been able to plan multiple types of movements such as pickups and deliveries or outbound and inbound together helps avoid havoc during the planning process.

2. Cost Cutting
Cutting distribution costs without losing service quality is the ultimate improvement all business owners will want to make, and yet it’s not as easy as it might sound. Trying to cut costs in logistics can often lead to understaffing, high mileage, and unhappy customers.
So the major question in improving efficiency is: how to fulfill increasing deliveries with existing resources so the company won’t miss delivery windows and, in the meantime, assuring that transportation costs won’t go over the roof. There are two major sources of cutting costs of your last-mile logistics:
- to decrease mileage for the existing fleet,
- to use fewer vehicles by optimizing the number and the sequencing of the stops.
There are other obstacles for different industries that add complexity to the planning process. These are variable sizes of orders, especially in the case of wholesale and big-and-bulky distributors, variable driver skills, different priority needs, traffic, etc. A good route planner should allow such flexibility by in the meantime minimizing total mileage and the number of vehicles used (see the video).
3. Improving Visibility
Once you dispatch your loads, many things can affect the delivery process. So, real-time information about the delivery process helps to manage the delivery process and also provides an opportunity to do dynamic routing. Three processes are important when the dispatch process has begun:
- Accurate estimated time of Arravilas (ETA)
- Digital proof of delivery
- Customer notifications
Logistics should never be a reactive industry, and you should leave nothing until the very last moment. Regular updates of ETAs and information about potential late delivery will help to implement dynamic planning and decrease late deliveries. Less Platform allows you to have updated ETA when you are using Less Platform Mobile APP or are connected to telematic hardware such as Samsara, Geotab, etc. The driver app helps update the statuses of stops and save them in the system.
Digital proof of delivery for every stop is installed on both android and ios mobile apps. When a driver captures the signature, our route planner generates a proof of delivery file and saves it for the appropriate order for later inspection. Updated stops’ statues also help you to focus on what has left.
Customer notifications are an integral part of visibility. You can set up notifications both at the scheduling and actual delivery stages and automate them to be sent to customers’ email, phones or both. A Geofencing functional will also help to send notifications at the different stages of delivery.

Conclusion
Whether you are working in wholesale distribution, retail, or you’re a logistics service provider, utilizing the technology that saves your time and money is essential. There is no way that free route planning apps can serve decent last-mile logistics operations – they’re simply built for different use. To be able to keep up with the growing pressure, any company involved in a last-mile delivery should start using a proper route planning solution. Less Platform is at the forefront of the route planning and delivery management for last-mile logistics offering cutting-edge solutions to any of the above-mentioned industries.
Author: Vardan Markosyan

The route planning and delivery management software is becoming a cornerstone for any delivery operations. There are a number of solutions on the market - from free routing planning software that will be good for one driver operations to plan a dozen of stops to powerhouses that help to plan hundreds or thousands of deliveries from multiple locations. We are going to discuss what requirements may companies of different sizes and in different verticals have and what they should consider in choosing a route planning software for their operations.
What is route planning and why it is hard?
Route Planning
There is a misconception that route planning software helps find the best route between 2 or more locations on the map. People usually imagine google navigation or other navigation software that helps you to decide which route to take. How strange may it sound, the route planning for last-mile operations generally has little to do with maps or navigation. It is rather a complex process of deciding the number of vehicles needed to implement the job, the number of orders in each vehicle, and the sequence of stops so that total mileage or driving time will be the minimum. This is becoming more complex when stops have tight delivery windows and variables service times. Juggling between fitting everything into time constraints, keeping costs down and drivers happy seems an impossible task.
Now, lets see what is a route planning and how does that work.
The most widespread way of modeling multi-stop delivery operations is by solving the so-called Vehicle Routing Problem (VRP’s). In the majority of cases, the VRP goal is to optimize driven mileage, which, in formal terms, means getting the minimum possible mileage for the given plan. Combinatorial optimization is the mathematical apparatus to solve VRPs. There are two major ways to solve this problem – using exact methods or metaheuristics (approximate solutions). The discussion of combinatorial optimization is a topic for another post, so we won’t go deep into it now. What we can say is that the exact methods are limited to 100 nodes (deliveries), hence if one wants to get a plan within a reasonable time the use of some kind of metaheuristic is absolutely necessary. A consequence of this process is that no solution can get an “optimal” result but rather should try to get as close to optimum as possible. For example, if the theoretical minimum for 1000 deliveries is 10000 miles with 40 trucks, different algorithms will certainly get more miles than that (could be both 11000 and 14000). In fact, as no one knows what the theoretical optimum is, the planner can’t realistically assess the quality of the solution through a comparative process. In our experience, manual planners get somewhere between 60-80% to optimal. So, what is the best way to assess how good the solution is? We must compare the firm’s historical data (if that exists) or run it in parallel with manual planning to see the difference in optimization rates. As an industry-standard, good routing solutions should give results close to 95-97% to optimal.
The difference between paid and free route planning software as well as between different paid solutions will be sometime substantial differences both in (a) optimization quality and (b) application usability. Some of the distinctive characteristics of a “good” application are described below. Companies may want to look for route planning software based on the importance of the criteria described below.
Complexity
The main problem of VRP is time complexity or, in other words, the fact that the amount of time needed to solve the problem grows exponentially when the number of deliveries or nodes increases or when the algorithm incorporates more constraints. To give you an idea of the problem encountered when scaling up nodes/deliveries consider that solving a Capacitated Vehicle Routing Problem with Time Windows (CVRPTW) for 100 locations takes about 10 minutes using current commercial optimization solvers but takes a whopping 8 hours for 300 locations. Why, because solving for optimization goals for the first set of nodes takes tens of millions of permutations and for the latter - hundreds of millions.
Below are a few more examples of variables dramatically adding to the numbers of permutations and thus increasing the time for a potential optimal solution.
Time Complexity
Time complexity rises when an optimization algorithm tries to incorporate more real-life data whose absence would massively degrade the usability of the solution. A primary example is that many firms have a variety of trucks and equipment. An average firm can use 4-8 types of trucks with different capacities. The majority of free and even paid solutions either don’t include the capacity constraint in calculations or are using just one capacity constraint.
Delivery Windows
Delivery windows are another variable that adds complexity to the problem. The planner should make sure that capacity is maximally leveraged while ensuring ETA's are within delivery windows. While the majority of paid solutions will factor in delivery windows they are absent from free route planning software.
Service Requirements
Service requirements are different for different clients. Dwell or loading/unloading time can vary for each of these 400 deliveries and the optimization algorithm should be able to incorporate it into calculations. We didn't see a free route planning software that includes variable service time.
Priority orders
There are orders which should be prioritized over the others. Thus, the optimization algorithm should be able to keep strict delivery requirements for the high-priority deliveries while still assuring the best optimization goals.
Electronic Logging Device (ELD)
ELD's are mandatory nowadays and Hours of Service (HOS) requirements should be considered from the planning phase. This should go as a constraint variable into the algorithms as well. Needless to say that the majority of free route planning software or free versions of paid route planning software don't have this feature.
Along with main constraints they could be other requirements that are hardly found in the majority of free and some of paid route planning software.
SKU level data
An average distributor operates with 1000’s SKUs and a large distributor with 100’s of thousands. Each SKU has different volume and weight characteristics which should be taken into account when planning deliveries. Not all applications incorporate product-specific accurate data into calculations or use capacity as a constraint at all. This results in a lot of capacity violations and too many routes becoming obsolete when it comes to filling and dispatch. There is also a highly variable human factor in play because many companies don’t have all the needed information in their Warehouse Management Systems (WMS). As a result, algorithms should be able to work with incomplete data. Needless to say, the software should be able to seamlessly integrate with a firm’s order and warehouse management systems or other Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) modules.
Remote connectivity
As the routing problem is complex and requires lots of data and computational resources most of the routing applications available on the market should be installed on-premise. Conversely, it is becoming imperative that people who are not in the field (and even people who are in the field) should have access to multi-user plug and work opportunities. This creates a high-demand situation requiring a novel solution. The routing solution should offer robust multi-user functionality. At the same time, it should be able to process billions of combinatorial permutations in seconds. An advanced enterprise-grade cloud-native architecture is needed, otherwise, the firm will be creating additional problems rather than solving old ones.
Big data
Imagine what happens when there are not one but 10’s of planners in the firm who plan data for multiple warehouses and distribution centers. An optimization solution requires multiple installations in different warehouses resulting in massive investments and further support cost. Even without that, the majority of solution applications in the market are limited to planning 500 simultaneous deliveries and are only suitable for small firms. One can plan routes in batches but that will substantially degrade the quality of optimization for the total plan. Growing and competitive firms should have the opportunity to run and compare multiple instances simultaneously, plan tens of thousands of deliveries, and have other collaborative functionality which is only possible with the enterprise-grade cloud-native architecture.
Additional features
There are a number of additional features that should be embedded in any forward-looking solution such as a) data interoperability b) creation of dispatch documentation c) monitoring dashboard e) functional analytics f) dynamic planning, etc. We will return to these topics in other blog posts.
Current Solutions in the Market
There are different solutions in the market which help to plan loads and dispatch them. We will list some of them and group them following the descriptions copied from their websites.
Maps
Mapping applications offer route optimization, which is limited to getting the best sequence for the given data points. The number of points is limited to 10-20 points. Apparently, maps don’t do VRP optimization for multi-stop deliveries. Maps won’t provide any product and shipment management functional either. Routing functionality would be a good addition for personal or occasional usage.

Free routing software
Free applications are one step ahead of current maps routing functions. They can be used by small firms, but it is not clear if these applications use any kind of mathematical optimization. They apparently miss the majority of the ideal functionality previously touched on.

Paid routing software

All paid solutions state that they have some optimization algorithms under the hood. Routific and OptimoRoute have straightforward pricing while Route4Me has a relatively low base price but additionally charges for different features. Workwave has several products for different industries. All these solutions incorporate delivery windows in the planning and build multi-stop loads.
Other consideration in choosing a route planning software
First, one should look deeper into what has been optimized and how good it actually is? As we have noted above, results can be different (sometimes substantially) depending on the types of algorithms and optimization methodology used. The best way to compare is either to test the same dataset using different applications or compare results with the optimal values for that dataset.
Second, does software optimize the delivery plan for the day or just updates sequences on fixed routes? Running CVRPTW is hard and requires substantial resources and appropriate algorithms, so many applications just help you to build a route plan once, without taking into consideration specific order details and location time windows. You would assign orders manually afterward by figuring out sequences. Later is a much simpler approach but it substantially reduces optimality. I.e., Less® Platform runs CVRPTW for every group of orders from the scratch, thus assuring the most optimal route plan for that specific order list.
Third, data requirements for foodservice wholesale distributors and cleaning services, for example, can be substantially different. It is not the same to run the Capacitated VRP optimization for the several thousand different SKUs and simple stops routing. Wholesale distribution, trucking, and logistics management companies need a comprehensive product and freight management function. These industries also combine inbound and outbound operations, can have simultaneous pick-ups and deliveries, and offer multi-depot operations.
Forth, the capacity of the platform for handling the number of deliveries should be appropriate to the size of the company. Due to the time complexity of the problem, larger companies should pick an application (more than 300-500 deliveries a day), which is capable to work with large data sets without compromising the solution quality.
Transportation, distribution, and logistics management firms operate in a highly competitive and increasingly uncertain environment where margins are tiny and even a small disadvantage will keep the firm out of the highest levels of competition. Delivery route planning optimization sometimes lags behind other, seemingly more important operations when it comes to decision making. Crucially, this is where your short-term profitability and long-term efficiency rests. The cost of choosing a poor solution will be hundreds and millions of dollars. We have seen many cases where suboptimal planning and poor execution (which are highly interconnected) sink both growing and established firms.
Less® Platform can turn your data into loads within 10 minutes and compare it with your historical results! You can also test all the necessary features for your distribution model and consult with our experts on your challenges.
Author
Vardan Markosyan is the CEO at Less® Platform
MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business
PhD in Economics from the Institute of Economy of NAS RA
He spent decades of research and consultancy on business process optimization and system design

Route Planning Solution helps to simplify operations
Are you a food distributor looking for a better route planning solution to maximize your time and provide a cost-effective supply to customers even when demand is unpredictable? Despite there being many options you can choose from to enable you to plan and prepare your logistics, the fact remains that food distribution software can always be upgraded to fit the client's needs and the market as a whole.
What can be described as a multi-faceted operation, food distribution services need to remain viable for transporting food by utilizing the very best in scheduling, route planning software, and food delivery planning.
Consumer demand is growing. The marketplace for locally sourced foods and those that have a lower impact on the environment due to traveling fewer miles or being transported more efficiently is becoming the focus of consumer demands. If 2020 has taught us anything, it would be the fact that the more sustainable a supply chain operation is, the less likely it is to see major impacts from changes in the market. Sustainability, transparency and ethical sourcing are considered to be among the most important trends affecting any food and beverage company.
There is a misconception that route planning is for finding better routes between different locations on the map. While it can be a part of the solution, a route planning app for food distributors should be able to plan hundreds of deliveries from multiple locations that include tight delivery windows and variable service times. Along the way of doing that the best route planning solution should also minimize the mileage driven, time spent on routes, and vehicles needed of the plan (please watch the video below to see how)
Route panning is not included in distribution solutions?
While many software programs allow for you to schedule and plan for deliveries due to integrated food distribution software, route planning and maximum efficiency is still an area that is lacking when it comes to food delivery options. When COVID-19 hit the US in early 2020, it created a ripple of interruptions to the supply chain. Retailers responded to the sudden increase in demand caused by workplaces and schools being shut and restaurants closing down by offering curbside pickups, deliveries, and click and collect. Food distributors incorporated direct-to-consumer channels to keep food moving through the chain so that customers did not go without it. Software and technology providers fast-tracked development and deployment of new solutions designed to automate, digitize and measure every link in the supply chain from a distance.
Demand Could be Variable
In an ideal world, you would want to meet demand while removing excessive time-wasting, and underutilized routes from your food delivery route planner. A software program that allows you to cater to those unpredictable order frequencies and optimize your route to remove waste and inefficiency can help you meet your ever-increasing customer demands while getting the most from your workforce, whether you have your own fleet or not.
With more than three hundred food hubs identified in the United States, many rural hubs miss route optimization due to location. By enabling route optimization for fleets, you can provide the customer with real-time tracking to allow them to locate and identify when their shipment will arrive while allowing you to focus on making sure your fleet is being used most effectively and efficiently to benefit both your business and the customer.
Operational flexibility is a requirement in food delivery planning to allow you to meet demand and best utilize your supply chain.

What Benefits Can Route Planning Optimization Offer Your Company?
By being able to direct your fleet and assign staff to work hours that most benefit the company and your supply chain, you can look at lowering staff costs by removing the bloat from wages and offering better working hours and routes for when your fleet is on the road and delivering orders and sales to customers.
Reduce Costs
Whether you are making one larger drop or multi-drop routes, having software that takes into consideration load-bearing, scheduling, route planning, and more will allow you to maximize your workforce and reduce costs and overheads by removing and uncertainty over delivery times and routes and timescales for when you can potentially deliver the goods. However, it is worth bearing in mind that an overzealous approach to money saving can be counterproductive as expensive software can prove to be a good investment over time and help you to save money in other areas in the long run.
Less Planning Time
On top of this, you can also reduce mileage by having the best possible route tracked and planned before you load up your fleet, allowing you to load up in a way that compliments your chosen route reducing time spent unloading excess deliveries to find the one for a specific destination.
This allows for a smoother transfer of goods and less spoilage in transit, meaning you deliver a better quality of service for our clients while also keeping costs and overheads down, all while benefiting from less time spent planning routes and a faster delivery schedule.
There are always ways you can look to improve how efficiently your food delivery process is. Having a system in place that can account for more efficient load-bearing when allocating deliveries will help you create a streamlined process from import to delivery. It is wise for food distributors to take the challenges that they face, improve their own processes, mitigate the risks, improve products and improve overall business operations. Food distributors and logistics teams who manage disruption day in and day out know how to engineer supply chains that not only adapt to planned seasonality or unexpected events but also deliver cost savings, increase productivity and improve efficiency.
In Conclusion
Focusing on streamlining your food delivery planning and investing in software to enable you to do more with less effort can pay dividends when it comes to meeting customer expectations and hitting targets within your industry. Simplifying the food delivery process to focus on what matters most can put you ahead of your competition by accessing the food distribution software to complement your business and reduce the workload when it comes to route planning, load-bearing, and more.
In an increasingly competitive market, having an advantage over your competitors to appeal to clients especially when it comes to providing real-time updates and putting a focus on conservation and reducing your carbon footprint can help you to reach more people quicker and retain a high level of customer satisfaction thanks to a fully optimized food delivery software that takes all the hard work out of efficient route planning and deliveries.
Ready to learn more? Sign up for a free trial today.
Author
Vardan Markosyan is the CEO at Less® Platform
MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business
PhD in Economics from the Institute of Economy of NAS RA
He spent decades of research and consultancy on business process optimization and system design

Logistics and supply chain management are standard business terms, and a day does not pass by without them getting mentioned in a business setting. Some experts believe that the two terms are very similar and can be used interchangeably. However, some differ from this belief.
These two have been used interchangeably in many countries; for instance, we have no other term for supply chain management in America. However, the Europeans call it logistic management.
Although they seem similar, they differ factually. Let's take a close look at each.
Logistics
It is the process where goods are handled and managed within a department or in the organization. It is also associated with any activity that involves the movement and handling of goods. An inventory document tracks the movement and handling of the inventories.
Logistic management involves activities such as warehousing, transportation, packaging, among others. Logistics aims to ensure that the inventory gets delivered to the intended party at the right location and time.
Supply Chain Management

It involves all the activities in an organization and sometimes also includes some logistical aspects. Supply chain management starts from buying raw material to manufacturing and delivering the end product to your clients.
Most of these processes require coordination between various companies to ensure the quality of the inventories. For example, one company mines the raw material and another buys the raw material and manufactures or processes it, and the next company delivers the end product to the consumer.
Logistics VS Supply chain management: What are the differences?
The two refer to the same business practice. Logistics and supply chain management are all aspects of the supply, transfer and management of inventories and people. They all ensure that business operations are efficient.
However, though they may seem similar, supply chain management links the manufacturing, purchasing and distribution of goods into one process. It works with the manufacturers, retailers, suppliers and final consumers. The way it collaborates with the channels of distribution makes it provide efficient quality services. Logistics is critical in supply chain management.
Other differences are:
- Logistics management is the process in which goods are integrated and managed in an organization. In contrast, the supply chain is involved with the management or movement and coordination of supply chains of a business.
- Logistics management is concerned with client satisfaction, while supply chain management focuses more on the competitive advantage.
- Only one organization is involved in logistics management compared to supply chain management, which involves multiple businesses.
Supply chain management is concerned with planning, implementation and storage of inventory to meet consumer requirements. These processes occur between the point of origin of the goods and services and the point of consumption. In comparison, logistics management is only concerned with delivering the right product at the required time. - Supply chain management comprises many interconnected activities linked and ensures the raw materials are handled until they are manufactured and reached. On the other hand, logistics management is concerned with warehousing, packaging, controlling and managing stock and fulfilling orders.
- Supply chain management is a broad term that involves the connection of supplies and manufacturers to consumers. On the other hand, logistics management is only involved with how goods are stored and managed.
The Five Basic Steps of Supply Chain Management

1. Planning
Before any chain management process begins, you should first plan. Since the aim is to deliver the goods at the right time and place, look for components that will help you, such as delivery models, the business's location, designing and warehouse, among other essential things. It would help if you also came up with a model of how you will transport the goods and where they will be stored.
2. Sources
After planning, you should identify the vendors or suppliers that will help you obtain the goods and services to meet the demand efficiently and cost-effectively. Since supplies have to meet specific quality standards before operating, they will supply you with quality goods.
You can source for both perishable and non-perishable goods. But if you are sourcing for perishable goods, give the supplier minimal lead time to help you with the minimal inventory approach. Whereas when sourcing for non-perishable products, ensure that the supplier quotes a lead time that is less than the period in which the inventory reaches zero. Doing so safeguards you from losing inventory.
3. Make
After getting the product, you should transform it into a final product according to the consumer's taste and preferences. At this stage, activities such as testing, assembling and packaging occur. You can also get feedback from the consumers. The feedback will help you make any necessary product improvements.
4. Deliver
Delivering helps with both direct and indirect integration of the business with its clients. It can make or destroy the brand image of your business. When the consumers order a product, they have high expectations in your logistics and delivery channels. Businesses use different freights such as air and road, or rail and road, to have an easy and fast delivery.
5. Return
A consumer may sometimes return a product after a delivery has been made. This step is concerned with the return of products, and it is often referred to as "Reverse Logistics." A supply management system should ensure that their relationship with the final consumers does not deteriorate.
The step is also reversed: a business can return inventory to the supplier. Often, low-quality expired or undesired goods are returned to the vendors.
The Logistics Functions Within Supply Chain Management
Order Processing
It is where a buyer sends a purchase order to a supplier. The document contains the details of the product which the buyer wishes to be supplied, its price, the preferred delivery period, taxes, payment terms and any other terms that they have agreed upon.
Inventory Control
It is concerned with keeping enough inventories to fulfill client needs and ensure that the inventory carrying cost becomes lower. In short, it is an exercise that ensures that the business does not lose a market opportunity and does not incur huge costs when doing so.
Warehousing
It is a logistic process where the finished goods are stored until they get sold.
Transportation
Transportation is needed for the products to move from the supplier to the buyer. It is a crucial element of logistics.
Material Handling and Storage System
How fast the inventory moves in a supply chain is dependent on your handling systems. If the business has an improper material handling method, delays, damages and incidental overheads will increase.
It would help if you automated or mechanized your material handling.
Industrial Packaging
It influences the logistical system. Logistical packaging helps in damage protection, economizing storage space and handling of the inventories.
How Logistics Can Help Improve Efficiency and Reduce Costs
If your business uses an automated logistics system, your operational efficiency will increase. Also, it increases scalability and minimizes manual errors.
- Logistics reduces costs since it focuses on;
- Labour costs,
- Preventive maintenance
- Safety
- Use of systems and tactical technology
- The customer; and
- Suppliers for logistics cost reduction
Supply Chain Management Challenges and How to Overcome Them Through Logistics
Customer Service
An organization should provide its customers with the right quantity of the right goods or services to the right location and the right moment. However, an organization may fail at this. To succeed, set up a stable system or visual channel that updates the customers on how the product is fairing and inform them of any developing changes.
Cost Control
If there is an increase in energy prices, the number of global customers, labour rates and other factors, your operating costs may increase. When this happens, you need to invest in the right technology to reduce logistics and supply management's additional costs. Also, you should have a plan that you monitor closely and apply change when it is necessary.
Planning and Risk Management
Some changes can appear from nowhere and greatly affect your logistics and supply chain management. Such changes include; new political agendas, launching a new product, sudden consumer demands and credit availability. For your business to be effective and efficient at all times, it should conduct periodic redesigns and assessments.
Supplier Relationship Management
The supplier may sometimes not follow the set standards, which significantly affects your inventory. A business and its suppliers should build a strong relationship that will help each one understand one another's needs better. And the easiest way of doing this is by using visibility and communication.
Talent
Finding someone who is qualified and has the talent to manage inventory is sometimes challenging. And even if you find one, it is tough to groom them for this role.
How Less Platform Can Help Optimize Logistics and Supply Chain Management
The Less Platform will equip you with route planning software to reduce product delivery time from the supplier. It will also help you;
- Minimize the unnecessary work-hours of your planners
- Use few transportation vehicles for the same purpose; and
- Help you find the most co-efficient route.
Check out Less Platform's video demo for mobile here.
In conclusion, these two practices are fundamental. Although they are different, they must work together to achieve the bigger goal of providing products to the consumer.
Author
Vardan Markosyan is the CEO at Less® Platform
MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business
PhD in Economics from the Institute of Economy of NAS RA
He spent decades of research and consultancy on business process optimization and system design

The last few miles a delivery takes from facility to recipient might just be the most essential part of a delivery journey. People are prepared to pay premiums to get their package delivered in a day, with customer loyalty increasing for businesses that meet these deadlines. Amazon invested in their last-mile logistics heavily in 2020, with many large retailers following suit.

What is Last-Mile Logistics?
Last-mile delivery (or logistics) refers to the final few miles a package takes between a distribution centre and the customer. It could be one-mile (if the customer lives one-mile away from the facility) but the delivery distance is frequently over 50 miles or more. Unlike the middle-mile, which traditionally only impacts larger retailers and producers, the last-mile of a delivery affects everyone, as all goods need to get to the customer.
Costs for those final miles can reach over 50% of the total cost of delivery, and also carry the highest risk of business loss. If a customer pays a premium and the delivery doesn’t arrive on time, the last-mile can cost the producer the whole order.
Who is Involved in Last-Mile Logistics?
The last mile can impact everyone in the supply chain, from producer to customer. The size of the delivery may mean that a wholesale distributor is involved in sending the goods to the retailer before it reaches the final fulfillment center. Let’s take a look at how these parties interact with delivery in the last mile.
Wholesale Distributors
Wholesale distributors assist the supplier or producer of the goods by distributing them in bulk to retailers. They are an integral part of the supply chain for multiple sectors, from fast-moving consumer goods to construction materials and electronics. Wholesalers ensure that the goods reach the distribution hub in time to meet the demands of the last-mile delivery.
Wholesalers have also been disrupted in recent years by an uptake in producers selling directly to the customer. A Deloitte study suggests that this has led to a decline of almost 8.3% for wholesalers between 2006 and 2016. This leads to increased pressure on wholesale distributors to fulfil timelines for retailers and add value to their role in the supply chain.
Retailers

Retailers also face pressure in fulfilling the demands of the last-mile. They require wholesalers and producers to deliver on time, in order to meet the delivery date for the customer. This is particularly essential with fast moving consumer goods like groceries. A CapGemini survey revealed that 40% of customers cited food delivery services as an essential part of grocery purchases, with half those surveyed prepared to switch to a retailer that provided a better delivery service.
Retailers have two options when coordinating last-mile deliveries:
- - Manage their own distribution hubs for online shopping and orders
- - Outsource to a delivery service or fulfillment center to meet customer demand
The huge premiums and customer loyalty associated with deliveries are an integral part of a retailer’s income. Speed in last-minute delivery will also expedite the processing of return goods for the retailer (currently estimated to cost retailers £60 billion a year in the UK alone), getting items back on the shelves as quickly as possible.
Fulfilment Centers
Fulfilment centers are warehouses or facilities that store goods for retailers and producers and carry out distribution services on their behalf. Unlike simply renting a warehouse, a fulfilment center will also carry out the last-mile delivery to the customer. The success of a fulfilment center rests entirely on their ability to carry out the last-mile. In 2020, online orders increased by 50%, accelerating the evolution of fulfilment centers by more than a decade.
How is the Last-Mile Logistics Organized and What are the Biggest Challenges?
Check out the structure of last-mile logistics and how it is organized below.
There are four main areas that present the largest logistical challenges for delivery:
Speed

The speed of the delivery is determined by the expectations of the customer. But each route will present its own operational changes that can impact the speed of the delivery. A delivery driver that needs to make multiple stops in a large urban area may be impacted by traffic, while deliveries to countryside areas may need to cover large distances within the small window of a one-day delivery. The shorter the delivery timeline, the more likely it is that even small delays will impact the speed of the delivery.
Cost
The decision to outsource deliveries to third party fulfilment centers or businesses like Amazon will leave you without the responsibilities of handling the last-mile. However, fulfillment by Amazon does lead to the additional costs of storage fees. As long as your stock sits in one of their fulfilment centers, you pay fees to the center. With a seller or company fulfilled delivery, you don’t have to worry about the fees you pay to the third party fulfilment center, but will be responsible for all dispatch costs and logistics.
Efficiency
Route optimization is an essential part of successful last-mile deliveries. Enabling drivers to view upcoming obstacles and delays will make it much easier to meet delivery deadlines. Inventory management will also allow drivers to have eyes on their goods, allowing for better route planning.
Transparency
Customers value transparency in the last-mile; in 2020 international supermarket retailer Tesco increased its delivery slots from 600,000 a week from 1.4 million due to the increase in demand for delivery time slots. To meet the challenge of demand, companies like Amazon also arrange collection lockers, so that customers can pick up packages at their convenience.
How Can Less Platform Resolve These Issues?

Less is enterprise-grade, cloud-managed distribution management software. Less can reduce the costs traditionally spent on last-mile deliveries by streamlining route planning and optimization to increase efficiency and meet same-day delivery deadlines. Drivers can effectively manage orders with real-time ETAs and easily track goods for deliveries. Make the last-mile deliveries on time and with minimal vehicles, saving you costs on overheads while still meeting customer demand.
Resolve Last-Mile Logistics Challenges with Less
The last-mile is the most expensive and high-demand link in the supply chain. Even the smallest delays in the supply chain can jeopardize a delivery and lose producers an order. That’s why Less as a distribution management software can play an essential role by reducing your costs and boosting your delivery transparencies in order to meet the expectations of the consumer. Request a demo today to find out how Less can help you make more out of your last-mile logistics management.
Author
Vardan Markosyan is the CEO at Less® Platform
MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business
PhD in Economics from the Institute of Economy of NAS RA
He spent decades of research and consultancy on business process optimization and system design

1. Why last mile logistics is important?
Last-mile logistics is the most complex and, happened to be believed, most costly part of the distribution supply chain. While there is a growing buzz around the expression, the last mile implies different things for different industries. So, before moving forward with the recommendations of how to optimize last-mile logistics one should first define what it actually means for the specific operating model and where the inefficiencies are?
With the accelerated growth of e-commerce, increasing requirements is creating burdens on the logistics chain, which amplifies the final mile. According to a 2022 report by Deloitte, as consumers’ delivery-related demands increase—as does the cost and complexity of meeting those demands—new, nimbler options are arising to enable retailers to outsource last-mile delivery to the gig economy. Amazon Flex and Walmart’s Spark Delivery enable independent drivers to deliver online purchases to the retailers’ customers. Along with the growth of e-commerce, last-mile logistics has its specifics and new challenges for traditional sectors as well. These challenges can be sector-specific, such as decreasing delivery times and increasing density of fulfillment centers but also can result from general macroeconomic trends such as shortages of employees and supply chain problems.
2. Last mile delivery logistics is not just home deliveries
“Last-mile” logistics or deliveries might have different meanings for different sectors and industries. First of all, different companies might be implementing final mile deliveries using private fleets or hiring carriers. Thus, we can differentiate between private fleet shippers and for-hire carriers. While for private fleet shippers logistics operations are supplementary to their main businesses, for-hire carriers or logistics service providers (LSP) generate income for transportation services. Secondly, the last mile will be different for companies that are in the B2B business such as wholesale distributors, or focusing mainly on home deliveries such as retailers. Some e-commerce companies could be put into a category of their own as they mostly don't own vehicles but may combine both retail and wholesale operations.
Retailers and e-commerce
“Last-mile logistics” in the retail sector mainly implies the organization of store-to-customer small-size delivery processes.
According to U.S. Census Bureau News Total e-commerce sales for 2021 were estimated at $870.8 billion, an increase of 14.2% from 2020. Total retail sales in 2021 increased 17.9% from 2020. E-commerce sales in 2021 accounted for 13.2% of total sales. E-commerce sales in 2020 accounted for 13.6% of total sales.
Demands for faster, cheaper shipping result in a growing complexity of last-mile delivery operations. Consumers can now choose to get their purchases in a variety of ways: home delivery, ship-to-store, ship-to-locker, or reserve online and pick up in-store. Returns can now be made in-store or by shipping the product back to the retailer. Linear supply chains have given way to complex, interconnected supply chain networks. And the subscription services offered by a growing number of retailers often subsidize or waive delivery fees, making it incredibly easy for consumers to place many small orders instead of a few large ones. The result? More—and more frequent— orders, a sharp rise in demand for expedited delivery, an e-commerce logistics market with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 20.4 percent, and rising costs for retail and consumer goods companies. Amazon is able to meet consumers’ demands by spending 15.6 percent of its net sales revenue on shipping costs and an incredible 27.9 percent on combined fulfillment costs. Retailers, by comparison, spend about 8 percent of revenue on e-commerce fulfillment on average; in the current retail environment, it would be hard for them to cover more of the delivery costs and still stay profitable.
Different companies prefer different last-mile delivery logistics models. Larger retailers tend to run private fleets of vehicles, while smaller ones rely on outsourced transportation. It should be mentioned that most private fleet companies usually combine both operational models. Hence, processes and problems may differ for different types of shippers.
We can also divide retail deliveries into grocery and the rest as delivery patterns and velocity are quite different. The average lead time for delivery of groceries is 0.7 days, compared to electronics which take 3 days, and 5 days for apparel. Thus, consolidation and logistics management models can vary substantially.
Logistics service providers (LSP) and delivery companies
We can conditionally divide logistics service providers into long-haul and local delivery models. There are a number of LSPs that operate on both markets, we see a growing number of specialized local delivery companies, especially during the Covid 19 pandemic. We see also the emergence of platforms that connect shippers and individual vehicle owners. Later are essentially networks of independent couriers and delivery agents connected to a delivery ecosystem that pick up and deliver small packages. The other distinct difference between long-haul and local deliveries is that local deliveries are usually on the same day while long-haul deliveries can vary from 1-7 days.
As it turns out that the final mile can be used to describe the sharply different distribution and delivery models there is a wide range of estimated market sizes. The Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) reports that the last leg of overall transportation costs makes up as much as 28% of logistics expenses. Transportation’s contribution to the economy can be measured by its contribution to gross domestic product (GDP). The Bureau of Transportation Statistics reports the final (finished) transportation goods and services purchased by people, businesses, and governments in 2018 contributed $1,489.7 billion, or 8.9%, to U.S. GDP. If we apply the aforementioned 28% BEA figure, we could say the market for the final mile (from a GDP perspective) is an astounding $417 billion. Contrary, if we narrow down the final mile to home deliveries and assume that these are small-sized we need to look into parcel delivery numbers in the picture below4.
There is also another important distinction between the organization of long-haul and same-day logistics - long-haul deliveries are usually done using semi-tractors or sleeper trucks while local deliveries are implemented by smaller trucks or even passenger cars. Thus, contracting, company and driver onboarding are different for long-haul transportation needs. The latter is a highly regulated industry that needs special licenses and drivers. The value of the average delivery is also much higher hence the carriers are going through much meticulous due diligence. The important peculiarity is that while more individuals can be involved in local deliveries, continued driver shortage, increasing insurance, and, lately, fuel costs make long-haul capacity scarcer and pressure on the costs higher.
As you may see in the picture above, the ground transportation rates almost doubled during the last two years.
Wholesale distributors
Wholesale distributors are the middleman between producers and retailers with slight differences from industry to industry. It is one of the more complex industries driven by high numbers of SKUs, customers, suppliers, and transactions, and their pricing and rebate structures. They can be grouped into major ones such as food, beverages, pharmaceutical, electronics, industrial, and building materials. According to the National Association of Wholesale Distributors (NAW) total wholesale distribution revenue ended the year at $5.970 trillion, just slightly below the April 2019 record high. GDP for the year totaled a record-high $21.734 trillion with a growth rate of 4.0%. The Wholesale Distribution industry is 27.5% of U.S. GDP.
Last-mile logistics from the wholesale distributor perspective is different. As they are middlemen between producers and retailers/local businesses their last mile will be the leg between the distribution centers and local warehouses/shops. The wholesalers tend to rely on private fleet operations as they operate in an environment of rigid deadlines. The average size of a single drop also tends to be larger and distances longer, while the number of stops in daily routes will be fewer compared to home deliveries. We observe changes in the industry in the form of growing concentration as well as the emergence of disruptive business models as well. For example, Amazon’s sales platform is supported by more than 2 million third-party sellers worldwide. Of those sellers, 26% sell products using a wholesale sales model.
3. Challenges of last mile logistics
Scheduling and routing is a great challenge
Scheduling and routing daily package deliveries for a relatively smaller delivery radius, i.e. 50 miles is different from scheduling and routing deliveries of hundreds or even thousands of boxes per one drop for a 300 miles radius. The first is going to be for home deliveries from warehouses of fulfillment centers located closer to city centers. The latter is the case of a food distribution operation to stores, restaurants, and other businesses. Large building or construction material distributors may have lesser stops per route but their route can strain through the weeks. Apart from the difference in distances, route durations, and the number of stops per route, this distribution model requires drivers with different skill sets and driving habits/work models as well as sometimes radically different equipment. When it comes to large 3PLs or LSP this process may combine all of the abovementioned with the need to solve the consolidation problem to/from multiple warehouses and the involvement of different counterparts.
Planning multi-leg deliveries creates delays
As we have already established, last-mile delivery logistics can mean different things for different industries. So, the complexity of the operational model hence the complexity of the planning process can sometimes differ cardinally. It is becoming even more cumbersome when planners are trying to coordinate the timing between the different legs of the supply chain, such as the first, the middle, and the last miles. While manufacturers and distributors will mostly use last-mile consolidation centers and warehouses, transportation companies and logistic service providers (LPS) might even bypass these centers and implement multi-day delivery to the final customers. It is going to be the case, especially for B2B or heavier deliveries.
Coordination between different delivery operators
It can be a great challenge when planning the last mile. It is generally assumed that when the last mile is concerned there is one delivery party that moves the freight. While that could be a case for home or packaged deliveries, in many operational models or industries there are more than one or even two delivery/transportation partners. Thus along with the larger planning range (weekly or biweekly) and multiple consolidation locations involved, the need for coordination between multiple counterparts is going to pose another challenge.
Visibility is important
When it comes to visibility, logistic managers usually imply to the consumer that they know where your truck is. While it is good information to have, especially in real-time, locating your delivery is one (small) part of the total visibility. It should help not only track deliveries but also make preventive operational management and long-term data analytics and efficiency optimization.
Capturing data: Capturing data is essential as it is created in real-time or near time and distributed across different operational decision-makers. It particularly includes stops or order level updates of estimated times of arrivals (ETA) at a driver, customer, dispatcher, or DC level. Post factum delivery data such as late deliveries and actual service times is also important to capture and store properly. To minimize late deliveries by implementing dynamic routing, dispatchers need timely data that shows ETAs with service times and other variables not being produced by GPS tracking software.
Aggregating data: Capturing and aggregating delivery data per different instances and layers is the key to efficient operational and strategic middle-mile network management. The difficulty of it is that systems across different parts of the logistics chain are captured and stored differently, so it is not always possible to have different levels of data aggregation without a synchronized ecosystem.
Supporting decision-making: Aggregated data is a foundation for retrospective and prospective data analytics. One of the major problems of growingly complex logistic supply chains is the absence of full digitization and synchronization of all the necessary information across different layers of an organization.
Trucking capacity is scarce
The ongoing truck driver shortage is now estimated at 80,000, up from 61,000 just three years ago. A new study by Bob Costello, chief economist for the American Trucking Associations (ATA), estimates that the industry will have to recruit 1 million new drivers within the next nine years to replace retiring drivers. This shortage makes it really hard for fleet-light shippers to cover loads and implement proper long-term transportation planning. This is also one of the main reasons for the rising freight costs described above.
4. Less Platform as the best last mile delivery software
Depending on the type of the operational model and or the sector of industry, last-mile deliveries can span from a couple of stops per vehicle per day to high volume short distance stops. Less Platform is capable to route and scheduling deliveries that are peculiar to any distribution model.
Types of industries using last mile logistics software
Lest's discuss several use cases.
For B2C type of high volumes deliveries that are peculiar to e-commerce and retail, it is important that the algorithms could plan 10’s stops in the routes. These deliveries are usually planned daily while vehicles usually cover shorter distances. Dynamic capabilities are also more important as a high level of discrepancies between optimized delivery plans and live deliveries can happen
The next type of local or city dispatch operations is fleet-light operations in case of which delivery companies don't own vehicles. In this case, they may either crowdsource deliveries before or after planning or signup with major carriers (FedEx, UPS, DHL).
The separate operations model of deliveries is the delivery companies that don't have warehouses or distribution centers. These companies usually do high-volume pickups and deliveries during the day. Hence, a different class of algorithms is developed for these types of movies in Less Platform.
For the wholesale distributors and also retailers that need to plan B2B moves such as DC-to-Store or Store-to-DC in case of reverse logistics, a distribution model covers a larger area. In the meantime, the number of stops on the routes will be lower, while the weight of each delivery higher. Vehicles are going to be larger as well so capacity becomes more important.
There are also large use cases of long-haul delivery planning and routing by 3PLs, large shippers, and carriers. Two types of moves are being planned; a) consolidation and routing of LTL’s (Less than truckload) shipments into FTLs (Full truckloads) both by asset-light and asset-based shippers, b) Forward planning of FTLs. It is worth note that in the former case the main optimization parameter is the mileage for fleet-based operations while for fleet-light shippers and 3PLs total cost should be minimized. In the case of FTL forward planning the main optimization parameter is the deadhead or the empty moves between stops (which should be minimized). Decision-making functions also might differ depending on who is making these decisions - shippers and 3PLs would be interested in mainly cost optimization by finding cheaper carriers, although 3PLs might also reach that via better preliminary consolidation or forward planning. Fleet-based logistics service providers (LSPs), such as LTL trucking companies might be interested in an increase in loaded mileage.
A special case is the companies that run a mix of fleet-based and fleet light operations. These are large 3PLs such as Hub Group or JB Hunt as well as retailers such as Walmart, Hope Depot, or Pepsico. They need to combine delivery routing technologies with load outsourcing or even by relying on spot markets.
Software Functionality
The are many features in Less Platform that support or work for almost all the abovementioned delivery models.
Multiple DCs. For example, multiple depots or distribution centers (DC) planning functionality. It is very convenient for companies that have centralized operational planning activities. Secondly, it helps to generate data for separate DCs as well as aggregate it on a company level. A number of warehouses or DCs is growing and getting closer to customers these days, making both operational and strategic routing harder and potential inefficiencies bigger. In the meantime, companies that run multiple pickups and delivery operations without consolidating their shipments in the warehouses can use Less Platform’s pickup and delivery routing and scheduling algorithms.
Delivery windows and variable service times. Two important constraints that make it hard to plan are daily delivery windows and variable service times. These two constraints can also drastically affect capacity used and routes planned. The absence of proper planning tools can make a planner's work daunting and consume too much time. It is also the main cause why distributors use excessive capacities, drive unnecessary miles and have late deliveries. These effects are being amplified due to increased demand variability, speed of deliveries, and tightening delivery windows.
Dynamic planning. Automatic routing is easiest the job but there are plenty more situations requiring manual planning. Less platform as a delivery software provides dynamic planning functional for both pre-dispatch and post-dispatch stages. After getting a route plan, a planner can reroute different stops by assigning them to different routes both individually and in bulk. Then sequencing algorithms will re-optimize the total plan. After making changes algorithms assess the feasibility of delivery windows by checking with recalculated ETAs. All the changes are instantly visible for drivers post-dispatch.
Scheduling. Planned loads can be scheduled both daily and weekly for respective drivers. Less Platform’s dispatch
management software is connected to the driver app so all drivers have planned loads once they are assigned to them. After the dispatch, the driver app updates all ETAs and synchronizes them with the dispatch board. Less Platform’s algorithms then check potential late deliveries by comparing ETAs with delivery windows. This way dispatchers can be proactive to avoid late deliveries or dynamically optimize the delivery process otherwise.
Optimization with contracted carriers. Less Platform also brings together demand and supply by helping shippers cover more loads at lower cost and carriers increase loaded mileage and earn for additional stops. According to our calculations and based on the information provided by more than 50 trucking companies, the average over-the-road truck has 10 linear feet or approximately 10,000 pounds of unused capacity. This “dark capacity” has a market value of over $200 billion. We help carriers to fill a partially loaded truck as fast as an empty truck, leading to a dramatic increase in asset utilization, the main driver of profitability for carriers. As shown in the picture below both shippers and carriers can find shipments or available space in the trucks using our AI algorithms.
This was a small list of various tools and innovations that Less Platform offers to different industries and companies.
Please contact [email protected] if you want to learn more about Less Platform's Last-mile delivery logistics orchestration capabilities.

Are you looking for a more efficient way to ship your products?
Less than truckload shipping is a great way to move smaller shipments without having to use a full truck. This can save you time and money since you only pay for the space your shipment takes up on the truck.
LTL software can help make the process of using less than truckload shipping even easier. With the right software, you can track your shipments, create labels, and manage your orders with just a few clicks.
Keep reading to learn how LTL software could benefit your business.
What Is Less Than Truckload (LTL) Software?
Less than truckload software is the term used by carriers to describe an application that will help manage less than truckload shipments.
Since less than truckload services encompass all middle mile shipping, LTL software is capable of handling any shipment types such as standard, non-standard and hazardous materials.
LTL software can be used for a variety of less than truckload services that are transported including dropshipping, manufacturing, e-commerce, and retail.
And less than truckload software is designed to support carriers in all three areas of the shipping process: quoting shipments, invoicing customers, and managing freight.
Why is LTL Software Important?
With less than truckload shipping becoming increasingly popular, many carriers are looking for software that can help them manage their shipments.
Less Than Truckload (LTL) Software is important to shipping companies because it simplifies the process of completing loads, tracking shipments, invoicing customers, managing inventory, and reporting to less than truckload carriers.
With LTL software, companies are able to manage their orders more efficiently, receive fewer complaints from customers about lost or delayed shipments, spend less time on administrative work, and spend more time on customer service.
Of course, not all LTL software is exactly alike. That's where carriers need less than truckload software reviews to help them choose the less than truckload carrier that will work best for their individual less than truckload shipping needs.
What Are the Risks of Not Having Less Than Truckload Software?
Without less than truckload software, carriers will have a more difficult time keeping up with less than truckload shipping orders, completing less than truckload shipments on schedule, and tracking less than truckloads from pick-up to the final destination.
In addition, without software, carriers can face issues with not receiving orders, truckloads getting lost or delayed during transport, customers complaining that truckloads were not delivered on time, and less than truckloads that are incomplete when they arrive at their final destination.
For example, less than truckload carriers who do not use LTL software to manage less than truckloads can find themselves with tracking data, less accurate invoices, and less speed when processing less than truckloads.
How Does Less Than Truckload (LTL) Software Work?
Less Than Truckload (LTL) Software works by helping carriers complete less than truckload shipments.
By using LTL software, carriers can receive real-time rates for capacity, book freight quickly and efficiently, print out bill of lading documents, create tracking labels instantly, take photos at each stop along the way to document the journey, manage inventory across all your warehouses, streamline billing, track driver hours, ensure less than truckload shipments are complete when they arrive at their final destination, and reduce paperwork with digital signatures.
What are the 12 Ways Less Than Truckload Software Helps Carriers?
There are 12 ways in which less than truckload software can help less than truckload carriers. Less Than Truckload Software Helps with:
1) Quoting Less Than Truckloads
Less Than Truckload (LTL) Software helps carriers by providing a way to quote and bill their customers for shipping services, as well as access customer information, such as contact details and order information, which helps them provide efficient customer service.
2) Invoicing Customers
When a less than truckload carrier uses LTL software they are able to create invoices with the click of a button instead of requiring someone to manually calculate freight charges. At the same time, LTL software can be connected with accounting software to automatically generate invoices that include less than truckload shipping charges.
3) Managing Inventory
With LTL Software, less than truckload carriers are able to perform several inventory management tasks including receiving shipment notifications, creating purchase orders for new shipments, and tracking the status of shipments in transit.
4) Tracking Orders
With less than truckload software carriers are able to track the status of each shipment in real-time, therefore ensuring that truckloads are not delayed or lost while they are being transported.
5) Understanding Where Truckloads Are in the Shipping Process
Less Than Truckload Software provides a snapshot of all shipments which can be filtered by status, which makes it easy for carriers to see which truckloads have been sent out and which have not yet been sent out.
6) Tracking Less Than Truckloads from Pick-up to Delivery
By using LTL software, less than truckload carriers can easily monitor the progress of each shipment by simply clicking on the status of that truck.
7) Accessing Bill of Lading Data
When a less than truckload carrier uses LTL software they are able to access their bill of lading data which makes it easy for them to generate accurate and complete invoices.
8) Keeping Labels Accurate
LTL software has the ability to automatically generate shipping labels for less than truckloads, which is extremely useful since it takes away the need for carriers to manually create or print out shipping labels. As a result, using LTL Software helps ensure that shipping labels are consistent and accurate.
9) Notifications
By using less than truckload software carriers are able to receive notifications when certain events occur, such as; when inventory levels drop below a certain level, which means that if they use this feature they can ensure that they always have the supplies needed to ship out LTLs.
10) Tracking Less Than Truckloads Using Real-Time GPS Tracking
When a less than truckload carrier uses LTL software they are able to track the location of their less than truckloads in real-time, which also makes it possible for them to communicate with drivers and be aware of any delays that might occur.
11) Reporting Less Than Truckloads
Less Than Truckload Software has the ability to generate reports for carriers, which not only makes it easy for them to run tests on their business but also allows them to identify ways that they can improve the efficiency of their company.
12) Comparing Hundreds or Thousands of Shipments
By using LTL software less than truckload carriers are able to compare thousands of shipments in just a few seconds, which makes it easy for them to find ways that they can improve their business.
Get Started with LTL Software Today
With LTL software, carriers are able to significantly increase their productivity and efficiency, which not only helps them complete shipping tasks faster but also allows them to provide better customer service.
Therefore, if you are looking for the best way to get started with less than truckload software, then you should start by finding an LTL software that offers all of the features that you need.
You can find out more about Less Platform here.
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When you run a business that requires excellent, efficient, and productive last-mile logistics, delivery route planner software is becoming a necessity rather than a nice tool to have. Delivery route planning software means that you can determine the best route plan for hundreds of multi-stop deliveries to save mileage and delivery time.
There is a misconception that route planning software helps find the best route between 2 or more locations on the map. People usually imagine google navigation or other navigation software that helps you to decide which route to take. How strange may it sound, the route planning for last-mile operations generally has little to do with maps or navigation. It is rather a complex process of deciding the number of vehicles needed to implement the job, the number of orders in each vehicle, and the sequence of stops so that total mileage or driving time will be the minimum. This is becoming more complex when stops have tight delivery windows and variables service times. Juggling between fitting everything into time constraints, keeping costs down and drivers happy seems an impossible task.
So, using a route planner rather than attempting to plan your deliveries manually will save time, money and ensure that each driver is fully aware of what they should be doing and when. To be the best in business, you need to be the most efficient, you need to work hard, and you need to make use of as many tools as possible – a delivery route planning tool is exactly what any business linked to logistics needs to get ahead.
There are a number of different reasons why a delivery route planner app could be the ultimate piece of software for your business; read on to find out what some of those reasons are, and set up your delivery route planner as soon as you can.
https://youtu.be/7MYtkV5jAd8
Industries For Which efficient Last-Mile Logistics Is Crucial
The delivery route planner is one of the very best investments a business can make. For small-scale operations, you can sign up to delivery route planners free of charge – there’s really no reason at all not to start using this technology when you’re in an industry for which last-mile logistics is crucial.
1. Wholesale Distribution
Wholesale distribution is all about logistics; transporting large loads, whether food and beverages, paper products, building materials, electrical products, medical supplies, and plenty of other products, is the backbone of this sector. A small distributor can have 100-300 stops to make a day, while for large distributors, thousands of deliveries from tens of distribution centers could be made. A proper route planner for these businesses should be able to create route plans in minutes and save mileage and time.
Wholesale trade is definitely big business. It makes up around six percent of the US GDP and can generally be separated into two categories – durable and non-durable. As time passes, both of these groups of commodities are growing, but non-durable goods have a higher profit margin, probably because they can travel further. In 2020, $5.824 trillion worth of wholesale distribution goods were sold.
2. Retail
It is estimated that total retail sales in the US will be around $5.94 trillion in 2024. In 2019, the amount was $5.47 trillion. Of course, in 2020 retail sales fell due to the global pandemic, and the amount was $4.89 trillion.
The importance of the final mile deliveries is skyrocketing in the retail sector. Customers request quicker deliveries in tight delivery windows. There are a number of operational models that retailers are currently using, which we can combine into 1) deliveries using their own fleet of vehicles 2) outsourced deliveries. Some retailers might also have mixed delivery models.
The last-mile logistics are also split between journeys from the distribution centers to the stores and the stores to the final customer. In most cases, the former is a more extensive operation than the latter, but it might be argued that, since customer service is so crucial to get right, the final delivery to the customer has at least as much importance as the initial delivery to the store.
So, multiple legs to plan and different delivery models make it a really complex task to have it done in a short amount of time, keep tight delivery windows and in the meantime, try to keep costs under control.
3. Logistic Service Providers
Logistic service providers such as package delivery companies, fleet-based delivery companies, and other delivery services will find that last-mile logistics are crucial. Parcel transportation sales in the US amounted to $114.4 billion in 2019 and are only set to increase. With more and more people working from home and buying online, these kinds of logistic service providers are sure to only increase their hold, and the last-mile logistics required to ensure that all deliveries go as smoothly as possible is a vital step in this growth.
LSPs also may opt to use joint route planning and delivery management with their customers, especially when customers want to be in charge or participate in route planning and stop sequencing activities.
Why And How Does A Delivery Route Planner Help?
Now let’s see how a delivery route planner can help to improve your last mile logistic experience. There are many ways a good delivery route planner can help your last-mile logistics. In this post, we have presented three of them:
- Saving panning time
- Cutting costs
- Improving visibility
1. Time-Saving
We have demonstrated mentioned benefits on the example of Less Platform route planning and delivery management functionals.
In business, time is money. The more time you can save, the more money you can make. A good route planner app should have planners to implement the daunting task of route planning and sequencing in minutes.
Rather than the planner having to manually look into each drop-off point and plan a route from one to another, something which, when done correctly, can take many hours, you can simply upload the data into Less Platform and you’ll have the optimum route plan. This comes in handy when your orders or stop locations are different from day today. It also helps you to factor in tight delivery windows and variable service times (see the video).
Consolidation of a planning process can also save time and resources, especially in companies with multiple distribution centers. Currently, many companies have different planning teams in different distribution centers, making sense to consolidate these operations. Less Platform can help to manage multi-depo route planning in one place.
Having been able to plan multiple types of movements such as pickups and deliveries or outbound and inbound together helps avoid havoc during the planning process.

2. Cost Cutting
Cutting distribution costs without losing service quality is the ultimate improvement all business owners will want to make, and yet it’s not as easy as it might sound. Trying to cut costs in logistics can often lead to understaffing, high mileage, and unhappy customers.
So the major question in improving efficiency is: how to fulfill increasing deliveries with existing resources so the company won’t miss delivery windows and, in the meantime, assuring that transportation costs won’t go over the roof. There are two major sources of cutting costs of your last-mile logistics:
- to decrease mileage for the existing fleet,
- to use fewer vehicles by optimizing the number and the sequencing of the stops.
There are other obstacles for different industries that add complexity to the planning process. These are variable sizes of orders, especially in the case of wholesale and big-and-bulky distributors, variable driver skills, different priority needs, traffic, etc. A good route planner should allow such flexibility by in the meantime minimizing total mileage and the number of vehicles used (see the video).
3. Improving Visibility
Once you dispatch your loads, many things can affect the delivery process. So, real-time information about the delivery process helps to manage the delivery process and also provides an opportunity to do dynamic routing. Three processes are important when the dispatch process has begun:
- Accurate estimated time of Arravilas (ETA)
- Digital proof of delivery
- Customer notifications
Logistics should never be a reactive industry, and you should leave nothing until the very last moment. Regular updates of ETAs and information about potential late delivery will help to implement dynamic planning and decrease late deliveries. Less Platform allows you to have updated ETA when you are using Less Platform Mobile APP or are connected to telematic hardware such as Samsara, Geotab, etc. The driver app helps update the statuses of stops and save them in the system.
Digital proof of delivery for every stop is installed on both android and ios mobile apps. When a driver captures the signature, our route planner generates a proof of delivery file and saves it for the appropriate order for later inspection. Updated stops’ statues also help you to focus on what has left.
Customer notifications are an integral part of visibility. You can set up notifications both at the scheduling and actual delivery stages and automate them to be sent to customers’ email, phones or both. A Geofencing functional will also help to send notifications at the different stages of delivery.

Conclusion
Whether you are working in wholesale distribution, retail, or you’re a logistics service provider, utilizing the technology that saves your time and money is essential. There is no way that free route planning apps can serve decent last-mile logistics operations – they’re simply built for different use. To be able to keep up with the growing pressure, any company involved in a last-mile delivery should start using a proper route planning solution. Less Platform is at the forefront of the route planning and delivery management for last-mile logistics offering cutting-edge solutions to any of the above-mentioned industries.
Author: Vardan Markosyan

The route planning and delivery management software is becoming a cornerstone for any delivery operations. There are a number of solutions on the market - from free routing planning software that will be good for one driver operations to plan a dozen of stops to powerhouses that help to plan hundreds or thousands of deliveries from multiple locations. We are going to discuss what requirements may companies of different sizes and in different verticals have and what they should consider in choosing a route planning software for their operations.
What is route planning and why it is hard?
Route Planning
There is a misconception that route planning software helps find the best route between 2 or more locations on the map. People usually imagine google navigation or other navigation software that helps you to decide which route to take. How strange may it sound, the route planning for last-mile operations generally has little to do with maps or navigation. It is rather a complex process of deciding the number of vehicles needed to implement the job, the number of orders in each vehicle, and the sequence of stops so that total mileage or driving time will be the minimum. This is becoming more complex when stops have tight delivery windows and variables service times. Juggling between fitting everything into time constraints, keeping costs down and drivers happy seems an impossible task.
Now, lets see what is a route planning and how does that work.
The most widespread way of modeling multi-stop delivery operations is by solving the so-called Vehicle Routing Problem (VRP’s). In the majority of cases, the VRP goal is to optimize driven mileage, which, in formal terms, means getting the minimum possible mileage for the given plan. Combinatorial optimization is the mathematical apparatus to solve VRPs. There are two major ways to solve this problem – using exact methods or metaheuristics (approximate solutions). The discussion of combinatorial optimization is a topic for another post, so we won’t go deep into it now. What we can say is that the exact methods are limited to 100 nodes (deliveries), hence if one wants to get a plan within a reasonable time the use of some kind of metaheuristic is absolutely necessary. A consequence of this process is that no solution can get an “optimal” result but rather should try to get as close to optimum as possible. For example, if the theoretical minimum for 1000 deliveries is 10000 miles with 40 trucks, different algorithms will certainly get more miles than that (could be both 11000 and 14000). In fact, as no one knows what the theoretical optimum is, the planner can’t realistically assess the quality of the solution through a comparative process. In our experience, manual planners get somewhere between 60-80% to optimal. So, what is the best way to assess how good the solution is? We must compare the firm’s historical data (if that exists) or run it in parallel with manual planning to see the difference in optimization rates. As an industry-standard, good routing solutions should give results close to 95-97% to optimal.
The difference between paid and free route planning software as well as between different paid solutions will be sometime substantial differences both in (a) optimization quality and (b) application usability. Some of the distinctive characteristics of a “good” application are described below. Companies may want to look for route planning software based on the importance of the criteria described below.
Complexity
The main problem of VRP is time complexity or, in other words, the fact that the amount of time needed to solve the problem grows exponentially when the number of deliveries or nodes increases or when the algorithm incorporates more constraints. To give you an idea of the problem encountered when scaling up nodes/deliveries consider that solving a Capacitated Vehicle Routing Problem with Time Windows (CVRPTW) for 100 locations takes about 10 minutes using current commercial optimization solvers but takes a whopping 8 hours for 300 locations. Why, because solving for optimization goals for the first set of nodes takes tens of millions of permutations and for the latter - hundreds of millions.
Below are a few more examples of variables dramatically adding to the numbers of permutations and thus increasing the time for a potential optimal solution.
Time Complexity
Time complexity rises when an optimization algorithm tries to incorporate more real-life data whose absence would massively degrade the usability of the solution. A primary example is that many firms have a variety of trucks and equipment. An average firm can use 4-8 types of trucks with different capacities. The majority of free and even paid solutions either don’t include the capacity constraint in calculations or are using just one capacity constraint.
Delivery Windows
Delivery windows are another variable that adds complexity to the problem. The planner should make sure that capacity is maximally leveraged while ensuring ETA's are within delivery windows. While the majority of paid solutions will factor in delivery windows they are absent from free route planning software.
Service Requirements
Service requirements are different for different clients. Dwell or loading/unloading time can vary for each of these 400 deliveries and the optimization algorithm should be able to incorporate it into calculations. We didn't see a free route planning software that includes variable service time.
Priority orders
There are orders which should be prioritized over the others. Thus, the optimization algorithm should be able to keep strict delivery requirements for the high-priority deliveries while still assuring the best optimization goals.
Electronic Logging Device (ELD)
ELD's are mandatory nowadays and Hours of Service (HOS) requirements should be considered from the planning phase. This should go as a constraint variable into the algorithms as well. Needless to say that the majority of free route planning software or free versions of paid route planning software don't have this feature.
Along with main constraints they could be other requirements that are hardly found in the majority of free and some of paid route planning software.
SKU level data
An average distributor operates with 1000’s SKUs and a large distributor with 100’s of thousands. Each SKU has different volume and weight characteristics which should be taken into account when planning deliveries. Not all applications incorporate product-specific accurate data into calculations or use capacity as a constraint at all. This results in a lot of capacity violations and too many routes becoming obsolete when it comes to filling and dispatch. There is also a highly variable human factor in play because many companies don’t have all the needed information in their Warehouse Management Systems (WMS). As a result, algorithms should be able to work with incomplete data. Needless to say, the software should be able to seamlessly integrate with a firm’s order and warehouse management systems or other Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) modules.
Remote connectivity
As the routing problem is complex and requires lots of data and computational resources most of the routing applications available on the market should be installed on-premise. Conversely, it is becoming imperative that people who are not in the field (and even people who are in the field) should have access to multi-user plug and work opportunities. This creates a high-demand situation requiring a novel solution. The routing solution should offer robust multi-user functionality. At the same time, it should be able to process billions of combinatorial permutations in seconds. An advanced enterprise-grade cloud-native architecture is needed, otherwise, the firm will be creating additional problems rather than solving old ones.
Big data
Imagine what happens when there are not one but 10’s of planners in the firm who plan data for multiple warehouses and distribution centers. An optimization solution requires multiple installations in different warehouses resulting in massive investments and further support cost. Even without that, the majority of solution applications in the market are limited to planning 500 simultaneous deliveries and are only suitable for small firms. One can plan routes in batches but that will substantially degrade the quality of optimization for the total plan. Growing and competitive firms should have the opportunity to run and compare multiple instances simultaneously, plan tens of thousands of deliveries, and have other collaborative functionality which is only possible with the enterprise-grade cloud-native architecture.
Additional features
There are a number of additional features that should be embedded in any forward-looking solution such as a) data interoperability b) creation of dispatch documentation c) monitoring dashboard e) functional analytics f) dynamic planning, etc. We will return to these topics in other blog posts.
Current Solutions in the Market
There are different solutions in the market which help to plan loads and dispatch them. We will list some of them and group them following the descriptions copied from their websites.
Maps
Mapping applications offer route optimization, which is limited to getting the best sequence for the given data points. The number of points is limited to 10-20 points. Apparently, maps don’t do VRP optimization for multi-stop deliveries. Maps won’t provide any product and shipment management functional either. Routing functionality would be a good addition for personal or occasional usage.

Free routing software
Free applications are one step ahead of current maps routing functions. They can be used by small firms, but it is not clear if these applications use any kind of mathematical optimization. They apparently miss the majority of the ideal functionality previously touched on.

Paid routing software

All paid solutions state that they have some optimization algorithms under the hood. Routific and OptimoRoute have straightforward pricing while Route4Me has a relatively low base price but additionally charges for different features. Workwave has several products for different industries. All these solutions incorporate delivery windows in the planning and build multi-stop loads.
Other consideration in choosing a route planning software
First, one should look deeper into what has been optimized and how good it actually is? As we have noted above, results can be different (sometimes substantially) depending on the types of algorithms and optimization methodology used. The best way to compare is either to test the same dataset using different applications or compare results with the optimal values for that dataset.
Second, does software optimize the delivery plan for the day or just updates sequences on fixed routes? Running CVRPTW is hard and requires substantial resources and appropriate algorithms, so many applications just help you to build a route plan once, without taking into consideration specific order details and location time windows. You would assign orders manually afterward by figuring out sequences. Later is a much simpler approach but it substantially reduces optimality. I.e., Less® Platform runs CVRPTW for every group of orders from the scratch, thus assuring the most optimal route plan for that specific order list.
Third, data requirements for foodservice wholesale distributors and cleaning services, for example, can be substantially different. It is not the same to run the Capacitated VRP optimization for the several thousand different SKUs and simple stops routing. Wholesale distribution, trucking, and logistics management companies need a comprehensive product and freight management function. These industries also combine inbound and outbound operations, can have simultaneous pick-ups and deliveries, and offer multi-depot operations.
Forth, the capacity of the platform for handling the number of deliveries should be appropriate to the size of the company. Due to the time complexity of the problem, larger companies should pick an application (more than 300-500 deliveries a day), which is capable to work with large data sets without compromising the solution quality.
Transportation, distribution, and logistics management firms operate in a highly competitive and increasingly uncertain environment where margins are tiny and even a small disadvantage will keep the firm out of the highest levels of competition. Delivery route planning optimization sometimes lags behind other, seemingly more important operations when it comes to decision making. Crucially, this is where your short-term profitability and long-term efficiency rests. The cost of choosing a poor solution will be hundreds and millions of dollars. We have seen many cases where suboptimal planning and poor execution (which are highly interconnected) sink both growing and established firms.
Less® Platform can turn your data into loads within 10 minutes and compare it with your historical results! You can also test all the necessary features for your distribution model and consult with our experts on your challenges.
Author
Vardan Markosyan is the CEO at Less® Platform
MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business
PhD in Economics from the Institute of Economy of NAS RA
He spent decades of research and consultancy on business process optimization and system design

Route Planning Solution helps to simplify operations
Are you a food distributor looking for a better route planning solution to maximize your time and provide a cost-effective supply to customers even when demand is unpredictable? Despite there being many options you can choose from to enable you to plan and prepare your logistics, the fact remains that food distribution software can always be upgraded to fit the client's needs and the market as a whole.
What can be described as a multi-faceted operation, food distribution services need to remain viable for transporting food by utilizing the very best in scheduling, route planning software, and food delivery planning.
Consumer demand is growing. The marketplace for locally sourced foods and those that have a lower impact on the environment due to traveling fewer miles or being transported more efficiently is becoming the focus of consumer demands. If 2020 has taught us anything, it would be the fact that the more sustainable a supply chain operation is, the less likely it is to see major impacts from changes in the market. Sustainability, transparency and ethical sourcing are considered to be among the most important trends affecting any food and beverage company.
There is a misconception that route planning is for finding better routes between different locations on the map. While it can be a part of the solution, a route planning app for food distributors should be able to plan hundreds of deliveries from multiple locations that include tight delivery windows and variable service times. Along the way of doing that the best route planning solution should also minimize the mileage driven, time spent on routes, and vehicles needed of the plan (please watch the video below to see how)
Route panning is not included in distribution solutions?
While many software programs allow for you to schedule and plan for deliveries due to integrated food distribution software, route planning and maximum efficiency is still an area that is lacking when it comes to food delivery options. When COVID-19 hit the US in early 2020, it created a ripple of interruptions to the supply chain. Retailers responded to the sudden increase in demand caused by workplaces and schools being shut and restaurants closing down by offering curbside pickups, deliveries, and click and collect. Food distributors incorporated direct-to-consumer channels to keep food moving through the chain so that customers did not go without it. Software and technology providers fast-tracked development and deployment of new solutions designed to automate, digitize and measure every link in the supply chain from a distance.
Demand Could be Variable
In an ideal world, you would want to meet demand while removing excessive time-wasting, and underutilized routes from your food delivery route planner. A software program that allows you to cater to those unpredictable order frequencies and optimize your route to remove waste and inefficiency can help you meet your ever-increasing customer demands while getting the most from your workforce, whether you have your own fleet or not.
With more than three hundred food hubs identified in the United States, many rural hubs miss route optimization due to location. By enabling route optimization for fleets, you can provide the customer with real-time tracking to allow them to locate and identify when their shipment will arrive while allowing you to focus on making sure your fleet is being used most effectively and efficiently to benefit both your business and the customer.
Operational flexibility is a requirement in food delivery planning to allow you to meet demand and best utilize your supply chain.

What Benefits Can Route Planning Optimization Offer Your Company?
By being able to direct your fleet and assign staff to work hours that most benefit the company and your supply chain, you can look at lowering staff costs by removing the bloat from wages and offering better working hours and routes for when your fleet is on the road and delivering orders and sales to customers.
Reduce Costs
Whether you are making one larger drop or multi-drop routes, having software that takes into consideration load-bearing, scheduling, route planning, and more will allow you to maximize your workforce and reduce costs and overheads by removing and uncertainty over delivery times and routes and timescales for when you can potentially deliver the goods. However, it is worth bearing in mind that an overzealous approach to money saving can be counterproductive as expensive software can prove to be a good investment over time and help you to save money in other areas in the long run.
Less Planning Time
On top of this, you can also reduce mileage by having the best possible route tracked and planned before you load up your fleet, allowing you to load up in a way that compliments your chosen route reducing time spent unloading excess deliveries to find the one for a specific destination.
This allows for a smoother transfer of goods and less spoilage in transit, meaning you deliver a better quality of service for our clients while also keeping costs and overheads down, all while benefiting from less time spent planning routes and a faster delivery schedule.
There are always ways you can look to improve how efficiently your food delivery process is. Having a system in place that can account for more efficient load-bearing when allocating deliveries will help you create a streamlined process from import to delivery. It is wise for food distributors to take the challenges that they face, improve their own processes, mitigate the risks, improve products and improve overall business operations. Food distributors and logistics teams who manage disruption day in and day out know how to engineer supply chains that not only adapt to planned seasonality or unexpected events but also deliver cost savings, increase productivity and improve efficiency.
In Conclusion
Focusing on streamlining your food delivery planning and investing in software to enable you to do more with less effort can pay dividends when it comes to meeting customer expectations and hitting targets within your industry. Simplifying the food delivery process to focus on what matters most can put you ahead of your competition by accessing the food distribution software to complement your business and reduce the workload when it comes to route planning, load-bearing, and more.
In an increasingly competitive market, having an advantage over your competitors to appeal to clients especially when it comes to providing real-time updates and putting a focus on conservation and reducing your carbon footprint can help you to reach more people quicker and retain a high level of customer satisfaction thanks to a fully optimized food delivery software that takes all the hard work out of efficient route planning and deliveries.
Ready to learn more? Sign up for a free trial today.
Author
Vardan Markosyan is the CEO at Less® Platform
MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business
PhD in Economics from the Institute of Economy of NAS RA
He spent decades of research and consultancy on business process optimization and system design

Why Should You Care?
“Middle mile” has less buzz than a first mile and last-mile logistics and is most often considered the part where not much optimization can happen. Much of the focus today is on last-mile deliveries and even first-mile services that link vendors and fulfillment centers. So, logistic professionals and distribution practitioners sometimes consider it as a most “boring” part of the supply chain as middle-mile logistics are relatively easy to manage and automate. But is it so?
Middle-mile delivery distances are different from sector to sector. Nevertheless, with the accelerated growth of e-commerce increasing requirements are creating burdens on the logistics chain, including the middle-mile. As it is clear from the report represented by Deutsche Bank in 2019, networks are becoming more fragmented supporting the positioning of inventory near the final destination. For example, forced by Amazon’s “Prime” delivery service traditional retailers on average have cut their delivery times by as much as 30 percent in the past few years. We also observe an increase of fulfillment sites near densely populated demand centers. So a shortened and fragmented middle-mile creates uncertainties and retains higher volatility typical to the last mile.
What is “Middle-Mile” Logistics for Different Sectors?
Let's first define what is the “middle mile”. Now let’s define what is the “middle mile logistics” for different industries?
Wholesale Distribution

Wholesale distributors are the middleman between producers and retailers with slight differences from the industry to industry. It is one of the more complex industries driven by high numbers of SKUs, customers, suppliers and transactions, and their pricing and rebate structures.
They can be grouped in major ones such as food, beverages, pharmaceutical, electronics, industrial and building materials. According to the National Association of Wholesale Distributors (NAW) total wholesale distribution revenue ended the year at $5.970 trillion, just slightly below the April 2019 record high. GDP for the year totaled a record-high $21.734 trillion with a growth rate of 4.0%. The Wholesale Distribution industry is 27.5% of U.S. GDP1. From the total supply chain perspective wholesale distribution is a combination of first and middle-mile deliveries. While a small distributor can work having only one distribution center serving a limited area, large distributors, may have hundreds of distribution centers in the majority of states and Canadian provinces (we have in mind only the domestic part of the supply chain without considering international movements here).
We observe changes in the industry in the form of growing concentration as well as the emergence of disruptive business models. For example, Amazon’s sales platform is supported by more than 2 million third-party sellers worldwide. Of those sellers, 26% sell products using a wholesale sales model. So, changes drive growth for some distributors or create significant disruption in the value chain for others. Managing these shifts to ensure sustainable business performance is a priority for wholesale distributors, particularly as new competitors emerge and apply additional pressures.
Retail Distribution
Unlike wholesale distribution, retail distribution can have distinct first, middle, and last miles in their logistic supply chains. While smaller retailers do only the last mile, larger retailers with multiple distribution centers may have all three. So, the middle-mile deliveries for retail businesses are part of the distribution from DCs to their stores. Retailers may use both their private fleets, 3rd party carriers or a combination of both.
According to the latest report by PwC and the National Retail Federation (NRF) - released in May 2020 - the industry’s total GDP impact was $3.9 trillion, accounting for 18.7 percent of US GDP in 2018. The supermarket & Grocery stores industry grew at a rate of 1%, reaching $654.6 billion in 2019. Speciality Stores such as Home Depot, Best Buy, etc. currently represent 11% of retail sales.
According to the latest figures by USDA, grocery stores, including supermarkets and smaller grocery stores (except convenience stores) accounted for the largest share of store sales (92.2 percent), followed by convenience stores without gasoline (4.5 percent). Specialized food stores, including meat and seafood markets, produce markets, retail bakeries, and candy and nut stores, accounted for the remaining 3.3 percent of the total. According to NRF latest data3, the main retailers in US are:
- Walmart, with a turnover of $ 387.66 billions in retail sales
- Amazon.com ($120.93 billion)
- The Kroger Co ($119.70 billion)
- Costco ($101.43 billion)
Transportation and Logistics

Third-party logistics providers, trucking companies, and owner-operators serve both retail and wholesale distribution industries. According to the U.S. transportation data, the freight transported by private trucks is almost equal to the for-hire sector deliveries.
Many retailers and wholesalers outsource their logistics to 3PLs and 4PLs hence delegating the middle-mile logistics management function. Speed is becoming the main factor in organizing logistics from ports or production sites to distribution centers. Unlike many retailers and wholesalers, 3PLs manage freight for multiple customers hence have wider options in consolidation tactics. They particularly can alternate between full truckload (TL) or Less than truckload (LTL) movements to fasten up the delivery process.
While it’s obvious in the case of first and last-mile deliveries, middle-mile delivery optimization is less visible but not a less important and difficult task.
E-commerce
This is a movement of goods from large DC’s to the growing number of smaller fulfillment centers. It is where much of the work occurs that makes logistics run, chiefly, consolidations and de-consolidations. It encompasses a phalanx of large distribution centers used to shift products around the country.
It is also where much of the delivery distance is covered. The flagman of middle-mile distribution operations is apparently Amazon.com Inc. In the upcoming future, Amazon plans to open 1,000 small delivery hubs in cities and suburbs all over the U.S., according to people familiar with the plans5. The facilities, which will eventually number about 1,500, will bring products closer to customers, making shopping online about as fast as a quick run to the store. Other large and small companies are also keeping up the pace so the growth of smaller regional fulfillment centers is expected to rise.
According to research from commercial real estate firm CBRE Group, in 2019 rents for warehouses between 70,000 and 120,000 square feet rose by 33.7 percent in the past five years. The average price is now $6.67 per square foot. Availability for these smaller warehouses also shrunk from 11.3 percent to 7.4 percent in the same time frame. Despite their help to speed up deliveries, more fulfillment centers mean higher costs and more pressure on making them efficient.
Two Big Questions of the Middle-Mile Logistics
Are Lanes Static?
The number one misconception about the middle-mile is that it is “boring” and there is nothing to optimize. As we already pointed out, changing supply chains add volatility and increase the need of applying different strategies and scenarios. Moreover, it is important to deploy efficient strategies and tactics both for long-term supply chain and daily delivery planning. For example, middle-mile logistics might alternate between three “legs”:
- Shipment of high volume items directly to DCs
- Truckloads of multiple SKUs can be used to reallocate inventories between distribution centers
- Deliver multiple SKU loads to smaller footprint urban fulfillment centers
The volatile demand and tight delivery windows may force shippers to continuously find balance in the logistic network orchestration. There should be proper tools to do that having in mind multiple optimization goals and constraints.
Retail distributors with multiple DCs also face the same dilemma of efficient logistics planning. Decisions about DC location and configuration change faster than before as retailers should adapt to changing demand. Volatile demand also creates inefficiencies for day-to-day operational planning. Retailers can deploy the same routes as delivery volumes so the service times vary quite a lot.
Some DCs cover quite large areas so there could be 2-3 days multi-stop trips. So retailers should either add smaller DCs closer to their stores or optimize the delivery process to get more work done with the same or fewer resources. As transportation costs can reach up to 50% of total logistics costs, route and vehicle planning can either assure or dry up profits in a low-margin environment.
Why Does Visibility Matter?
When it comes to visibility, logistic managers usually imply to the consumer that they know where your truck is. While it is good information to have, especially in real-time, locating your delivery is one (small) part of the total visibility. It should help to not only track deliveries but also make preventive operational management and long-term data analytics and efficiency optimization.
Capturing Data
Capturing data is essential as it is created in real-time or near time and distributed across different operational decision-makers. It particularly includes stops or order level updates of estimated times of arrivals (ETA) at a driver, customer, dispatcher, or DC level. Post factum delivery data such as late deliveries and actual service times is also important to capture and store properly. To minimize late deliveries by implementing dynamic routing, dispatchers need timely data that shows ETAs with service times and other variables not being produced by GPS tracking software.
Aggregating Data
Capturing and aggregating delivery data per different instances and layers is the key for efficient operational and strategic middle-mile network management. The difficulty of it is that systems across different parts of the logistics chain are captured and stored differently, so it is not always possible to have different levels of data aggregation without a synchronized ecosystem.
Supporting Decision-Making
Aggregated data is a foundation for retrospective and prospective data analytics. One of the major problems of growingly complex logistic supply chains is the absence of full digitization and synchronization of all the necessary information across different layers of an organization.
How Less Platform Helps to Plan and Orchestrate Middle-Mile Logistics
Unlike last-mile deliveries, middle-mile loads can take several days to deliver, although companies are usually trying to locate their DCs within a daily dispatch limit. It creates problems for automatization of the load building and route planning process as the majority of solutions in the market do only daily planning. Less Platform tuned its route planning and load building algorithms to factor in multi-day multi-stop routing.
The other important feature of Less Platform is the multiple depots or DC planning functionality. It is very convenient for companies that have centralized operational planning activities. Secondly, it helps to generate data for separate DCs as well as aggregate it on a company level. As we have already mentioned, the number of DCs is increasing and moving closer to customers making both operational and strategic routing harder and potential inefficiencies bigger.

Two important constraints that make it hard to plan are daily delivery windows and variable service times. These two constraints can also drastically affect capacity used and routes planned. The absence of proper planning tools can make a planner's work daunting and consume too much time. It is also the main cause why distributors use excessive capacities, drive unnecessary miles and have late deliveries. These effects are being amplified due to increased demand variability, speed of deliveries, and tightening delivery windows.

Automatic routing easies the job but there are plenty more situations requiring manual planning. Less platform provides dynamic planning functional for both pre-dispatch and post-dispatch stages. After getting a route plan, a route planner can reroute different stops by assigning them to different routes both individually and in bulk. Then sequencing algorithms will re-optimize the total plan. After making changes algorithms assess the feasibility of delivery windows by checking with recalculated ETAs. All the changes are instantly visible for drivers post-dispatch.

And finally, planned loads can be scheduled both daily and weekly to respective drivers. Less Platform’s dispatch management software is connected to the driver app so all drivers have planned loads once they are assigned to them.

After the dispatch, the driver app updates all ETAs and synchronizes them with the dispatch board. Less Platform’s algorithms then check potential late deliveries by comparing ETAs with delivery windows. This way dispatchers can be proactive to avoid late deliveries or dynamically optimize the delivery process otherwise.
Please contact [email protected] if you want to learn more about Less Platform middle-mile logistics orchestration capabilities or check out our demo for mobile here.
Author
Vardan Markosyan is the CEO at Less® Platform
MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business
PhD in Economics from the Institute of Economy of NAS RA
He spent decades of research and consultancy on business process optimization and system design

The most common theoretical framework for solving a multi-stop delivery problem from the same location (s) is known as a Vehicle Routing Problem (VRP).
One of the specifications of all VRP’s is that they are stochastic (random) in nature, so every time the user runs it, the route plan is going to be randomly compiled. The majority of distribution firms are using routing software or do manual routing using what’s called a “static routes” system. Companies first create “static” routes and then try to squeeze in additional orders or manually reroute those orders with decreased demand on a daily or weekly basis.
This system was created long before the internet and PCs as well. Theoretically, building an optimal route plan for a medium-size distribution company with 1000 deliveries (nodes) is hard. It should be done by solving a Capacitate Vehicle Routing Problem with Time-Windows. This is a time-complex problem. It also requires substantial resources and computational power. While static routes are easier to compile, medium to large companies lose hundreds of thousands and even millions of dollars for underused capacity and overdriven miles.
Pros of static multi-stop route planning
- Drivers assigned to “static” routes so can more easily get to a location
- Drivers deal with the same customers. So, they know service times and have other customer-specific information
- Drivers know rush hours and parking specifications for locations
Cons of static multi-stop route planning
- Lower truck utilization
- More miles are driven
- Harder for planners to plan
- Less dynamic capabilities
There are a number of obstacles that make the “static routes” approach hard to implement. They also amplify the shortcomings of the approach, making it even more ineffective:
- Demand is not static for the same customers
- Orders from new customers never served before
- No orders from existing customers
Static routes create more inefficiencies during times of fluctuating demand or when the company is at a higher growth stage. It also can create inefficiencies when a company adds more depots or comes out from the M&E process.
Less Platform and stochastic multi-stop route planning
We have created daily route plans using Less® Platform’s weekly sample data and compared it to our customer’s historical delivery data, which used static routes (Figure 1).
Figure 1
We have also implemented tests for other periods and customers. The result is that the Less® Platforms stochastic optimization produced 10-30% less mileage compared to historical data.
Mixed model
The main issue regarding planning in distribution operations is how to find a balanced model when the real-life benefits of the static routing will sustain the status quo, but stochastic optimization will lead to better operational results. We have engineered a model that combines additional constraints to our CVRPTW algorithms.
- Assigning specific customers to specific drivers
- Using advanced sequencing algorithms
- Appling supervised Machine Learning (ML) algorithm to train on driver-specific data
While those constraints reduce results further from the optimality by about 3-7%, they still allow the combination of both worlds and secure hundreds of thousands of saved miles.
Less® Platform can turn your data into loads within 10 minutes and compare it with your historical results! You can also test all the necessary features for your logistic model and consult with our experts on
your challenges.
Author
Vardan Markosyan is the CEO at Less® Platform
MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business
Ph.D. in Economics from the Institute of Economy of NAS RA
He spent decades of research and consultancy on business process optimization and system design

We have seen a surge in B2B 3PL and fulfillment operations during the last few years. This trend continues accelerating as e-commerce grows at a steady phase and delivery times shorten. Thus, traditional asset-based logistic providers such as; FedEx Logistics, J. B. Hunt, Hub group, Kenko Logistics, Distribution technology, Atlanta bonded, Cardinal logistics, have to deal with larger volumes and faster deliveries. It should be noted that 3PL’s specializing in B2B distribution usually keep their fleet of trucks in combination with contracted carriers. So delivery route planning fo 3PLs is becoming both the source of great efficiencies and potential losses.

Why is this difficult?
Delivery Route Planning for 3PLs
Unlike city dispatch and delivery, 3PLs might have a multiday delivery route planning horizon from multiple distribution centers (DCs). The asset-based 3PLs main goal is to have the maximum number of orders delivered in the shortest possible time while simultaneously taking into consideration variable distances, delivery windows, and service times of orders. Ideally, companies should be able to reach a maximum loaded mileage to achieve this goal. The best-loaded mileage can be reached by;
- - increasing the loading ratio and/or
- - decreasing driving time or mileage
Along with the need to consider different delivery days, time windows, and service times, reaching the best-loaded mileage is becoming a next to impossible task. No solution in the market can compile optimal routes for 1000s orders for multiday horizons with tight delivery windows, variable service, and flexible start times. Less Platform does that in a matter of minutes.
Multi-terminal operations
Large 3PLs usually operate using multiple DCs, so they need to have an option to plan their routes simultaneously. The absence of robust delivery route planning solutions for 3PLs dedicates more resources than required and creates massive inefficiencies. Less® has a multi-depot functionality and a wide range of as-if scenario analysis to plan orders from DCs offering maximum deliveries. 3PLs can even use the tool to plan the next DC location for optimal logistics.

Visibility
Having visibility on potential late deliveries beforehand helps to mitigate their occurrence. This can be done only through maximum visibility. Most companies are connected to ELDs or they use other GPS tracking software these days. While it helps to trace truck locations, it does not allow us to anticipate potential late deliveries at the stop level.
The problem is that delivery time equates to driving time and stop level service (or dwell) and other HOS required stops time. Less® works as a sophisticated system by getting information from the driver app, recalculating ETAs, checking feasibilities with delivery windows, and warning about potential late deliveries. This information is visible both to dispatchers and drivers. Companies need to have a unified dashboard of ongoing deliveries and should be able to identify potential risks beforehand. This unified visibility is the key to decreasing late deliveries and increasing customer satisfaction.
Integration with current tech infrastructure
3PLs use different TMS’, WMS’, and other company-specific ERP software. So any complex solution should be able to integrate with all these systems in a matter of hours. Less® Platform’s API-enabled configuration helps connect to ordering, TMS’, and WMS’ even at the SKU level. If 3PLs have their homegrown ERPs, they still can integrate with less at the engine level. This helps to use the customized interface while still getting all benefits that Less® Platforms route planning engine offers
Reporting and analytics
A well-thought-out reporting and analytics system helps to get sharpen a firm's competitive edge. Businesses operate in times of growing complexity of operations and an ambiguous external environment. Adding to this growing issue is that there is a considerable lag in terms of current solutions being offered in the market. 3PLs should be able to understand inefficiencies in their distribution operations at corporate, DC, and even dispatcher and driver levels. Due to a current lack of solutions providing proper visibility over analytics, this is not possible at an appreciable level of complexity. Along with performance analytics, accumulated information should be analyzed and turned into insightful forecasts for getting better plans and decreasing uncertainties. Data aggregation also should help to assess the performance of even more complex operations with thousands of trucks and 100s of fulfillment centers.
We tried to consider the major pain points that 3PLs have regarding increasing volumes and incorporate them into an enterprise-grade cloud-native SaaS solution. Please reach out at [email protected] for more info.
Author
Vardan Markosyan is the CEO at Less® Platform
MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business
Ph.D. in Economics from the Institute of Economy of NAS RA
He spent decades of research and consultancy on business process optimization and system design


Status of the new normal
The new normal requires firms that want to stay afloat or grow to understand its peculiarities and take action. So adaptation to post - COVID19 environment is crucial. Low Touch Economy is the new state of our society and economy and has been permanently altered by Covid-19. It is characterized by low-touch interactions, health and safety measures, new human behaviors, and permanent industry shifts. For the distribution industry, it creates both internal and external challenges.
The most prominent and probably lasting external hardship is the behavioral shift. Particularly, people will know how they interact with each other and businesses. Thus, we can expect lower demand for the entities which are most affected by the behavioral shift such as restaurants, schools, and other places for public gatherings. People are also changing their behaviors relative to how they try and touch things with health and safety issues being paramount.
Secondly, some of these changes seem like they are here to stay. Thus, for some distributors such as foodservice and apparel, demand shock of this new normal can last longer and changes in demand patterns can be permanent.
And lastly, behavioral changes also affect how people co-exist in the workspace and interact with clients. Working from home has particularly become more widespread. Additionally, fieldwork will produce interactions inherently riskier.
Adapting your organization’s external strategy
Consider the instability in supply and demand. As the recent meat crisis in the US shows, sudden supply chain disruptions are possible. To mitigate demand shock or even prepare for further growth companies should focus on their competitive position and expand on it by searching for new opportunities or moving into new subsectors. One example could be adopting better e-commerce practices by creating tools to support online purchasing. Improving the interface for online food menus is a good example. Changing product assortment and looking for new verticals is also a viable option.
Adapting your organization’s internal strategy to post - COVID19
a) Taking care of the health and safety of field-service personnel by limiting close interaction with customer representatives and move to electronic document exchange.
b) Change office and warehouse rules. For example; less personal interaction and meetings, office space redesign to lower the proximity between employees.
c) Adapt new remote managerial and operational technologies. Try to keep as many people working remotely as possible, especially vulnerable groups. It also requires adapting cloud-based load and route planning and delivery execution platforms.
d) Adapt to new staffing and HR procedures.
Adapting to the new normal is not going to be an easy task and will require a good amount of brainstorming by everyone. The key is to understand industrial, behavioral, social, and regulatory changes and to be able to mitigate current losses and seize new opportunities.


Are you looking for a better way to manage your deliveries?
Routing software improves last-mile logistics and can help you optimize your delivery routes, saving time and money.
With the right routing software, you can improve your customer service and make your business more efficient.
Keep reading to learn more.
What is Routing Software?
Routing software, also known as a route planner or delivery management solution, helps you improve your dispatch processes. It does this by automating the process of creating a plan for a one-time shipment from either multiple pick-up and drop-off locations, or from a central location to several end destinations.
In addition, some routing systems can also help you optimize your routes according to criteria such as time of day or traffic.
Routing software is appropriate for any business that transports goods from one location to another. For example, a trucking company might use it to plan the best way to deliver freight from a warehouse in California to a retail yard hundreds of miles away.
Why Do I Need Routing Software?
While routing software fills a very specific need, it can help make a difference for your business. Here are a few of the ways you might benefit from it:
- Better customer service – Routing software can make it easier to predict delivery times and manage expectations. For example, if your company's route planner takes account of traffic patterns on certain roads, customers will be better able to estimate when their appointments will happen. In general, routing software makes the logistics of transportation easier for everyone involved.
- Improved efficiency – Routing software not only helps you save time by reducing the amount of manual planning required, but it can also help increase your overall productivity. For example, if you have to switch vehicles or drivers during a long haul, routing software will let you pick the best way to make the switch.
- Reduced costs – Routing software can also help reduce fuel and vehicle wear-and-tear in a number of ways. For example, a route planner that takes traffic into account when creating routes will let you avoid unnecessary time on the road. In addition, proper routing software might mean that you'll use just the right kind of vehicle for each delivery. Finally, routing software can also help reduce your company's carbon footprint by reducing idle time.
- Increasing the size of your fleet and revenue – While you might not think of your vehicles as part of your "fleet,” they are probably the largest investment you make in your business. Route planners can help you get more out of your existing vehicle fleet by matching drivers to the most efficient routes at the best times.
What Industries Use Routing Software?
Routing and delivery management software is used by a wide variety of businesses, including:
- Retail
- Manufacturing and distribution companies
- Transportation and logistics providers (e.g., trucking companies)
- Courier services, such as FedEx or UPS Ground
- Healthcare, such as pharmaceutical manufacturers
- Grocery delivery
Here's how each of these industries use routing software:
How the Retail Industry Uses Routing Software
Retailers and e-commerce companies rely on routing and delivery software to manage the warehouse-to-customer supply chain. Once an order is placed, a retailer can use routing software to plan how it should be routed for fulfillment.
Smaller retailers may only generate one or two deliveries per day, while larger ones might get hundreds of deliveries in a day.
For example, a retailer that only handles in-house orders (i.e., no e-commerce) may need to generate a route for each order it gets, if there are multiple pick-up and drop-off locations involved. If the same business also uses an e-commerce service such as Amazon or eBay, then those routes will likely be consolidated.
Retailers can use routing software to determine whether it makes more sense for the deliveries to be done in one go or if they should be broken up into multiple loads.
Additionally, retailers may also use routing software to optimize their routes according to time of day, day of week or tolls/congestion charges that need to be paid.
How the Manufacturing and Distribution Industry Uses Routing Software
Just like retailers, manufacturers use routing software to plan the most efficient routes for their shipments. This software can also help you optimize existing routes or create new ones even if there are multiple pick-up and/or drop-off locations involved for each order. It can also help you create a route that minimizes time or distance traveled, or takes into account traffic conditions.
For distribution companies that ship products to stores, routing software can help them plan the most efficient routes for all their daily deliveries. It can also be used to optimize existing routes and create new ones if needed.
Additionally, some delivery management solutions can help you track your fleet, so you always know where your vehicles are.
Manufacturing and distribution businesses can also use routing software to plan delivery routes for multiple locations.
For example, if a manufacturer is sending products to each of its retail customers, it may need to generate one route per customer. If the business uses an e-commerce platform, such as Amazon, it may only need to create one route for all orders (i.e., consolidated shipments and deliveries).
Having dedicated routing software can help you generate more efficient routes while minimizing shipment costs.
How the Transportation and Logistics Industry Uses Routing Software
Trucking companies often use routing software in order to plan expedient routes for their drivers. They can also optimize existing routes based on traffic conditions or tolls/congestion charges.
Additionally, trucking companies can use routing software to plan the most efficient routes for multiple deliveries.
For example, a trucking company might have to deliver goods to different parts of the country. By using routing software, they can create a route that takes into account the best way to get to each destination while minimizing mileage and time on the road.
The best routing software for transportation and logistics also takes into account planning for Less Than Truckload (LTL) and Full Truckload (FT) shipments. This means that the software can help you create routes that are specific to your needs and that meets the required delivery timeframes.
Here's another concrete example for you:
Let's say you need to send a package and it needs to go from LA to Denver. If there are multiple locations involved (e.g., San Diego, Las Vegas and Salt Lake City) the software will plan the route that takes into account traffic conditions, tolls/congestion charges as well as any time windows that need to be met. This information will then be presented to the driver who will follow the route with his/her GPS device.
For transportation and logistics companies, it can be useful to have a software that allows them to track where every shipment is at every moment . For example, if a package is delayed or lost, they'll know exactly where it was last located.
How the Healthcare Industry Uses Routing Software
As a pharmaceutical manufacturer, you may require deliveries for your products from various suppliers across the country or even internationally. In this case, it make make sense to consolidate all these routes into one, or use a centralized warehouse from which to ship your products.
If you're a pharmaceutical distributor that delivers prescriptions directly to customers' doors, then the routing software can be used to generate routes for each order received from each customer. The software can also help create optimal routes based on whether multiple orders have been placed at the same time and whether each order is being sent to a different location.
Here's an example:
Let's say that Sue lives in New Jersey and has ordered the following items from ePharmacy:
- One bottle of pain reliever
- One box of allergy medicine
- Two bottles of vitamins
With routing software, a pharmacy can generate a route for their courier to take Sue's order. This route could be generated based on the courier's GPS location or by inputting specific addresses into the software.
How the Grocery Delivery Industry Uses Routing Software
Grocery delivery companies plan routes for their drivers based on the orders they receive from customers.
In some cases, these routes can be extremely time-sensitive and may require deliveries to be completed within a specific timeframe. For example, if a customer places an order during lunchtime on a weekday, this route may need to get delivered before the end of the business day.
In other cases, a grocery delivery route can be planned in advance and may not have a set timeframe. For example, if a customer places an order for Saturday delivery, this route is unlikely to have consequences if it's delivered slightly later than expected.
This is important because the way in which a route is planned can affect the price you offer.
For example, if it takes a driver an extra 20 minutes to get from location A to location B, this may be factored into your pricing. Other costs that may be included in your quoted price include:
- Distance traveled (i.e., how far away is the furthest location from the pick-up point?)
- Number of locations (i.e., how many stops are in the route?)
- Whether or not a driver needs to make an additional stop at his/her home base after completing deliveries
It's worth noting that some routing software providers specialize in certain industries, such as express delivery, grocery delivery, manufacturing/distribution, etc. If you're in the transportation industry and are interested in running reports or applying for jobs with this type of software, then it's best to contact the provider directly instead of trying to find out pricing information online.
How Much Does Routing Software Cost?
Routing software varies in cost -- from free solutions that give you the basics, to enterprise solutions that could cost several thousands of dollars per month. It really depends on the size of your company and the types of problems you are trying to solve with routing software.
Some of the factors that affect pricing include:
- Number of stops or deliveries
- Number of vehicles that you want to plan routes for
- Complexity of the routing problem, including constraints such as time windows, driver availability and customer preferences. This can be particularly difficult to manage if your drivers have tight delivery schedules.
We actually broke down the best free and paid routing software solutions, so you don't have to do the work. Check it out here.
What Are the Benefits?
Routing software saves time and fuel by giving your drivers optimal routes to take with the least traffic and using low-traffic roads. This helps improve customer satisfaction, which can lead to increased business.
Among other things, routing software also has features that allow you to:
- Improve cost efficiencies
- Eliminate unnecessary vehicle movements (e.g., driver starts and stops)
- Increase transparency
- Allow for real-time changes to routes
- Provide an overview of the status of deliveries in your system.
As a business owner, route planner, or warehouse manager, these benefits can have a significant impact on your bottom line, giving you more time to focus on what's most important: growing and maintaining your business.
Is There a Free Route Planner?
Some routing software is only available as part of an enterprise resource planning (ERP) or other business management solution. But there are some free alternatives you can try. Google Maps, for example.
How do I plan routes with Google Maps?
Google Maps provides a route planning tool that allows you to enter your start and end locations as well as the number of stops.
You can then choose whether or not certain roads should be avoided, which will give you an optimized solution based on the information that you provide.
Something important to remember is that free route planning tools will not be able to provide you with all the capabilities of a paid product - such as automatic optimization and optimization in real-time. Here are a few examples:
- Limited Stops: In Google Maps, you are limited to the number of stops you can input. This means that if you want to plan a route with several stops, it could take some time because you'll have to do your planning in much smaller segments.
- Limited driver constraints: In Google Maps, you can optimize for time, and toggle constraints like toll roads and highways -- but not much else. This means that you are not factoring in delivery time windows, available drivers, vehicle capacity, and some other basic information that can affect the quality of your routes.
However, if your business isn't ready for a full subscription, they might help you get started on finding a solution.
Conclusion
Well, there you have it. You should have a better understanding of the benefits of routing software, what you can expect to pay for it, an idea of which free route planner is right for your business needs, and why you might want to switch from Google Maps.
Although there are some limitations associated with free solutions like Google Maps, they are suitable if your company isn't ready for a full subscription. But if your business is growing and you want to take advantage of routing software's full capabilities, you might consider a paid solution.
If you are looking for a free solution because you're on a tight budget, it's worth noting that some paid routing software providers offer free trials. These can help give you an idea of how the product works and whether or not it will be able to meet your needs before making any decisions.
You can try Less Platform for free here.


If you are a logistics professional or a shipper, then you understand how important it is to stay up to date on the latest news and upcoming trends.
In today's competitive industry, companies that can adapt quickly will come out on top. The trick is staying informed without falling into the trap of information overload. Fortunately for logistics professionals everywhere, there is a whole new world of information sharing available at their fingertips.
The Internet provides many different opportunities for logistics providers to get the information they need where and when they need it. But to make this easier, we've compiled a list of the top 10 industry blogs that are must-reads for those in the distribution and transportation sectors.
We have collected distribution and transportation blogs that, in our view, discuss the most burning issues of contemporary distribution and transportation management and can be interesting to both novice readers and industry experts.
1. Modern Distribution Management
This site offers “wholesale distribution news, expert analysis, and modern research.” Their blog has regular and helpful themes like Q&As, Tips, and Recommended Reading categories.
This blog is ideal for logistics professionals looking for help with running their businesses. Distribution managers can find useful advice on stocking, pricing policies, order processing, and other issues that are common concerns in the industry.
2. Supply Chain Digital
Supply Chain Digital combines a number of topics and blogs covering almost all the spectrum of distribution, transportation, and logistics. It also has good coverage of companies’ news as well as streams a series of videos.
This blog is ideal for professionals that focus on the supply chain. Distribution managers can find useful advice on scheduling, IT-systems, and other issues that are common concerns in the industry.
3. Supply Chain Matters
Run by Bob Ferrari, the Managing Director of Ferrari Research and Consulting, Supply Chain Matters tackles supply and value chain management. This blog provides expert analysis on supply chain matters, which is an excellent resource for those new to the supply chain field.
This blog is ideal for those who are new to the industry and want an overview of essential distribution and transportation concepts. Distribution managers can also find plenty of relevant articles on procurement, supplier relations, outsourcing and other topics that relate to their role.
4. Supply Chain Management Review
Though technically not a blog, Supply Chain Management Review is too valuable of a resource to leave off this list. The site offers daily news stories, and also produces white papers and webcasts on all things supply chain. Though a smaller part of its overall operation, Supply Chain Management Review publishes a weekly blog.
This is great for those who want to keep on top of the latest industry news. Distribution managers can find articles that discuss technology news, people changes, and analyze public policy changes that are having an impact on their business.
5. The 21st Century Supply Chain Blog
Arguably the best pure “blog” on this list, the 21st Century Supply Chain Blog covers exactly what you’d expect it to. With analysis on supply chain matters from several different authors, this blog offers a unique blend of supply chain analysis, covering all sides of a topic.
This blog is ideal for logistics professionals looking for help with running their businesses. Distribution managers can find useful advice on stocking, pricing policies, order processing, and other issues that are common concerns in the industry.
6. Supply Chain Brain
SupplyChainBrain is a huge information resource. In addition to providing complete coverage of all fundamental supply chain principles, SupplyChainBrain identifies emerging trends, strategies and best practices, forward-thinking ideas, cutting-edge solutions, and the latest innovations - and continues to write and report on these as they evolve and mature.
This is a great spot for logistics professionals looking for an in-depth analysis on how various strategies can help their business. Distribution managers can find opinions and advice on the latest supply chain technology, planning techniques, sourcing strategies, transportation management services and more.
7. Food Logistics
Food Logistics is an industry-leading blog across all topics in the logistics sphere. However, the blog particularly shines in its Cold Chain section, where it explores the latest technological innovations, regulatory measures, and general news related to temperature-controlled freight. The blog also includes a Sponsored Research section, which dives into topics like Food Safety and Cold Chain Integrity.
Professionals looking to stay on the cutting edge in the distribution and transportation industry will find this blog invaluable. Distribution managers can find advice, opinion and analysis on topics like automated storage and retrieval systems, smart label technology, and data management.
8. Transport Topics
Transport Topics is an excellent overall resource for companies and individuals operating within the transportation and freight industry. The blog includes great information on prominent companies in the space but also explores innovations, recent regulations, and driver satisfaction. Transport Topics also has revenue data for top logistics companies and freight carriers.
This is ideal for logistics managers looking to get up-to-date information on the latest news in the industry. Distribution managers can find great analysis on topics like trucking capacity, rising fuel prices, and changes in consumer demand.
9. Truck News
Truck News is a Canadian blog that compiles content from a variety of authors with years of trucking industry experience. Its content ranges from new to experienced drivers, as well as sales representatives and managers. It’s updated with fresh content at least once a week, so there are plenty of great resources to keep you coming back.
Those who are looking for industry news without the hassles of long-form articles will love this blog. Trucking industries will find useful guides and tips on topics like what it takes to become a driver, hiring truckers, and even how to start your own trucking business. Distribution managers can also find great resources on transportation management software.
10. Less Platform
There are various topics discussed in Less Platform blog posts including transportation, distribution delivery and trucking management. Less Platform authors discuss burning points of contemporary transportation and distribution management as well as provide insights on niche-related pain points.
Collected from different sources. This is not a rating guide.

Personnel management issues had been amplified in post-COVID19 world, especially in wholesale and retail distribution firms.
While 2008-2013 could be portrayed as a post-recession recovery period, 2013–2018 would be defined as a period of “optimism” and growth. We clearly can see post-2008 upraise as well as the 2016-2018 period growth in both truck orders and freight prices.
https://www.cassinfo.com/freight-audit-payment/cass-transportation-indexes/cass-freight-index
The upward shift started to upend mid-2018 and early 2019. Now COVID19 is the shock that is currently changing how we interact with each other. Part of that growth was the fast-changing technologies and digitization of business processes. Cloud computing, AI and increasing connectivity started to change the way companies organize their business processes and manage their employees. Organizations became more connected and information flows bolstered. We could also see the rise of digital marketplaces, such as Uber Freight, Shipwell, Convoy. E-commerce also contributed to the increasing digitization of communication and the management of logistic processes. The growing visibility of freight also became mainstream.
Though there were indisputable positive effects, increasing information flows and uninterrupted connectivity resulted in higher burn-out, degrading productivity, and lower participation rates of many employees. As a result, managers’ roles have been transformed from managing people to organizing the interaction of people and technology. We can even say that work will be organized around the chosen technological solutions. COVID19 kicked in when the business and management community was already in the process of transforming how organizations have been structured and managed for decades. While this trend continues, the post-covid19 world will see the amplification of some processes (remote work) and the emergence of the others (different consumption patterns, different interaction patterns, etc.).
We have summarized the strategic approaches in four pillars. This is obviously not an exhaustive list but hopes to provide higher-level insights.
The role of each individual becomes even more important in the post-COVID19 world
Paradoxically, people think that technologies would eliminate a large number of jobs because people would compete with machines. It is partly true for redundant, easily automatized jobs and it will be more so in the decade to come. On the other hand, the role of individuals around and for whom companies introduce innovations becomes even more important. They need to be nurtured to be able to boost the productivity of the technologies and add value for themselves and organizations in the long run. Even AI is not something that will eliminate roles but it will help to shift teams to become “super-teams.”
Business processes that let you manage physically remote personnel without degrading the productivity
Technology becomes a cornerstone for managing physically remote personal. Remote management relates to the company’s HR and core business processes. Distribution firms for example include not only the exchange of information between the planner and the warehouse manager but also the remote management capabilities of the whole process chain - from the interaction with vendors, planning, and execution of deliveries to warehouse management. As the role of each individual becomes more important in the new “remote world” it is essential to keep people involved in implementing new technological solutions. This requires a better articulation of the company’s goals and employees’ future alignment.
Implementing a proper change management plan
Companies may be aware that acute changes in the managerial and operational processes create an atmosphere of instability and insecurity among employees. The proper change management practices should be brought to a place to explain how the change will affect people and what new skills they need to gain. Firms should succinctly communicate the added value and the long-term effects of new technologies on employees’ careers and personal growth perspectives. They need to make sure that the company maximizes the creative capability of the employees in the world of machines.
Increased uncertainty
The best way to taper off frustration and pessimism among employees is to show that the company has vision and long-term determination for change. The best way to do this is to increase investments in technological change. Managers should also properly explain changing pay structures and better connect them to individual results. Employees should be aware that technological change and weakening physical interactions can erode individual responsibility and require more creativity and problem-solving efforts.
Everyone understands that the world has changed and that historical trends have accelerated this substantially. We also see new phenomena that will define human behavior for years to come. Companies that quickly reassess new threats and opportunities and thus embrace personnel management practices can actually reclaim stronger long-term sustainability.
Author
Vardan Markosyan is the CEO at Less® Platform
MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business
Ph.D. in Economics from the Institute of Economy of NAS RA
He spent decades of research and consultancy on business process optimization and system design

1. Why last mile logistics is important?
Last-mile logistics is the most complex and, happened to be believed, most costly part of the distribution supply chain. While there is a growing buzz around the expression, the last mile implies different things for different industries. So, before moving forward with the recommendations of how to optimize last-mile logistics one should first define what it actually means for the specific operating model and where the inefficiencies are?
With the accelerated growth of e-commerce, increasing requirements is creating burdens on the logistics chain, which amplifies the final mile. According to a 2022 report by Deloitte, as consumers’ delivery-related demands increase—as does the cost and complexity of meeting those demands—new, nimbler options are arising to enable retailers to outsource last-mile delivery to the gig economy. Amazon Flex and Walmart’s Spark Delivery enable independent drivers to deliver online purchases to the retailers’ customers. Along with the growth of e-commerce, last-mile logistics has its specifics and new challenges for traditional sectors as well. These challenges can be sector-specific, such as decreasing delivery times and increasing density of fulfillment centers but also can result from general macroeconomic trends such as shortages of employees and supply chain problems.
2. Last mile delivery logistics is not just home deliveries
“Last-mile” logistics or deliveries might have different meanings for different sectors and industries. First of all, different companies might be implementing final mile deliveries using private fleets or hiring carriers. Thus, we can differentiate between private fleet shippers and for-hire carriers. While for private fleet shippers logistics operations are supplementary to their main businesses, for-hire carriers or logistics service providers (LSP) generate income for transportation services. Secondly, the last mile will be different for companies that are in the B2B business such as wholesale distributors, or focusing mainly on home deliveries such as retailers. Some e-commerce companies could be put into a category of their own as they mostly don't own vehicles but may combine both retail and wholesale operations.
Retailers and e-commerce
“Last-mile logistics” in the retail sector mainly implies the organization of store-to-customer small-size delivery processes.
According to U.S. Census Bureau News Total e-commerce sales for 2021 were estimated at $870.8 billion, an increase of 14.2% from 2020. Total retail sales in 2021 increased 17.9% from 2020. E-commerce sales in 2021 accounted for 13.2% of total sales. E-commerce sales in 2020 accounted for 13.6% of total sales.
Demands for faster, cheaper shipping result in a growing complexity of last-mile delivery operations. Consumers can now choose to get their purchases in a variety of ways: home delivery, ship-to-store, ship-to-locker, or reserve online and pick up in-store. Returns can now be made in-store or by shipping the product back to the retailer. Linear supply chains have given way to complex, interconnected supply chain networks. And the subscription services offered by a growing number of retailers often subsidize or waive delivery fees, making it incredibly easy for consumers to place many small orders instead of a few large ones. The result? More—and more frequent— orders, a sharp rise in demand for expedited delivery, an e-commerce logistics market with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 20.4 percent, and rising costs for retail and consumer goods companies. Amazon is able to meet consumers’ demands by spending 15.6 percent of its net sales revenue on shipping costs and an incredible 27.9 percent on combined fulfillment costs. Retailers, by comparison, spend about 8 percent of revenue on e-commerce fulfillment on average; in the current retail environment, it would be hard for them to cover more of the delivery costs and still stay profitable.
Different companies prefer different last-mile delivery logistics models. Larger retailers tend to run private fleets of vehicles, while smaller ones rely on outsourced transportation. It should be mentioned that most private fleet companies usually combine both operational models. Hence, processes and problems may differ for different types of shippers.
We can also divide retail deliveries into grocery and the rest as delivery patterns and velocity are quite different. The average lead time for delivery of groceries is 0.7 days, compared to electronics which take 3 days, and 5 days for apparel. Thus, consolidation and logistics management models can vary substantially.
Logistics service providers (LSP) and delivery companies
We can conditionally divide logistics service providers into long-haul and local delivery models. There are a number of LSPs that operate on both markets, we see a growing number of specialized local delivery companies, especially during the Covid 19 pandemic. We see also the emergence of platforms that connect shippers and individual vehicle owners. Later are essentially networks of independent couriers and delivery agents connected to a delivery ecosystem that pick up and deliver small packages. The other distinct difference between long-haul and local deliveries is that local deliveries are usually on the same day while long-haul deliveries can vary from 1-7 days.
As it turns out that the final mile can be used to describe the sharply different distribution and delivery models there is a wide range of estimated market sizes. The Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) reports that the last leg of overall transportation costs makes up as much as 28% of logistics expenses. Transportation’s contribution to the economy can be measured by its contribution to gross domestic product (GDP). The Bureau of Transportation Statistics reports the final (finished) transportation goods and services purchased by people, businesses, and governments in 2018 contributed $1,489.7 billion, or 8.9%, to U.S. GDP. If we apply the aforementioned 28% BEA figure, we could say the market for the final mile (from a GDP perspective) is an astounding $417 billion. Contrary, if we narrow down the final mile to home deliveries and assume that these are small-sized we need to look into parcel delivery numbers in the picture below4.
There is also another important distinction between the organization of long-haul and same-day logistics - long-haul deliveries are usually done using semi-tractors or sleeper trucks while local deliveries are implemented by smaller trucks or even passenger cars. Thus, contracting, company and driver onboarding are different for long-haul transportation needs. The latter is a highly regulated industry that needs special licenses and drivers. The value of the average delivery is also much higher hence the carriers are going through much meticulous due diligence. The important peculiarity is that while more individuals can be involved in local deliveries, continued driver shortage, increasing insurance, and, lately, fuel costs make long-haul capacity scarcer and pressure on the costs higher.
As you may see in the picture above, the ground transportation rates almost doubled during the last two years.
Wholesale distributors
Wholesale distributors are the middleman between producers and retailers with slight differences from industry to industry. It is one of the more complex industries driven by high numbers of SKUs, customers, suppliers, and transactions, and their pricing and rebate structures. They can be grouped into major ones such as food, beverages, pharmaceutical, electronics, industrial, and building materials. According to the National Association of Wholesale Distributors (NAW) total wholesale distribution revenue ended the year at $5.970 trillion, just slightly below the April 2019 record high. GDP for the year totaled a record-high $21.734 trillion with a growth rate of 4.0%. The Wholesale Distribution industry is 27.5% of U.S. GDP.
Last-mile logistics from the wholesale distributor perspective is different. As they are middlemen between producers and retailers/local businesses their last mile will be the leg between the distribution centers and local warehouses/shops. The wholesalers tend to rely on private fleet operations as they operate in an environment of rigid deadlines. The average size of a single drop also tends to be larger and distances longer, while the number of stops in daily routes will be fewer compared to home deliveries. We observe changes in the industry in the form of growing concentration as well as the emergence of disruptive business models as well. For example, Amazon’s sales platform is supported by more than 2 million third-party sellers worldwide. Of those sellers, 26% sell products using a wholesale sales model.
3. Challenges of last mile logistics
Scheduling and routing is a great challenge
Scheduling and routing daily package deliveries for a relatively smaller delivery radius, i.e. 50 miles is different from scheduling and routing deliveries of hundreds or even thousands of boxes per one drop for a 300 miles radius. The first is going to be for home deliveries from warehouses of fulfillment centers located closer to city centers. The latter is the case of a food distribution operation to stores, restaurants, and other businesses. Large building or construction material distributors may have lesser stops per route but their route can strain through the weeks. Apart from the difference in distances, route durations, and the number of stops per route, this distribution model requires drivers with different skill sets and driving habits/work models as well as sometimes radically different equipment. When it comes to large 3PLs or LSP this process may combine all of the abovementioned with the need to solve the consolidation problem to/from multiple warehouses and the involvement of different counterparts.
Planning multi-leg deliveries creates delays
As we have already established, last-mile delivery logistics can mean different things for different industries. So, the complexity of the operational model hence the complexity of the planning process can sometimes differ cardinally. It is becoming even more cumbersome when planners are trying to coordinate the timing between the different legs of the supply chain, such as the first, the middle, and the last miles. While manufacturers and distributors will mostly use last-mile consolidation centers and warehouses, transportation companies and logistic service providers (LPS) might even bypass these centers and implement multi-day delivery to the final customers. It is going to be the case, especially for B2B or heavier deliveries.
Coordination between different delivery operators
It can be a great challenge when planning the last mile. It is generally assumed that when the last mile is concerned there is one delivery party that moves the freight. While that could be a case for home or packaged deliveries, in many operational models or industries there are more than one or even two delivery/transportation partners. Thus along with the larger planning range (weekly or biweekly) and multiple consolidation locations involved, the need for coordination between multiple counterparts is going to pose another challenge.
Visibility is important
When it comes to visibility, logistic managers usually imply to the consumer that they know where your truck is. While it is good information to have, especially in real-time, locating your delivery is one (small) part of the total visibility. It should help not only track deliveries but also make preventive operational management and long-term data analytics and efficiency optimization.
Capturing data: Capturing data is essential as it is created in real-time or near time and distributed across different operational decision-makers. It particularly includes stops or order level updates of estimated times of arrivals (ETA) at a driver, customer, dispatcher, or DC level. Post factum delivery data such as late deliveries and actual service times is also important to capture and store properly. To minimize late deliveries by implementing dynamic routing, dispatchers need timely data that shows ETAs with service times and other variables not being produced by GPS tracking software.
Aggregating data: Capturing and aggregating delivery data per different instances and layers is the key to efficient operational and strategic middle-mile network management. The difficulty of it is that systems across different parts of the logistics chain are captured and stored differently, so it is not always possible to have different levels of data aggregation without a synchronized ecosystem.
Supporting decision-making: Aggregated data is a foundation for retrospective and prospective data analytics. One of the major problems of growingly complex logistic supply chains is the absence of full digitization and synchronization of all the necessary information across different layers of an organization.
Trucking capacity is scarce
The ongoing truck driver shortage is now estimated at 80,000, up from 61,000 just three years ago. A new study by Bob Costello, chief economist for the American Trucking Associations (ATA), estimates that the industry will have to recruit 1 million new drivers within the next nine years to replace retiring drivers. This shortage makes it really hard for fleet-light shippers to cover loads and implement proper long-term transportation planning. This is also one of the main reasons for the rising freight costs described above.
4. Less Platform as the best last mile delivery software
Depending on the type of the operational model and or the sector of industry, last-mile deliveries can span from a couple of stops per vehicle per day to high volume short distance stops. Less Platform is capable to route and scheduling deliveries that are peculiar to any distribution model.
Types of industries using last mile logistics software
Lest's discuss several use cases.
For B2C type of high volumes deliveries that are peculiar to e-commerce and retail, it is important that the algorithms could plan 10’s stops in the routes. These deliveries are usually planned daily while vehicles usually cover shorter distances. Dynamic capabilities are also more important as a high level of discrepancies between optimized delivery plans and live deliveries can happen
The next type of local or city dispatch operations is fleet-light operations in case of which delivery companies don't own vehicles. In this case, they may either crowdsource deliveries before or after planning or signup with major carriers (FedEx, UPS, DHL).
The separate operations model of deliveries is the delivery companies that don't have warehouses or distribution centers. These companies usually do high-volume pickups and deliveries during the day. Hence, a different class of algorithms is developed for these types of movies in Less Platform.
For the wholesale distributors and also retailers that need to plan B2B moves such as DC-to-Store or Store-to-DC in case of reverse logistics, a distribution model covers a larger area. In the meantime, the number of stops on the routes will be lower, while the weight of each delivery higher. Vehicles are going to be larger as well so capacity becomes more important.
There are also large use cases of long-haul delivery planning and routing by 3PLs, large shippers, and carriers. Two types of moves are being planned; a) consolidation and routing of LTL’s (Less than truckload) shipments into FTLs (Full truckloads) both by asset-light and asset-based shippers, b) Forward planning of FTLs. It is worth note that in the former case the main optimization parameter is the mileage for fleet-based operations while for fleet-light shippers and 3PLs total cost should be minimized. In the case of FTL forward planning the main optimization parameter is the deadhead or the empty moves between stops (which should be minimized). Decision-making functions also might differ depending on who is making these decisions - shippers and 3PLs would be interested in mainly cost optimization by finding cheaper carriers, although 3PLs might also reach that via better preliminary consolidation or forward planning. Fleet-based logistics service providers (LSPs), such as LTL trucking companies might be interested in an increase in loaded mileage.
A special case is the companies that run a mix of fleet-based and fleet light operations. These are large 3PLs such as Hub Group or JB Hunt as well as retailers such as Walmart, Hope Depot, or Pepsico. They need to combine delivery routing technologies with load outsourcing or even by relying on spot markets.
Software Functionality
The are many features in Less Platform that support or work for almost all the abovementioned delivery models.
Multiple DCs. For example, multiple depots or distribution centers (DC) planning functionality. It is very convenient for companies that have centralized operational planning activities. Secondly, it helps to generate data for separate DCs as well as aggregate it on a company level. A number of warehouses or DCs is growing and getting closer to customers these days, making both operational and strategic routing harder and potential inefficiencies bigger. In the meantime, companies that run multiple pickups and delivery operations without consolidating their shipments in the warehouses can use Less Platform’s pickup and delivery routing and scheduling algorithms.
Delivery windows and variable service times. Two important constraints that make it hard to plan are daily delivery windows and variable service times. These two constraints can also drastically affect capacity used and routes planned. The absence of proper planning tools can make a planner's work daunting and consume too much time. It is also the main cause why distributors use excessive capacities, drive unnecessary miles and have late deliveries. These effects are being amplified due to increased demand variability, speed of deliveries, and tightening delivery windows.
Dynamic planning. Automatic routing is easiest the job but there are plenty more situations requiring manual planning. Less platform as a delivery software provides dynamic planning functional for both pre-dispatch and post-dispatch stages. After getting a route plan, a planner can reroute different stops by assigning them to different routes both individually and in bulk. Then sequencing algorithms will re-optimize the total plan. After making changes algorithms assess the feasibility of delivery windows by checking with recalculated ETAs. All the changes are instantly visible for drivers post-dispatch.
Scheduling. Planned loads can be scheduled both daily and weekly for respective drivers. Less Platform’s dispatch
management software is connected to the driver app so all drivers have planned loads once they are assigned to them. After the dispatch, the driver app updates all ETAs and synchronizes them with the dispatch board. Less Platform’s algorithms then check potential late deliveries by comparing ETAs with delivery windows. This way dispatchers can be proactive to avoid late deliveries or dynamically optimize the delivery process otherwise.
Optimization with contracted carriers. Less Platform also brings together demand and supply by helping shippers cover more loads at lower cost and carriers increase loaded mileage and earn for additional stops. According to our calculations and based on the information provided by more than 50 trucking companies, the average over-the-road truck has 10 linear feet or approximately 10,000 pounds of unused capacity. This “dark capacity” has a market value of over $200 billion. We help carriers to fill a partially loaded truck as fast as an empty truck, leading to a dramatic increase in asset utilization, the main driver of profitability for carriers. As shown in the picture below both shippers and carriers can find shipments or available space in the trucks using our AI algorithms.
This was a small list of various tools and innovations that Less Platform offers to different industries and companies.
Please contact [email protected] if you want to learn more about Less Platform's Last-mile delivery logistics orchestration capabilities.

The route planning and delivery management software is becoming a cornerstone for any delivery operations. There are a number of solutions on the market - from free routing planning software that will be good for one driver operations to plan a dozen of stops to powerhouses that help to plan hundreds or thousands of deliveries from multiple locations. We are going to discuss what requirements may companies of different sizes and in different verticals have and what they should consider in choosing a route planning software for their operations.
What is route planning and why it is hard?
Route Planning
There is a misconception that route planning software helps find the best route between 2 or more locations on the map. People usually imagine google navigation or other navigation software that helps you to decide which route to take. How strange may it sound, the route planning for last-mile operations generally has little to do with maps or navigation. It is rather a complex process of deciding the number of vehicles needed to implement the job, the number of orders in each vehicle, and the sequence of stops so that total mileage or driving time will be the minimum. This is becoming more complex when stops have tight delivery windows and variables service times. Juggling between fitting everything into time constraints, keeping costs down and drivers happy seems an impossible task.
Now, lets see what is a route planning and how does that work.
The most widespread way of modeling multi-stop delivery operations is by solving the so-called Vehicle Routing Problem (VRP’s). In the majority of cases, the VRP goal is to optimize driven mileage, which, in formal terms, means getting the minimum possible mileage for the given plan. Combinatorial optimization is the mathematical apparatus to solve VRPs. There are two major ways to solve this problem – using exact methods or metaheuristics (approximate solutions). The discussion of combinatorial optimization is a topic for another post, so we won’t go deep into it now. What we can say is that the exact methods are limited to 100 nodes (deliveries), hence if one wants to get a plan within a reasonable time the use of some kind of metaheuristic is absolutely necessary. A consequence of this process is that no solution can get an “optimal” result but rather should try to get as close to optimum as possible. For example, if the theoretical minimum for 1000 deliveries is 10000 miles with 40 trucks, different algorithms will certainly get more miles than that (could be both 11000 and 14000). In fact, as no one knows what the theoretical optimum is, the planner can’t realistically assess the quality of the solution through a comparative process. In our experience, manual planners get somewhere between 60-80% to optimal. So, what is the best way to assess how good the solution is? We must compare the firm’s historical data (if that exists) or run it in parallel with manual planning to see the difference in optimization rates. As an industry-standard, good routing solutions should give results close to 95-97% to optimal.
The difference between paid and free route planning software as well as between different paid solutions will be sometime substantial differences both in (a) optimization quality and (b) application usability. Some of the distinctive characteristics of a “good” application are described below. Companies may want to look for route planning software based on the importance of the criteria described below.
Complexity
The main problem of VRP is time complexity or, in other words, the fact that the amount of time needed to solve the problem grows exponentially when the number of deliveries or nodes increases or when the algorithm incorporates more constraints. To give you an idea of the problem encountered when scaling up nodes/deliveries consider that solving a Capacitated Vehicle Routing Problem with Time Windows (CVRPTW) for 100 locations takes about 10 minutes using current commercial optimization solvers but takes a whopping 8 hours for 300 locations. Why, because solving for optimization goals for the first set of nodes takes tens of millions of permutations and for the latter - hundreds of millions.
Below are a few more examples of variables dramatically adding to the numbers of permutations and thus increasing the time for a potential optimal solution.
Time Complexity
Time complexity rises when an optimization algorithm tries to incorporate more real-life data whose absence would massively degrade the usability of the solution. A primary example is that many firms have a variety of trucks and equipment. An average firm can use 4-8 types of trucks with different capacities. The majority of free and even paid solutions either don’t include the capacity constraint in calculations or are using just one capacity constraint.
Delivery Windows
Delivery windows are another variable that adds complexity to the problem. The planner should make sure that capacity is maximally leveraged while ensuring ETA's are within delivery windows. While the majority of paid solutions will factor in delivery windows they are absent from free route planning software.
Service Requirements
Service requirements are different for different clients. Dwell or loading/unloading time can vary for each of these 400 deliveries and the optimization algorithm should be able to incorporate it into calculations. We didn't see a free route planning software that includes variable service time.
Priority orders
There are orders which should be prioritized over the others. Thus, the optimization algorithm should be able to keep strict delivery requirements for the high-priority deliveries while still assuring the best optimization goals.
Electronic Logging Device (ELD)
ELD's are mandatory nowadays and Hours of Service (HOS) requirements should be considered from the planning phase. This should go as a constraint variable into the algorithms as well. Needless to say that the majority of free route planning software or free versions of paid route planning software don't have this feature.
Along with main constraints they could be other requirements that are hardly found in the majority of free and some of paid route planning software.
SKU level data
An average distributor operates with 1000’s SKUs and a large distributor with 100’s of thousands. Each SKU has different volume and weight characteristics which should be taken into account when planning deliveries. Not all applications incorporate product-specific accurate data into calculations or use capacity as a constraint at all. This results in a lot of capacity violations and too many routes becoming obsolete when it comes to filling and dispatch. There is also a highly variable human factor in play because many companies don’t have all the needed information in their Warehouse Management Systems (WMS). As a result, algorithms should be able to work with incomplete data. Needless to say, the software should be able to seamlessly integrate with a firm’s order and warehouse management systems or other Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) modules.
Remote connectivity
As the routing problem is complex and requires lots of data and computational resources most of the routing applications available on the market should be installed on-premise. Conversely, it is becoming imperative that people who are not in the field (and even people who are in the field) should have access to multi-user plug and work opportunities. This creates a high-demand situation requiring a novel solution. The routing solution should offer robust multi-user functionality. At the same time, it should be able to process billions of combinatorial permutations in seconds. An advanced enterprise-grade cloud-native architecture is needed, otherwise, the firm will be creating additional problems rather than solving old ones.
Big data
Imagine what happens when there are not one but 10’s of planners in the firm who plan data for multiple warehouses and distribution centers. An optimization solution requires multiple installations in different warehouses resulting in massive investments and further support cost. Even without that, the majority of solution applications in the market are limited to planning 500 simultaneous deliveries and are only suitable for small firms. One can plan routes in batches but that will substantially degrade the quality of optimization for the total plan. Growing and competitive firms should have the opportunity to run and compare multiple instances simultaneously, plan tens of thousands of deliveries, and have other collaborative functionality which is only possible with the enterprise-grade cloud-native architecture.
Additional features
There are a number of additional features that should be embedded in any forward-looking solution such as a) data interoperability b) creation of dispatch documentation c) monitoring dashboard e) functional analytics f) dynamic planning, etc. We will return to these topics in other blog posts.
Current Solutions in the Market
There are different solutions in the market which help to plan loads and dispatch them. We will list some of them and group them following the descriptions copied from their websites.
Maps
Mapping applications offer route optimization, which is limited to getting the best sequence for the given data points. The number of points is limited to 10-20 points. Apparently, maps don’t do VRP optimization for multi-stop deliveries. Maps won’t provide any product and shipment management functional either. Routing functionality would be a good addition for personal or occasional usage.

Free routing software
Free applications are one step ahead of current maps routing functions. They can be used by small firms, but it is not clear if these applications use any kind of mathematical optimization. They apparently miss the majority of the ideal functionality previously touched on.

Paid routing software

All paid solutions state that they have some optimization algorithms under the hood. Routific and OptimoRoute have straightforward pricing while Route4Me has a relatively low base price but additionally charges for different features. Workwave has several products for different industries. All these solutions incorporate delivery windows in the planning and build multi-stop loads.
Other consideration in choosing a route planning software
First, one should look deeper into what has been optimized and how good it actually is? As we have noted above, results can be different (sometimes substantially) depending on the types of algorithms and optimization methodology used. The best way to compare is either to test the same dataset using different applications or compare results with the optimal values for that dataset.
Second, does software optimize the delivery plan for the day or just updates sequences on fixed routes? Running CVRPTW is hard and requires substantial resources and appropriate algorithms, so many applications just help you to build a route plan once, without taking into consideration specific order details and location time windows. You would assign orders manually afterward by figuring out sequences. Later is a much simpler approach but it substantially reduces optimality. I.e., Less® Platform runs CVRPTW for every group of orders from the scratch, thus assuring the most optimal route plan for that specific order list.
Third, data requirements for foodservice wholesale distributors and cleaning services, for example, can be substantially different. It is not the same to run the Capacitated VRP optimization for the several thousand different SKUs and simple stops routing. Wholesale distribution, trucking, and logistics management companies need a comprehensive product and freight management function. These industries also combine inbound and outbound operations, can have simultaneous pick-ups and deliveries, and offer multi-depot operations.
Forth, the capacity of the platform for handling the number of deliveries should be appropriate to the size of the company. Due to the time complexity of the problem, larger companies should pick an application (more than 300-500 deliveries a day), which is capable to work with large data sets without compromising the solution quality.
Transportation, distribution, and logistics management firms operate in a highly competitive and increasingly uncertain environment where margins are tiny and even a small disadvantage will keep the firm out of the highest levels of competition. Delivery route planning optimization sometimes lags behind other, seemingly more important operations when it comes to decision making. Crucially, this is where your short-term profitability and long-term efficiency rests. The cost of choosing a poor solution will be hundreds and millions of dollars. We have seen many cases where suboptimal planning and poor execution (which are highly interconnected) sink both growing and established firms.
Less® Platform can turn your data into loads within 10 minutes and compare it with your historical results! You can also test all the necessary features for your distribution model and consult with our experts on your challenges.
Author
Vardan Markosyan is the CEO at Less® Platform
MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business
PhD in Economics from the Institute of Economy of NAS RA
He spent decades of research and consultancy on business process optimization and system design

Logistics and supply chain management are standard business terms, and a day does not pass by without them getting mentioned in a business setting. Some experts believe that the two terms are very similar and can be used interchangeably. However, some differ from this belief.
These two have been used interchangeably in many countries; for instance, we have no other term for supply chain management in America. However, the Europeans call it logistic management.
Although they seem similar, they differ factually. Let's take a close look at each.
Logistics
It is the process where goods are handled and managed within a department or in the organization. It is also associated with any activity that involves the movement and handling of goods. An inventory document tracks the movement and handling of the inventories.
Logistic management involves activities such as warehousing, transportation, packaging, among others. Logistics aims to ensure that the inventory gets delivered to the intended party at the right location and time.
Supply Chain Management

It involves all the activities in an organization and sometimes also includes some logistical aspects. Supply chain management starts from buying raw material to manufacturing and delivering the end product to your clients.
Most of these processes require coordination between various companies to ensure the quality of the inventories. For example, one company mines the raw material and another buys the raw material and manufactures or processes it, and the next company delivers the end product to the consumer.
Logistics VS Supply chain management: What are the differences?
The two refer to the same business practice. Logistics and supply chain management are all aspects of the supply, transfer and management of inventories and people. They all ensure that business operations are efficient.
However, though they may seem similar, supply chain management links the manufacturing, purchasing and distribution of goods into one process. It works with the manufacturers, retailers, suppliers and final consumers. The way it collaborates with the channels of distribution makes it provide efficient quality services. Logistics is critical in supply chain management.
Other differences are:
- Logistics management is the process in which goods are integrated and managed in an organization. In contrast, the supply chain is involved with the management or movement and coordination of supply chains of a business.
- Logistics management is concerned with client satisfaction, while supply chain management focuses more on the competitive advantage.
- Only one organization is involved in logistics management compared to supply chain management, which involves multiple businesses.
Supply chain management is concerned with planning, implementation and storage of inventory to meet consumer requirements. These processes occur between the point of origin of the goods and services and the point of consumption. In comparison, logistics management is only concerned with delivering the right product at the required time. - Supply chain management comprises many interconnected activities linked and ensures the raw materials are handled until they are manufactured and reached. On the other hand, logistics management is concerned with warehousing, packaging, controlling and managing stock and fulfilling orders.
- Supply chain management is a broad term that involves the connection of supplies and manufacturers to consumers. On the other hand, logistics management is only involved with how goods are stored and managed.
The Five Basic Steps of Supply Chain Management

1. Planning
Before any chain management process begins, you should first plan. Since the aim is to deliver the goods at the right time and place, look for components that will help you, such as delivery models, the business's location, designing and warehouse, among other essential things. It would help if you also came up with a model of how you will transport the goods and where they will be stored.
2. Sources
After planning, you should identify the vendors or suppliers that will help you obtain the goods and services to meet the demand efficiently and cost-effectively. Since supplies have to meet specific quality standards before operating, they will supply you with quality goods.
You can source for both perishable and non-perishable goods. But if you are sourcing for perishable goods, give the supplier minimal lead time to help you with the minimal inventory approach. Whereas when sourcing for non-perishable products, ensure that the supplier quotes a lead time that is less than the period in which the inventory reaches zero. Doing so safeguards you from losing inventory.
3. Make
After getting the product, you should transform it into a final product according to the consumer's taste and preferences. At this stage, activities such as testing, assembling and packaging occur. You can also get feedback from the consumers. The feedback will help you make any necessary product improvements.
4. Deliver
Delivering helps with both direct and indirect integration of the business with its clients. It can make or destroy the brand image of your business. When the consumers order a product, they have high expectations in your logistics and delivery channels. Businesses use different freights such as air and road, or rail and road, to have an easy and fast delivery.
5. Return
A consumer may sometimes return a product after a delivery has been made. This step is concerned with the return of products, and it is often referred to as "Reverse Logistics." A supply management system should ensure that their relationship with the final consumers does not deteriorate.
The step is also reversed: a business can return inventory to the supplier. Often, low-quality expired or undesired goods are returned to the vendors.
The Logistics Functions Within Supply Chain Management
Order Processing
It is where a buyer sends a purchase order to a supplier. The document contains the details of the product which the buyer wishes to be supplied, its price, the preferred delivery period, taxes, payment terms and any other terms that they have agreed upon.
Inventory Control
It is concerned with keeping enough inventories to fulfill client needs and ensure that the inventory carrying cost becomes lower. In short, it is an exercise that ensures that the business does not lose a market opportunity and does not incur huge costs when doing so.
Warehousing
It is a logistic process where the finished goods are stored until they get sold.
Transportation
Transportation is needed for the products to move from the supplier to the buyer. It is a crucial element of logistics.
Material Handling and Storage System
How fast the inventory moves in a supply chain is dependent on your handling systems. If the business has an improper material handling method, delays, damages and incidental overheads will increase.
It would help if you automated or mechanized your material handling.
Industrial Packaging
It influences the logistical system. Logistical packaging helps in damage protection, economizing storage space and handling of the inventories.
How Logistics Can Help Improve Efficiency and Reduce Costs
If your business uses an automated logistics system, your operational efficiency will increase. Also, it increases scalability and minimizes manual errors.
- Logistics reduces costs since it focuses on;
- Labour costs,
- Preventive maintenance
- Safety
- Use of systems and tactical technology
- The customer; and
- Suppliers for logistics cost reduction
Supply Chain Management Challenges and How to Overcome Them Through Logistics
Customer Service
An organization should provide its customers with the right quantity of the right goods or services to the right location and the right moment. However, an organization may fail at this. To succeed, set up a stable system or visual channel that updates the customers on how the product is fairing and inform them of any developing changes.
Cost Control
If there is an increase in energy prices, the number of global customers, labour rates and other factors, your operating costs may increase. When this happens, you need to invest in the right technology to reduce logistics and supply management's additional costs. Also, you should have a plan that you monitor closely and apply change when it is necessary.
Planning and Risk Management
Some changes can appear from nowhere and greatly affect your logistics and supply chain management. Such changes include; new political agendas, launching a new product, sudden consumer demands and credit availability. For your business to be effective and efficient at all times, it should conduct periodic redesigns and assessments.
Supplier Relationship Management
The supplier may sometimes not follow the set standards, which significantly affects your inventory. A business and its suppliers should build a strong relationship that will help each one understand one another's needs better. And the easiest way of doing this is by using visibility and communication.
Talent
Finding someone who is qualified and has the talent to manage inventory is sometimes challenging. And even if you find one, it is tough to groom them for this role.
How Less Platform Can Help Optimize Logistics and Supply Chain Management
The Less Platform will equip you with route planning software to reduce product delivery time from the supplier. It will also help you;
- Minimize the unnecessary work-hours of your planners
- Use few transportation vehicles for the same purpose; and
- Help you find the most co-efficient route.
Check out Less Platform's video demo for mobile here.
In conclusion, these two practices are fundamental. Although they are different, they must work together to achieve the bigger goal of providing products to the consumer.
Author
Vardan Markosyan is the CEO at Less® Platform
MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business
PhD in Economics from the Institute of Economy of NAS RA
He spent decades of research and consultancy on business process optimization and system design

The last few miles a delivery takes from facility to recipient might just be the most essential part of a delivery journey. People are prepared to pay premiums to get their package delivered in a day, with customer loyalty increasing for businesses that meet these deadlines. Amazon invested in their last-mile logistics heavily in 2020, with many large retailers following suit.

What is Last-Mile Logistics?
Last-mile delivery (or logistics) refers to the final few miles a package takes between a distribution centre and the customer. It could be one-mile (if the customer lives one-mile away from the facility) but the delivery distance is frequently over 50 miles or more. Unlike the middle-mile, which traditionally only impacts larger retailers and producers, the last-mile of a delivery affects everyone, as all goods need to get to the customer.
Costs for those final miles can reach over 50% of the total cost of delivery, and also carry the highest risk of business loss. If a customer pays a premium and the delivery doesn’t arrive on time, the last-mile can cost the producer the whole order.
Who is Involved in Last-Mile Logistics?
The last mile can impact everyone in the supply chain, from producer to customer. The size of the delivery may mean that a wholesale distributor is involved in sending the goods to the retailer before it reaches the final fulfillment center. Let’s take a look at how these parties interact with delivery in the last mile.
Wholesale Distributors
Wholesale distributors assist the supplier or producer of the goods by distributing them in bulk to retailers. They are an integral part of the supply chain for multiple sectors, from fast-moving consumer goods to construction materials and electronics. Wholesalers ensure that the goods reach the distribution hub in time to meet the demands of the last-mile delivery.
Wholesalers have also been disrupted in recent years by an uptake in producers selling directly to the customer. A Deloitte study suggests that this has led to a decline of almost 8.3% for wholesalers between 2006 and 2016. This leads to increased pressure on wholesale distributors to fulfil timelines for retailers and add value to their role in the supply chain.
Retailers

Retailers also face pressure in fulfilling the demands of the last-mile. They require wholesalers and producers to deliver on time, in order to meet the delivery date for the customer. This is particularly essential with fast moving consumer goods like groceries. A CapGemini survey revealed that 40% of customers cited food delivery services as an essential part of grocery purchases, with half those surveyed prepared to switch to a retailer that provided a better delivery service.
Retailers have two options when coordinating last-mile deliveries:
- - Manage their own distribution hubs for online shopping and orders
- - Outsource to a delivery service or fulfillment center to meet customer demand
The huge premiums and customer loyalty associated with deliveries are an integral part of a retailer’s income. Speed in last-minute delivery will also expedite the processing of return goods for the retailer (currently estimated to cost retailers £60 billion a year in the UK alone), getting items back on the shelves as quickly as possible.
Fulfilment Centers
Fulfilment centers are warehouses or facilities that store goods for retailers and producers and carry out distribution services on their behalf. Unlike simply renting a warehouse, a fulfilment center will also carry out the last-mile delivery to the customer. The success of a fulfilment center rests entirely on their ability to carry out the last-mile. In 2020, online orders increased by 50%, accelerating the evolution of fulfilment centers by more than a decade.
How is the Last-Mile Logistics Organized and What are the Biggest Challenges?
Check out the structure of last-mile logistics and how it is organized below.
There are four main areas that present the largest logistical challenges for delivery:
Speed

The speed of the delivery is determined by the expectations of the customer. But each route will present its own operational changes that can impact the speed of the delivery. A delivery driver that needs to make multiple stops in a large urban area may be impacted by traffic, while deliveries to countryside areas may need to cover large distances within the small window of a one-day delivery. The shorter the delivery timeline, the more likely it is that even small delays will impact the speed of the delivery.
Cost
The decision to outsource deliveries to third party fulfilment centers or businesses like Amazon will leave you without the responsibilities of handling the last-mile. However, fulfillment by Amazon does lead to the additional costs of storage fees. As long as your stock sits in one of their fulfilment centers, you pay fees to the center. With a seller or company fulfilled delivery, you don’t have to worry about the fees you pay to the third party fulfilment center, but will be responsible for all dispatch costs and logistics.
Efficiency
Route optimization is an essential part of successful last-mile deliveries. Enabling drivers to view upcoming obstacles and delays will make it much easier to meet delivery deadlines. Inventory management will also allow drivers to have eyes on their goods, allowing for better route planning.
Transparency
Customers value transparency in the last-mile; in 2020 international supermarket retailer Tesco increased its delivery slots from 600,000 a week from 1.4 million due to the increase in demand for delivery time slots. To meet the challenge of demand, companies like Amazon also arrange collection lockers, so that customers can pick up packages at their convenience.
How Can Less Platform Resolve These Issues?

Less is enterprise-grade, cloud-managed distribution management software. Less can reduce the costs traditionally spent on last-mile deliveries by streamlining route planning and optimization to increase efficiency and meet same-day delivery deadlines. Drivers can effectively manage orders with real-time ETAs and easily track goods for deliveries. Make the last-mile deliveries on time and with minimal vehicles, saving you costs on overheads while still meeting customer demand.
Resolve Last-Mile Logistics Challenges with Less
The last-mile is the most expensive and high-demand link in the supply chain. Even the smallest delays in the supply chain can jeopardize a delivery and lose producers an order. That’s why Less as a distribution management software can play an essential role by reducing your costs and boosting your delivery transparencies in order to meet the expectations of the consumer. Request a demo today to find out how Less can help you make more out of your last-mile logistics management.
Author
Vardan Markosyan is the CEO at Less® Platform
MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business
PhD in Economics from the Institute of Economy of NAS RA
He spent decades of research and consultancy on business process optimization and system design

We have seen a surge in B2B 3PL and fulfillment operations during the last few years. This trend continues accelerating as e-commerce grows at a steady phase and delivery times shorten. Thus, traditional asset-based logistic providers such as; FedEx Logistics, J. B. Hunt, Hub group, Kenko Logistics, Distribution technology, Atlanta bonded, Cardinal logistics, have to deal with larger volumes and faster deliveries. It should be noted that 3PL’s specializing in B2B distribution usually keep their fleet of trucks in combination with contracted carriers. So delivery route planning fo 3PLs is becoming both the source of great efficiencies and potential losses.

Why is this difficult?
Delivery Route Planning for 3PLs
Unlike city dispatch and delivery, 3PLs might have a multiday delivery route planning horizon from multiple distribution centers (DCs). The asset-based 3PLs main goal is to have the maximum number of orders delivered in the shortest possible time while simultaneously taking into consideration variable distances, delivery windows, and service times of orders. Ideally, companies should be able to reach a maximum loaded mileage to achieve this goal. The best-loaded mileage can be reached by;
- - increasing the loading ratio and/or
- - decreasing driving time or mileage
Along with the need to consider different delivery days, time windows, and service times, reaching the best-loaded mileage is becoming a next to impossible task. No solution in the market can compile optimal routes for 1000s orders for multiday horizons with tight delivery windows, variable service, and flexible start times. Less Platform does that in a matter of minutes.
Multi-terminal operations
Large 3PLs usually operate using multiple DCs, so they need to have an option to plan their routes simultaneously. The absence of robust delivery route planning solutions for 3PLs dedicates more resources than required and creates massive inefficiencies. Less® has a multi-depot functionality and a wide range of as-if scenario analysis to plan orders from DCs offering maximum deliveries. 3PLs can even use the tool to plan the next DC location for optimal logistics.

Visibility
Having visibility on potential late deliveries beforehand helps to mitigate their occurrence. This can be done only through maximum visibility. Most companies are connected to ELDs or they use other GPS tracking software these days. While it helps to trace truck locations, it does not allow us to anticipate potential late deliveries at the stop level.
The problem is that delivery time equates to driving time and stop level service (or dwell) and other HOS required stops time. Less® works as a sophisticated system by getting information from the driver app, recalculating ETAs, checking feasibilities with delivery windows, and warning about potential late deliveries. This information is visible both to dispatchers and drivers. Companies need to have a unified dashboard of ongoing deliveries and should be able to identify potential risks beforehand. This unified visibility is the key to decreasing late deliveries and increasing customer satisfaction.
Integration with current tech infrastructure
3PLs use different TMS’, WMS’, and other company-specific ERP software. So any complex solution should be able to integrate with all these systems in a matter of hours. Less® Platform’s API-enabled configuration helps connect to ordering, TMS’, and WMS’ even at the SKU level. If 3PLs have their homegrown ERPs, they still can integrate with less at the engine level. This helps to use the customized interface while still getting all benefits that Less® Platforms route planning engine offers
Reporting and analytics
A well-thought-out reporting and analytics system helps to get sharpen a firm's competitive edge. Businesses operate in times of growing complexity of operations and an ambiguous external environment. Adding to this growing issue is that there is a considerable lag in terms of current solutions being offered in the market. 3PLs should be able to understand inefficiencies in their distribution operations at corporate, DC, and even dispatcher and driver levels. Due to a current lack of solutions providing proper visibility over analytics, this is not possible at an appreciable level of complexity. Along with performance analytics, accumulated information should be analyzed and turned into insightful forecasts for getting better plans and decreasing uncertainties. Data aggregation also should help to assess the performance of even more complex operations with thousands of trucks and 100s of fulfillment centers.
We tried to consider the major pain points that 3PLs have regarding increasing volumes and incorporate them into an enterprise-grade cloud-native SaaS solution. Please reach out at [email protected] for more info.
Author
Vardan Markosyan is the CEO at Less® Platform
MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business
Ph.D. in Economics from the Institute of Economy of NAS RA
He spent decades of research and consultancy on business process optimization and system design


Less-than-truckload (LTL) operations are mostly organized using the hub-and-spoke model. From an organizational perspective, we need to plan thousands of inbound LTL shipments for terminals and then create line hauls to move the freight to distribution centers. Additionally, there are smaller LTL carriers who practice direct-to-the-customer line hauls. Route planning software for Less-than-truckload carriers and shippers is a necceesity as they need to plan or the inbound moves or milk runs.
We can conditionally divide LTL planning into;
a) inbound operations-when multiple multi-stop pickups are occurring
b) outbound operations-when LTL freight is being consolidated in the terminals and hauled to distribution centers.
As inbound operations are different in nature the approach to route planning and execution should be different respectively. Planners and executers are dealing with complexities that can potentially degrade service level, increase planning time, and result in more miles driven than necessary. Less balanced loads and the need for dynamic changes cause their route planning efforts to be less effective and result in overall reductions in inefficiency.
Delivery volumes in everyday LTL operations are highly variable
Unlike other pickup and delivery operations such as wholesale distribution, everyday demand for multi-stop LTL operations is highly variable. Distributors have a relatively stable customer base and therefore a stable route planning process while LTL carriers are required to plan their inbound operations from scratch every day. Thus, the majority of planners use a zone-based approach; where specific drivers are assigned to specific zones and then planners try to create routes in these zones. While this helps planners to get their daily plans done this approach, unfortunately, creates lots of extra miles driven, unbalanced loads, and consumes too much of planners’ time. So the route planning software for Less-than-truckload carriers should be able to minimize mileage, capacity used, and costs.
It is very hard to get balanced and timely loads while keeping mileage and other cost variables under the control
A planners’ main concern is to pick up orders from terminals by assuring accurate delivery windows. When demand is variable it often comes at the cost of mileage optimization or too many trucks thrown at the problem. Planners juggle many variables in their heads such as delivery windows, variable service times, HOS requirements, capacity constraints, and driver-specific requests. As a result of this complex process, a human being can hope to get 60-80% of optimality utilizing this manual method.
While ELDs or other GPS tracking software helps to trace trucks they have a little positive effect on communication between a dispatcher and dozens of drivers
ELDs are great at getting driving data for calculating service hours as well as monitoring the location of trucks. Additionally, LTL inbound operations are multistep in nature and often include dozens of stops. Large LTL carriers with 100+ trucks (the largest nationwide carriers have 1000+ trucks and dozens of terminals) should assign and monitor multistep pickups for thousands of shipments a day for a given terminal. Currently, dispatch sheets are printed on paper, and communication is done via calls which is a time-consuming and inefficient process. Dispatchers also don’t have full and timely visibility of the pickup process for each stop as well as dynamic ETAs for the planned stops. It makes execution time-consuming and inefficient.
How Less Platform solves above-mentioned problems:
Innovative route planning engine for Less-than-truckload carriers and shippers

We have built a load and route planning and scheduling engine which gets 96-99% optimal load plans in minutes for thousands of deliveries. It involves all the real-life constraints such as the need to fit into delivery windows, variable service times for different sizes of orders, HOS requirements, order, and truck capacities. Thousands of pickups in dozens of terminals are no problem and can be planned simultaneously by one planner in 10-15 minutes.
Our Driver app is connected with a central console

Dispatchers can assign planned loads instantly to hundreds of drivers and they will have all the planned loads on their phones. The status of each stop will be updated instantly. Dynamic ETA’s for all stops, including service times, breaks, traffic, and other variables will be visible both for drivers and dispatchers. Thus, dispatchers will be notified as soon as an ETA for any stop will be beyond its delivery windows. The driver app also allows you to notify customers about the arriving trucks as well as to capture digital POD. All the information for implemented loads is stored in the database in which managers can monitor the efficiency of operations using summary tables and graphs for each instance.
The LTL industry needs new tools to solve old problems more successfully. Decreasing costs by improving efficiency has become an urgent need. They should also take into consideration new realities for remote operations that are here to stay. As a result, the long-term profitability and competitive position of a company depend on how fast the industry will adopt new technologies to improve its operations.
Author
Vardan Markosyan is the CEO at Less® Platform
MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business
Ph.D. in Economics from the Institute of Economy of NAS RA
He spent decades of research and consultancy on business process optimization and system design

Less Than Truckload (LTL) logistics is different from that Full truckload (TL). Thus, Transportation Management Software for LTL carriers should take into consideration these differences. People might think that it is just a size of the load but there are fundamental differences in business models so strategic and operational management tools and methodologies should be used.
Less-Than-Truckload (LTL) model
To understand what is the best Transportation Management Software for LTL carriers, we need to describe LTL logistics. The baseline LTL logistics combines random short-distance pickups and long-distance haulage.
The fundamental difference of LTL logistics is that companies usually organize pickups with city cabs and then consolidate loads in the larger trailers for the long-distance haulage during the week.
In organizing Local pickups two types of operational challenges emerge:
- - How to organize daily local pickups so that available equipment could handle the most of loaded mileage and be balanced, in the meantime assuring the most accurate appointment times?
- - Dynamically rebalance new pickups when loads have already commenced.
Next, pickups usually being consolidated in depots/warehouses in larger equipment/trailers so they can be transported to a longer distance. While timely and safe delivery is a high priority, inefficiencies also arise as planners spent time in assuring the best delivery windows while taking into account available equipment, driver specifications, and a number of other factors. This process is time-consuming, can decrease the accuracy of deliveries, and substantially increase costs of operations by underutilizing existing equipment and increasing total mileage.
And finally, one should make sure the interoperability of both parts of operations, assuring the profitability of the business, in the meantime keeping operational expenses as low as possible. It particularly means the ability to plan both inbound and outbound operations simultaneously and establish the best consolidation or cross-docking model that creates optimized short-haul and long-haul loads.
A simple LTL model with pick-ups and deliveries can look like the one in Figure 1 below.

Figure 1 Less Platform’s multi-stop pickup and delivery sample loads
The route planning system in Transportation Management Software should be able to first plan multi-stop pickups for each day during the week and then consolidated deliveries.
We have presented problems of planning LTL operations in two graphs below:

Figure 2
As you can see, the system should assure high accuracy of both pickups and deliveries, trying to increase the number of orders in the mealtime keeping high equipment utilization and low driven mileage.
Transportation Management Software (TMS) for LTL carriers available on the market
We have implemented quick research to understand how the top firms on the market address these problems of LTL trucking and Transportation Management Software for LTL carriers are available. We have particularly looked at their websites. Some of the top solution providers and their offers are listed below:
Trimble transportation management
Shipment Planning and Execution
Optimize load matching success and customer satisfaction by analyzing load and equipment information such as driver hours (HOS), miles, costs, and availability for both the current load and future scenarios to plan and dispatch loads accurately and easily. Streamline day-to-day load matching so your team can focus on the more complex needs of today’s planning processes. Increase efficiency with load-power optimization planning tools for OTR and multistop scenarios.
Oracle transportation management
Operational Planning
A state-of-the-art optimization engine that automatically finds the best solutions for your logistics needs, while adhering to your business requirements and trading partner capabilities.
Create a more efficient and higher velocity logistics network
Plan and execute domestic and international shipments—in one system
Lower rates and manage equipment more efficiently
Optimize the cubic capacity of containers, consolidate orders, and streamline location flow and calendars
Omnitracs
Reduce Costs and Simplify Operational Processes
Managing any for-hire fleet is a constant battle between doing what’s best for the customer and what’s right for the business. For less-than-truckload (LTL) fleets, however, this balancing act is even more challenging due to the complex nature of the business. Juggling multiple customers, locations, delivery and pickup times, drivers, and vehicles while controlling costs can be an impossible task without the right tools in place. Thankfully, there are solutions built to simplify operations for LTL fleets while delivering improved efficiency and customer value.
SAP transportation management
Order management
Minimize freight costs and enhance customer service. Improve the efficiency of order and process management and generate optimized, rules-based routing proposals dynamically.
MercuryGate
Plan for And Deliver Better Load Building Outcomes
Increase space utilization while cutting freight and fuel costs. Leverage control tower visibility to take the guesswork out of load planning by easily generating precise calculations before shipping. Streamline loading and unloading and minimize labor errors with step-by-step planning.
MercuryGate’s load planning and load building takes into account all facets including weight, dimensions, densities, stackability constraints, and compatibility constraints. This empowers your whole team to significantly reduce the number of freight runs needed, as well as the emission your transportation produces.
JDA transportation management
Transportation
Supply chains are only going to get more complex, yet you are expected to consistently deliver while managing costs. With transportation, you can leverage every available asset, drive profitability, and sharpen your competitive edge. Our solutions enable you to transform your transportation operations by managing both inbound and outbound, integrating supplier and carrier collaboration tools and tackling whatever challenges tomorrow brings.
Almost all of them have planning, dispatch, visibility, 3rd party carrier sourcing, and accounting capabilities for multi-modal business models. Some of them are on the market for decades. All of them have planning capabilities listed on their websites.
Conclusion
Transportation and logistics firms should have robust tools to increase operational efficiency without compromising client service and business goals. LTL planning optimization has limited offerings despite the variety of available TMS and fleet management software on the market. Robust planning toolbox, data interoperability, and visibility through all the business processes could help LTL firms substantially improve their efficiency, make planners and dispatchers' life easier, and equipment utilization better.
We understand that total macro instability, current low level of rates, decreased order numbers on certain lanes and for certain clients, and other factors may substantially affect the appetite of the management to improve the efficiency of operations. On the other hand, now is the time to start thinking more about efficiency and prepare for a better harvest when good times are back.
Less Platform can turn your data into loads within a couple of minutes and compare it with your historical results! You can also test all the necessary features for your logistic model and consult with our experts on your challenges.
Author
Vardan Markosyan is the CEO at Less Platform
MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business
PhD in Economics from the Institute of Economy of NAS RA
He spent decades of research and consultancy on business process optimization and system design

1. Why last mile logistics is important?
Last-mile logistics is the most complex and, happened to be believed, most costly part of the distribution supply chain. While there is a growing buzz around the expression, the last mile implies different things for different industries. So, before moving forward with the recommendations of how to optimize last-mile logistics one should first define what it actually means for the specific operating model and where the inefficiencies are?
With the accelerated growth of e-commerce, increasing requirements is creating burdens on the logistics chain, which amplifies the final mile. According to a 2022 report by Deloitte, as consumers’ delivery-related demands increase—as does the cost and complexity of meeting those demands—new, nimbler options are arising to enable retailers to outsource last-mile delivery to the gig economy. Amazon Flex and Walmart’s Spark Delivery enable independent drivers to deliver online purchases to the retailers’ customers. Along with the growth of e-commerce, last-mile logistics has its specifics and new challenges for traditional sectors as well. These challenges can be sector-specific, such as decreasing delivery times and increasing density of fulfillment centers but also can result from general macroeconomic trends such as shortages of employees and supply chain problems.
2. Last mile delivery logistics is not just home deliveries
“Last-mile” logistics or deliveries might have different meanings for different sectors and industries. First of all, different companies might be implementing final mile deliveries using private fleets or hiring carriers. Thus, we can differentiate between private fleet shippers and for-hire carriers. While for private fleet shippers logistics operations are supplementary to their main businesses, for-hire carriers or logistics service providers (LSP) generate income for transportation services. Secondly, the last mile will be different for companies that are in the B2B business such as wholesale distributors, or focusing mainly on home deliveries such as retailers. Some e-commerce companies could be put into a category of their own as they mostly don't own vehicles but may combine both retail and wholesale operations.
Retailers and e-commerce
“Last-mile logistics” in the retail sector mainly implies the organization of store-to-customer small-size delivery processes.
According to U.S. Census Bureau News Total e-commerce sales for 2021 were estimated at $870.8 billion, an increase of 14.2% from 2020. Total retail sales in 2021 increased 17.9% from 2020. E-commerce sales in 2021 accounted for 13.2% of total sales. E-commerce sales in 2020 accounted for 13.6% of total sales.
Demands for faster, cheaper shipping result in a growing complexity of last-mile delivery operations. Consumers can now choose to get their purchases in a variety of ways: home delivery, ship-to-store, ship-to-locker, or reserve online and pick up in-store. Returns can now be made in-store or by shipping the product back to the retailer. Linear supply chains have given way to complex, interconnected supply chain networks. And the subscription services offered by a growing number of retailers often subsidize or waive delivery fees, making it incredibly easy for consumers to place many small orders instead of a few large ones. The result? More—and more frequent— orders, a sharp rise in demand for expedited delivery, an e-commerce logistics market with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 20.4 percent, and rising costs for retail and consumer goods companies. Amazon is able to meet consumers’ demands by spending 15.6 percent of its net sales revenue on shipping costs and an incredible 27.9 percent on combined fulfillment costs. Retailers, by comparison, spend about 8 percent of revenue on e-commerce fulfillment on average; in the current retail environment, it would be hard for them to cover more of the delivery costs and still stay profitable.
Different companies prefer different last-mile delivery logistics models. Larger retailers tend to run private fleets of vehicles, while smaller ones rely on outsourced transportation. It should be mentioned that most private fleet companies usually combine both operational models. Hence, processes and problems may differ for different types of shippers.
We can also divide retail deliveries into grocery and the rest as delivery patterns and velocity are quite different. The average lead time for delivery of groceries is 0.7 days, compared to electronics which take 3 days, and 5 days for apparel. Thus, consolidation and logistics management models can vary substantially.
Logistics service providers (LSP) and delivery companies
We can conditionally divide logistics service providers into long-haul and local delivery models. There are a number of LSPs that operate on both markets, we see a growing number of specialized local delivery companies, especially during the Covid 19 pandemic. We see also the emergence of platforms that connect shippers and individual vehicle owners. Later are essentially networks of independent couriers and delivery agents connected to a delivery ecosystem that pick up and deliver small packages. The other distinct difference between long-haul and local deliveries is that local deliveries are usually on the same day while long-haul deliveries can vary from 1-7 days.
As it turns out that the final mile can be used to describe the sharply different distribution and delivery models there is a wide range of estimated market sizes. The Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) reports that the last leg of overall transportation costs makes up as much as 28% of logistics expenses. Transportation’s contribution to the economy can be measured by its contribution to gross domestic product (GDP). The Bureau of Transportation Statistics reports the final (finished) transportation goods and services purchased by people, businesses, and governments in 2018 contributed $1,489.7 billion, or 8.9%, to U.S. GDP. If we apply the aforementioned 28% BEA figure, we could say the market for the final mile (from a GDP perspective) is an astounding $417 billion. Contrary, if we narrow down the final mile to home deliveries and assume that these are small-sized we need to look into parcel delivery numbers in the picture below4.
There is also another important distinction between the organization of long-haul and same-day logistics - long-haul deliveries are usually done using semi-tractors or sleeper trucks while local deliveries are implemented by smaller trucks or even passenger cars. Thus, contracting, company and driver onboarding are different for long-haul transportation needs. The latter is a highly regulated industry that needs special licenses and drivers. The value of the average delivery is also much higher hence the carriers are going through much meticulous due diligence. The important peculiarity is that while more individuals can be involved in local deliveries, continued driver shortage, increasing insurance, and, lately, fuel costs make long-haul capacity scarcer and pressure on the costs higher.
As you may see in the picture above, the ground transportation rates almost doubled during the last two years.
Wholesale distributors
Wholesale distributors are the middleman between producers and retailers with slight differences from industry to industry. It is one of the more complex industries driven by high numbers of SKUs, customers, suppliers, and transactions, and their pricing and rebate structures. They can be grouped into major ones such as food, beverages, pharmaceutical, electronics, industrial, and building materials. According to the National Association of Wholesale Distributors (NAW) total wholesale distribution revenue ended the year at $5.970 trillion, just slightly below the April 2019 record high. GDP for the year totaled a record-high $21.734 trillion with a growth rate of 4.0%. The Wholesale Distribution industry is 27.5% of U.S. GDP.
Last-mile logistics from the wholesale distributor perspective is different. As they are middlemen between producers and retailers/local businesses their last mile will be the leg between the distribution centers and local warehouses/shops. The wholesalers tend to rely on private fleet operations as they operate in an environment of rigid deadlines. The average size of a single drop also tends to be larger and distances longer, while the number of stops in daily routes will be fewer compared to home deliveries. We observe changes in the industry in the form of growing concentration as well as the emergence of disruptive business models as well. For example, Amazon’s sales platform is supported by more than 2 million third-party sellers worldwide. Of those sellers, 26% sell products using a wholesale sales model.
3. Challenges of last mile logistics
Scheduling and routing is a great challenge
Scheduling and routing daily package deliveries for a relatively smaller delivery radius, i.e. 50 miles is different from scheduling and routing deliveries of hundreds or even thousands of boxes per one drop for a 300 miles radius. The first is going to be for home deliveries from warehouses of fulfillment centers located closer to city centers. The latter is the case of a food distribution operation to stores, restaurants, and other businesses. Large building or construction material distributors may have lesser stops per route but their route can strain through the weeks. Apart from the difference in distances, route durations, and the number of stops per route, this distribution model requires drivers with different skill sets and driving habits/work models as well as sometimes radically different equipment. When it comes to large 3PLs or LSP this process may combine all of the abovementioned with the need to solve the consolidation problem to/from multiple warehouses and the involvement of different counterparts.
Planning multi-leg deliveries creates delays
As we have already established, last-mile delivery logistics can mean different things for different industries. So, the complexity of the operational model hence the complexity of the planning process can sometimes differ cardinally. It is becoming even more cumbersome when planners are trying to coordinate the timing between the different legs of the supply chain, such as the first, the middle, and the last miles. While manufacturers and distributors will mostly use last-mile consolidation centers and warehouses, transportation companies and logistic service providers (LPS) might even bypass these centers and implement multi-day delivery to the final customers. It is going to be the case, especially for B2B or heavier deliveries.
Coordination between different delivery operators
It can be a great challenge when planning the last mile. It is generally assumed that when the last mile is concerned there is one delivery party that moves the freight. While that could be a case for home or packaged deliveries, in many operational models or industries there are more than one or even two delivery/transportation partners. Thus along with the larger planning range (weekly or biweekly) and multiple consolidation locations involved, the need for coordination between multiple counterparts is going to pose another challenge.
Visibility is important
When it comes to visibility, logistic managers usually imply to the consumer that they know where your truck is. While it is good information to have, especially in real-time, locating your delivery is one (small) part of the total visibility. It should help not only track deliveries but also make preventive operational management and long-term data analytics and efficiency optimization.
Capturing data: Capturing data is essential as it is created in real-time or near time and distributed across different operational decision-makers. It particularly includes stops or order level updates of estimated times of arrivals (ETA) at a driver, customer, dispatcher, or DC level. Post factum delivery data such as late deliveries and actual service times is also important to capture and store properly. To minimize late deliveries by implementing dynamic routing, dispatchers need timely data that shows ETAs with service times and other variables not being produced by GPS tracking software.
Aggregating data: Capturing and aggregating delivery data per different instances and layers is the key to efficient operational and strategic middle-mile network management. The difficulty of it is that systems across different parts of the logistics chain are captured and stored differently, so it is not always possible to have different levels of data aggregation without a synchronized ecosystem.
Supporting decision-making: Aggregated data is a foundation for retrospective and prospective data analytics. One of the major problems of growingly complex logistic supply chains is the absence of full digitization and synchronization of all the necessary information across different layers of an organization.
Trucking capacity is scarce
The ongoing truck driver shortage is now estimated at 80,000, up from 61,000 just three years ago. A new study by Bob Costello, chief economist for the American Trucking Associations (ATA), estimates that the industry will have to recruit 1 million new drivers within the next nine years to replace retiring drivers. This shortage makes it really hard for fleet-light shippers to cover loads and implement proper long-term transportation planning. This is also one of the main reasons for the rising freight costs described above.
4. Less Platform as the best last mile delivery software
Depending on the type of the operational model and or the sector of industry, last-mile deliveries can span from a couple of stops per vehicle per day to high volume short distance stops. Less Platform is capable to route and scheduling deliveries that are peculiar to any distribution model.
Types of industries using last mile logistics software
Lest's discuss several use cases.
For B2C type of high volumes deliveries that are peculiar to e-commerce and retail, it is important that the algorithms could plan 10’s stops in the routes. These deliveries are usually planned daily while vehicles usually cover shorter distances. Dynamic capabilities are also more important as a high level of discrepancies between optimized delivery plans and live deliveries can happen
The next type of local or city dispatch operations is fleet-light operations in case of which delivery companies don't own vehicles. In this case, they may either crowdsource deliveries before or after planning or signup with major carriers (FedEx, UPS, DHL).
The separate operations model of deliveries is the delivery companies that don't have warehouses or distribution centers. These companies usually do high-volume pickups and deliveries during the day. Hence, a different class of algorithms is developed for these types of movies in Less Platform.
For the wholesale distributors and also retailers that need to plan B2B moves such as DC-to-Store or Store-to-DC in case of reverse logistics, a distribution model covers a larger area. In the meantime, the number of stops on the routes will be lower, while the weight of each delivery higher. Vehicles are going to be larger as well so capacity becomes more important.
There are also large use cases of long-haul delivery planning and routing by 3PLs, large shippers, and carriers. Two types of moves are being planned; a) consolidation and routing of LTL’s (Less than truckload) shipments into FTLs (Full truckloads) both by asset-light and asset-based shippers, b) Forward planning of FTLs. It is worth note that in the former case the main optimization parameter is the mileage for fleet-based operations while for fleet-light shippers and 3PLs total cost should be minimized. In the case of FTL forward planning the main optimization parameter is the deadhead or the empty moves between stops (which should be minimized). Decision-making functions also might differ depending on who is making these decisions - shippers and 3PLs would be interested in mainly cost optimization by finding cheaper carriers, although 3PLs might also reach that via better preliminary consolidation or forward planning. Fleet-based logistics service providers (LSPs), such as LTL trucking companies might be interested in an increase in loaded mileage.
A special case is the companies that run a mix of fleet-based and fleet light operations. These are large 3PLs such as Hub Group or JB Hunt as well as retailers such as Walmart, Hope Depot, or Pepsico. They need to combine delivery routing technologies with load outsourcing or even by relying on spot markets.
Software Functionality
The are many features in Less Platform that support or work for almost all the abovementioned delivery models.
Multiple DCs. For example, multiple depots or distribution centers (DC) planning functionality. It is very convenient for companies that have centralized operational planning activities. Secondly, it helps to generate data for separate DCs as well as aggregate it on a company level. A number of warehouses or DCs is growing and getting closer to customers these days, making both operational and strategic routing harder and potential inefficiencies bigger. In the meantime, companies that run multiple pickups and delivery operations without consolidating their shipments in the warehouses can use Less Platform’s pickup and delivery routing and scheduling algorithms.
Delivery windows and variable service times. Two important constraints that make it hard to plan are daily delivery windows and variable service times. These two constraints can also drastically affect capacity used and routes planned. The absence of proper planning tools can make a planner's work daunting and consume too much time. It is also the main cause why distributors use excessive capacities, drive unnecessary miles and have late deliveries. These effects are being amplified due to increased demand variability, speed of deliveries, and tightening delivery windows.
Dynamic planning. Automatic routing is easiest the job but there are plenty more situations requiring manual planning. Less platform as a delivery software provides dynamic planning functional for both pre-dispatch and post-dispatch stages. After getting a route plan, a planner can reroute different stops by assigning them to different routes both individually and in bulk. Then sequencing algorithms will re-optimize the total plan. After making changes algorithms assess the feasibility of delivery windows by checking with recalculated ETAs. All the changes are instantly visible for drivers post-dispatch.
Scheduling. Planned loads can be scheduled both daily and weekly for respective drivers. Less Platform’s dispatch
management software is connected to the driver app so all drivers have planned loads once they are assigned to them. After the dispatch, the driver app updates all ETAs and synchronizes them with the dispatch board. Less Platform’s algorithms then check potential late deliveries by comparing ETAs with delivery windows. This way dispatchers can be proactive to avoid late deliveries or dynamically optimize the delivery process otherwise.
Optimization with contracted carriers. Less Platform also brings together demand and supply by helping shippers cover more loads at lower cost and carriers increase loaded mileage and earn for additional stops. According to our calculations and based on the information provided by more than 50 trucking companies, the average over-the-road truck has 10 linear feet or approximately 10,000 pounds of unused capacity. This “dark capacity” has a market value of over $200 billion. We help carriers to fill a partially loaded truck as fast as an empty truck, leading to a dramatic increase in asset utilization, the main driver of profitability for carriers. As shown in the picture below both shippers and carriers can find shipments or available space in the trucks using our AI algorithms.
This was a small list of various tools and innovations that Less Platform offers to different industries and companies.
Please contact [email protected] if you want to learn more about Less Platform's Last-mile delivery logistics orchestration capabilities.

We have seen a surge in B2B 3PL and fulfillment operations during the last few years. This trend continues accelerating as e-commerce grows at a steady phase and delivery times shorten. Thus, traditional asset-based logistic providers such as; FedEx Logistics, J. B. Hunt, Hub group, Kenko Logistics, Distribution technology, Atlanta bonded, Cardinal logistics, have to deal with larger volumes and faster deliveries. It should be noted that 3PL’s specializing in B2B distribution usually keep their fleet of trucks in combination with contracted carriers. So delivery route planning fo 3PLs is becoming both the source of great efficiencies and potential losses.

Why is this difficult?
Delivery Route Planning for 3PLs
Unlike city dispatch and delivery, 3PLs might have a multiday delivery route planning horizon from multiple distribution centers (DCs). The asset-based 3PLs main goal is to have the maximum number of orders delivered in the shortest possible time while simultaneously taking into consideration variable distances, delivery windows, and service times of orders. Ideally, companies should be able to reach a maximum loaded mileage to achieve this goal. The best-loaded mileage can be reached by;
- - increasing the loading ratio and/or
- - decreasing driving time or mileage
Along with the need to consider different delivery days, time windows, and service times, reaching the best-loaded mileage is becoming a next to impossible task. No solution in the market can compile optimal routes for 1000s orders for multiday horizons with tight delivery windows, variable service, and flexible start times. Less Platform does that in a matter of minutes.
Multi-terminal operations
Large 3PLs usually operate using multiple DCs, so they need to have an option to plan their routes simultaneously. The absence of robust delivery route planning solutions for 3PLs dedicates more resources than required and creates massive inefficiencies. Less® has a multi-depot functionality and a wide range of as-if scenario analysis to plan orders from DCs offering maximum deliveries. 3PLs can even use the tool to plan the next DC location for optimal logistics.

Visibility
Having visibility on potential late deliveries beforehand helps to mitigate their occurrence. This can be done only through maximum visibility. Most companies are connected to ELDs or they use other GPS tracking software these days. While it helps to trace truck locations, it does not allow us to anticipate potential late deliveries at the stop level.
The problem is that delivery time equates to driving time and stop level service (or dwell) and other HOS required stops time. Less® works as a sophisticated system by getting information from the driver app, recalculating ETAs, checking feasibilities with delivery windows, and warning about potential late deliveries. This information is visible both to dispatchers and drivers. Companies need to have a unified dashboard of ongoing deliveries and should be able to identify potential risks beforehand. This unified visibility is the key to decreasing late deliveries and increasing customer satisfaction.
Integration with current tech infrastructure
3PLs use different TMS’, WMS’, and other company-specific ERP software. So any complex solution should be able to integrate with all these systems in a matter of hours. Less® Platform’s API-enabled configuration helps connect to ordering, TMS’, and WMS’ even at the SKU level. If 3PLs have their homegrown ERPs, they still can integrate with less at the engine level. This helps to use the customized interface while still getting all benefits that Less® Platforms route planning engine offers
Reporting and analytics
A well-thought-out reporting and analytics system helps to get sharpen a firm's competitive edge. Businesses operate in times of growing complexity of operations and an ambiguous external environment. Adding to this growing issue is that there is a considerable lag in terms of current solutions being offered in the market. 3PLs should be able to understand inefficiencies in their distribution operations at corporate, DC, and even dispatcher and driver levels. Due to a current lack of solutions providing proper visibility over analytics, this is not possible at an appreciable level of complexity. Along with performance analytics, accumulated information should be analyzed and turned into insightful forecasts for getting better plans and decreasing uncertainties. Data aggregation also should help to assess the performance of even more complex operations with thousands of trucks and 100s of fulfillment centers.
We tried to consider the major pain points that 3PLs have regarding increasing volumes and incorporate them into an enterprise-grade cloud-native SaaS solution. Please reach out at [email protected] for more info.
Author
Vardan Markosyan is the CEO at Less® Platform
MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business
Ph.D. in Economics from the Institute of Economy of NAS RA
He spent decades of research and consultancy on business process optimization and system design

Unlike the Full truckload (TL) carriers, in less-than-truckload (LTL) operations prevail lots of multi-stop pickups. For small LTL carriers, linehaul can also include an end to end multi-stop deliveries.
Good dispatch software help carriers to input orders and then dispatch them to drivers and trucks. They would also help to settle with drivers and bill clients. Some may have extensive assets (tractors, trailers, etc.) management systems. Advanced systems such as Trimble transportation (TMW) can offer tracking and mileage calculation option via their own solution such as PC miler. Others, especially those targeting SME’s will provide a plugin option to get data from PC miles or similar solutions. On top of the Dispatch system, companies should equip their trucks with ELDs (Geotab, Omnitracs, Samsara, etc.) which is a good tool to track mandatory Hours of Service (HOS). Almost all providers also offer telematics functional.
This is basically a tech environment for a typical mid or large LTL carrier. Smaller ones may be using spreadsheets and, in the meantime, one of the GPS tracking software. As ELDs are mandatory both in the US and Canada, every carrier can track the location of their trucks.
As you have noticed there are a couple of functions that require extensive labor force and basically remained untacked so far:
1) Multi-stop pickup planning.
Large carriers such as YRC, Old Dominion, and others in the top 50 list have thousands of trucks and hundreds of terminals. Each terminal handles 500+ inbound orders a day. Smaller LTL carriers can have a handful of terminals but per terminal volumes are going to be relatively similar. While linehaul planning from terminal a can be relatively easy, the inbound multi-stop planning is where planners mostly straggle.
2) Dynamic management and communication.
ELDs give a decent understanding of the locations of your trucks. While this is fine in the case of FTL linehauls, multi-stop LTL management requires a more granular approach. First, dispatchers should know what’s happening in each stop and how changing dwell times or other random occasions will affect the accuracy of deliveries to remaining stops. Second, it’s crucial to have timely and automated warnings of potential late deliveries to each and every stop. Third, drivers should be instantly updated about changing loads and routes. And last but not the least, customers should receive automated notification about approaching drivers and drivers should be notified about available docs in case of large customers.
We have calculated that the solving abovementioned problems properly helps to decrease total driven mileage by 5-7% annually, save about 300 hours of planner’s time and improve delivery accuracy by a whopping 30%. Does this imply that one needs to search for new dispatch or TMS software? That’s not necessary as today’s API enabled environment helps to get these problems solved without undertaking large projects or inquiring additional costs.
You can reach us out on [email protected] in case want to learn more about how we can mobilize these benefits for you.

Author
Vardan Markosyan is the CEO at Less® Platform
MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business
Ph.D. in Economics from the Institute of Economy of NAS RA
He spent decades of research and consultancy on business process optimization and system design


Less-than-truckload (LTL) operations are mostly organized using the hub-and-spoke model. From an organizational perspective, we need to plan thousands of inbound LTL shipments for terminals and then create line hauls to move the freight to distribution centers. Additionally, there are smaller LTL carriers who practice direct-to-the-customer line hauls. Route planning software for Less-than-truckload carriers and shippers is a necceesity as they need to plan or the inbound moves or milk runs.
We can conditionally divide LTL planning into;
a) inbound operations-when multiple multi-stop pickups are occurring
b) outbound operations-when LTL freight is being consolidated in the terminals and hauled to distribution centers.
As inbound operations are different in nature the approach to route planning and execution should be different respectively. Planners and executers are dealing with complexities that can potentially degrade service level, increase planning time, and result in more miles driven than necessary. Less balanced loads and the need for dynamic changes cause their route planning efforts to be less effective and result in overall reductions in inefficiency.
Delivery volumes in everyday LTL operations are highly variable
Unlike other pickup and delivery operations such as wholesale distribution, everyday demand for multi-stop LTL operations is highly variable. Distributors have a relatively stable customer base and therefore a stable route planning process while LTL carriers are required to plan their inbound operations from scratch every day. Thus, the majority of planners use a zone-based approach; where specific drivers are assigned to specific zones and then planners try to create routes in these zones. While this helps planners to get their daily plans done this approach, unfortunately, creates lots of extra miles driven, unbalanced loads, and consumes too much of planners’ time. So the route planning software for Less-than-truckload carriers should be able to minimize mileage, capacity used, and costs.
It is very hard to get balanced and timely loads while keeping mileage and other cost variables under the control
A planners’ main concern is to pick up orders from terminals by assuring accurate delivery windows. When demand is variable it often comes at the cost of mileage optimization or too many trucks thrown at the problem. Planners juggle many variables in their heads such as delivery windows, variable service times, HOS requirements, capacity constraints, and driver-specific requests. As a result of this complex process, a human being can hope to get 60-80% of optimality utilizing this manual method.
While ELDs or other GPS tracking software helps to trace trucks they have a little positive effect on communication between a dispatcher and dozens of drivers
ELDs are great at getting driving data for calculating service hours as well as monitoring the location of trucks. Additionally, LTL inbound operations are multistep in nature and often include dozens of stops. Large LTL carriers with 100+ trucks (the largest nationwide carriers have 1000+ trucks and dozens of terminals) should assign and monitor multistep pickups for thousands of shipments a day for a given terminal. Currently, dispatch sheets are printed on paper, and communication is done via calls which is a time-consuming and inefficient process. Dispatchers also don’t have full and timely visibility of the pickup process for each stop as well as dynamic ETAs for the planned stops. It makes execution time-consuming and inefficient.
How Less Platform solves above-mentioned problems:
Innovative route planning engine for Less-than-truckload carriers and shippers

We have built a load and route planning and scheduling engine which gets 96-99% optimal load plans in minutes for thousands of deliveries. It involves all the real-life constraints such as the need to fit into delivery windows, variable service times for different sizes of orders, HOS requirements, order, and truck capacities. Thousands of pickups in dozens of terminals are no problem and can be planned simultaneously by one planner in 10-15 minutes.
Our Driver app is connected with a central console

Dispatchers can assign planned loads instantly to hundreds of drivers and they will have all the planned loads on their phones. The status of each stop will be updated instantly. Dynamic ETA’s for all stops, including service times, breaks, traffic, and other variables will be visible both for drivers and dispatchers. Thus, dispatchers will be notified as soon as an ETA for any stop will be beyond its delivery windows. The driver app also allows you to notify customers about the arriving trucks as well as to capture digital POD. All the information for implemented loads is stored in the database in which managers can monitor the efficiency of operations using summary tables and graphs for each instance.
The LTL industry needs new tools to solve old problems more successfully. Decreasing costs by improving efficiency has become an urgent need. They should also take into consideration new realities for remote operations that are here to stay. As a result, the long-term profitability and competitive position of a company depend on how fast the industry will adopt new technologies to improve its operations.
Author
Vardan Markosyan is the CEO at Less® Platform
MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business
Ph.D. in Economics from the Institute of Economy of NAS RA
He spent decades of research and consultancy on business process optimization and system design

Less Than Truckload (LTL) logistics is different from that Full truckload (TL). Thus, Transportation Management Software for LTL carriers should take into consideration these differences. People might think that it is just a size of the load but there are fundamental differences in business models so strategic and operational management tools and methodologies should be used.
Less-Than-Truckload (LTL) model
To understand what is the best Transportation Management Software for LTL carriers, we need to describe LTL logistics. The baseline LTL logistics combines random short-distance pickups and long-distance haulage.
The fundamental difference of LTL logistics is that companies usually organize pickups with city cabs and then consolidate loads in the larger trailers for the long-distance haulage during the week.
In organizing Local pickups two types of operational challenges emerge:
- - How to organize daily local pickups so that available equipment could handle the most of loaded mileage and be balanced, in the meantime assuring the most accurate appointment times?
- - Dynamically rebalance new pickups when loads have already commenced.
Next, pickups usually being consolidated in depots/warehouses in larger equipment/trailers so they can be transported to a longer distance. While timely and safe delivery is a high priority, inefficiencies also arise as planners spent time in assuring the best delivery windows while taking into account available equipment, driver specifications, and a number of other factors. This process is time-consuming, can decrease the accuracy of deliveries, and substantially increase costs of operations by underutilizing existing equipment and increasing total mileage.
And finally, one should make sure the interoperability of both parts of operations, assuring the profitability of the business, in the meantime keeping operational expenses as low as possible. It particularly means the ability to plan both inbound and outbound operations simultaneously and establish the best consolidation or cross-docking model that creates optimized short-haul and long-haul loads.
A simple LTL model with pick-ups and deliveries can look like the one in Figure 1 below.

Figure 1 Less Platform’s multi-stop pickup and delivery sample loads
The route planning system in Transportation Management Software should be able to first plan multi-stop pickups for each day during the week and then consolidated deliveries.
We have presented problems of planning LTL operations in two graphs below:

Figure 2
As you can see, the system should assure high accuracy of both pickups and deliveries, trying to increase the number of orders in the mealtime keeping high equipment utilization and low driven mileage.
Transportation Management Software (TMS) for LTL carriers available on the market
We have implemented quick research to understand how the top firms on the market address these problems of LTL trucking and Transportation Management Software for LTL carriers are available. We have particularly looked at their websites. Some of the top solution providers and their offers are listed below:
Trimble transportation management
Shipment Planning and Execution
Optimize load matching success and customer satisfaction by analyzing load and equipment information such as driver hours (HOS), miles, costs, and availability for both the current load and future scenarios to plan and dispatch loads accurately and easily. Streamline day-to-day load matching so your team can focus on the more complex needs of today’s planning processes. Increase efficiency with load-power optimization planning tools for OTR and multistop scenarios.
Oracle transportation management
Operational Planning
A state-of-the-art optimization engine that automatically finds the best solutions for your logistics needs, while adhering to your business requirements and trading partner capabilities.
Create a more efficient and higher velocity logistics network
Plan and execute domestic and international shipments—in one system
Lower rates and manage equipment more efficiently
Optimize the cubic capacity of containers, consolidate orders, and streamline location flow and calendars
Omnitracs
Reduce Costs and Simplify Operational Processes
Managing any for-hire fleet is a constant battle between doing what’s best for the customer and what’s right for the business. For less-than-truckload (LTL) fleets, however, this balancing act is even more challenging due to the complex nature of the business. Juggling multiple customers, locations, delivery and pickup times, drivers, and vehicles while controlling costs can be an impossible task without the right tools in place. Thankfully, there are solutions built to simplify operations for LTL fleets while delivering improved efficiency and customer value.
SAP transportation management
Order management
Minimize freight costs and enhance customer service. Improve the efficiency of order and process management and generate optimized, rules-based routing proposals dynamically.
MercuryGate
Plan for And Deliver Better Load Building Outcomes
Increase space utilization while cutting freight and fuel costs. Leverage control tower visibility to take the guesswork out of load planning by easily generating precise calculations before shipping. Streamline loading and unloading and minimize labor errors with step-by-step planning.
MercuryGate’s load planning and load building takes into account all facets including weight, dimensions, densities, stackability constraints, and compatibility constraints. This empowers your whole team to significantly reduce the number of freight runs needed, as well as the emission your transportation produces.
JDA transportation management
Transportation
Supply chains are only going to get more complex, yet you are expected to consistently deliver while managing costs. With transportation, you can leverage every available asset, drive profitability, and sharpen your competitive edge. Our solutions enable you to transform your transportation operations by managing both inbound and outbound, integrating supplier and carrier collaboration tools and tackling whatever challenges tomorrow brings.
Almost all of them have planning, dispatch, visibility, 3rd party carrier sourcing, and accounting capabilities for multi-modal business models. Some of them are on the market for decades. All of them have planning capabilities listed on their websites.
Conclusion
Transportation and logistics firms should have robust tools to increase operational efficiency without compromising client service and business goals. LTL planning optimization has limited offerings despite the variety of available TMS and fleet management software on the market. Robust planning toolbox, data interoperability, and visibility through all the business processes could help LTL firms substantially improve their efficiency, make planners and dispatchers' life easier, and equipment utilization better.
We understand that total macro instability, current low level of rates, decreased order numbers on certain lanes and for certain clients, and other factors may substantially affect the appetite of the management to improve the efficiency of operations. On the other hand, now is the time to start thinking more about efficiency and prepare for a better harvest when good times are back.
Less Platform can turn your data into loads within a couple of minutes and compare it with your historical results! You can also test all the necessary features for your logistic model and consult with our experts on your challenges.
Author
Vardan Markosyan is the CEO at Less Platform
MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business
PhD in Economics from the Institute of Economy of NAS RA
He spent decades of research and consultancy on business process optimization and system design