Route Optimization Software UK

Customers in the UK are increasingly demanding rapid deliveries in a hassle free manner and to meet these expectations, companies must do better route planning. The e-commerce market is estimated to touch £368.7 billion by 2025, which means the need for efficient routing to handle surge in delivery volumes will only increase.

Cost Savings and Fuel Efficiency

Businesses can choose the most fuel-efficient route and do better resource utilization for deliveries. Reduced fuel consumption and effective resource management helps lower operational costs. 

Time Efficiency and Reduced Delivery Times

By identifying the most optimal routes, businesses can streamline their operations, reduce delivery time, and ensure faster deliveries.

Improved Customer Satisfaction

The software helps in increasing customer satisfaction by accurately delivering packages on-time. With precise ETAs available, customers can feel in control of their shipments.

Integration with Emerging Technologies

The power of emerging technologies like artificial intelligence and the internet of things will enable such softwares to learn from past data and make better course corrections and be more dynamic.

Predictive Analytics for Route Optimization

Businesses shall be able identify potential roadblocks in last-mile delivery and take proactive measures to reduce delivery risks, ensuring packages always arrive on time.

Feeling overwhelmed by daily route planning? Tired of Excel spreadsheets and Google Maps limitations? It's time to explore a robust route planner that effortlessly manages multiple stops and routes.

In our review, we evaluated 10 different multiple route planner apps, considering user-friendliness, route quality, and ability to handle multiple routes. We also factored in user ratings on Capterra and pricing.

Our top picks for route planners:

1. FarEye: Great for Medium, Large, and Enterprise-sized delivery businesses.
2. Routific: Ideal for medium-sized local delivery businesses.
3. Circuit for Teams: Perfect for small businesses with simple routing needs.
4. Onfleet: Excellent for mid-market and enterprise needs.
5. OptimoRoute: Best suited for field sales and service businesses.
6. Route4Me: Offers maximum flexibility for various routing needs.

1. FarEye

Optimize your dispatch process with FarEye's Route Optimization software and reduce manual dispatch time by up to 30%. Efficiently plan routes and assign orders considering factors like vehicle capacity, traffic conditions, service areas and hours, driver preferences, and familiarity with the area. FarEye's geosmart technology transforms non-standard addresses into smart codes, helping drivers locate delivery points quicker. Utilize AI-driven Smart Suggestions to streamline administrative tasks and ensure drivers focus more on delivering and less on sorting or driving.

FarEye's delivery route optimization technology transforms the way you strategize and execute your deliveries. By creating the most efficient and cost-effective routes, we guarantee that your drivers consistently reach their destinations punctually. Our system strategically organizes stops, maximizing productivity while minimizing delays.

Maintain the integrity of your scheduled deliveries while integrating same-day orders into next-day deliveries using hybrid routing technology. Strategize your routes by considering a variety of constraints. Provide convenience, flexibility, and options to customers without compromising driver productivity and operational expenses.

Unleash the Power of Speed and Precision

We understand the need for speed in today's fast-paced world. FarEye's route optimization takes into account dynamic constraints, enabling swift decision-making. From geocoding (converting addresses into latitude and longitude) to considering vehicle capacities, traffic conditions, serviceable areas, and delivery/pickup time windows, our solution delivers unrivaled speed and precision.

2. Routific

Routific provides user-friendly and robust route optimization software designed primarily for small to medium-sized local delivery businesses. However, it's also utilized by sales teams and service providers such as landscapers or maintenance companies who benefit from its multi-stop route planning capabilities.

Key features of Routific include:

• Drag-and-drop functionality for reordering stops and editing routes.
• One-click dispatch for drivers.
• Automated customer notifications.
• Timeline view to track daily progress.

The platform optimizes routes for both efficiency (shortest distance) and driver satisfaction, addressing concerns such as driver retention by offering flexible break delivery route scheduling, stop reassignment between drivers, and real-time route updates.

Routific boasts in-house customer support operated by dedicated human staff.

Route quality: In testing, Routific's routes were found to be up to 15% shorter than those of competitors, with minimal overlap and criss-crossing between routes.

User ratings stand at an impressive 4.9 based on over 110 reviews.

Pricing starts at $49 per vehicle per month, with an option for GPS tracking and proof of delivery features at $59 per vehicle per month. Automated customer notifications via email or SMS are available for an additional $19 per vehicle per month. Per-stop pricing options are also offered.

3. Circuit for Teams

Circuit initially gained popularity as a standalone route planner app for individual drivers, garnering positive reviews in both the iOS and Android app stores. Recently, they've expanded their services with Circuit for Teams, targeting multi-stop route planning and dispatch for multiple vehicles.

Their browser-based application is notably user-friendly, making it suitable for small businesses where individuals often manage various responsibilities, including route planning, dispatch, and delivery management. However, during testing, we noted numerous tangled and messy routes. The inability to edit routes or view comprehensive distance and time metrics detracts from its appeal for route managers overseeing multiple routes and vehicles simultaneously.

Route quality: Circuit lacks visibility into daily route lengths, necessitating manual calculation of individual route lengths. In our assessments, routes were found to be 15% longer than those generated by Routific, and notably less organized. Additionally, route editing before dispatch is not supported.

User ratings stand at a commendable 4.8 based on over 90 reviews.

Pricing starts at $100 per month for three drivers, or $200 per month for five drivers, including customer notifications and proof of delivery options. Driver analytics are included in the $500 per month pro plan, which supports up to 10 drivers.

4. Onfleet

Onfleet positions itself as a comprehensive toolkit for last-mile delivery services. It offers a wide array of features expected in delivery management software, along with an automatic driver assignment feature that particularly suits on-demand courier businesses. Notably, it includes a live chat option within the driver app, which both dispatchers and drivers appreciate.

While route optimization was initially available as a paid add-on in 2016, it has now become a standard feature across all pricing tiers. However, the route planning functions are notably challenging to navigate. The interface presents only a collection of pins without actual route displays, lacking color coding to differentiate between routes. This, coupled with the absence of metrics, rendered it difficult for us to assess the quality of Onfleet's routes. The lack of a timeline view further complicates real-time progress monitoring for dispatchers.

Onfleet offers a more extensive feature set compared to Routific or Circuit, including barcode scanning. However, its steep learning curve and high cost position it more favorably for mid-market to enterprise-level companies.

Route quality: Regarding route quality, Onfleet does not provide data on route length or indicate actual routes, making evaluation impossible.

User ratings currently stand at 4.7 based on over 80 reviews.

Pricing starts at $500 per month for up to 2,000 delivery or pickup tasks. The $1,150 per month plan includes 2,500 tasks, API access, and barcode scanning capabilities.

6. OptimoRoute

OptimoRoute stands out as a robust delivery routing system offering extensive flexibility and control to tailor routes according to specific requirements. However, mastering its functionalities may require a learning curve.

The platform allows for setting up individual driver profiles, incorporating shift schedules with breaks and overtime, start/end locations, skills (applicable in the field service industry), vehicle types, preferred service areas, and even customizable cost and speed settings. Moreover, users can establish multiple capacity constraints such as weight and volume. Similar to Routific, OptimoRoute lacks barcode scanning or order-taking capabilities.

While our testing was limited due to OptimoRoute's free trial restriction of 250 stops, the route optimization process proved to be swift. However, we observed significant route overlap and encountered challenges in route editing.

In terms of route quality, we noted numerous instances of overlapping and criss-crossing routes.

User ratings currently stand at 4.6 based on over 150 reviews.

Pricing options begin at $35 per vehicle per month for a full year commitment, with a limit of 700 orders. Alternatively, users can opt for a $44 per month plan, which includes up to 1,000 orders, real-time tracking, and proof of delivery features. Custom pricing is available for more complex requirements

6. Route4Me

Route4Me stands as one of the original route planning and delivery optimization software options, offering a well-established marketplace of add-on features for customization according to user needs. For instance, users can enhance their experience with support for curbside pickup, avoidance of left or right turns, or allocation of stops to specific time windows.

We found some aspects of Route4Me to be peculiar. The platform automatically optimizes routes to use the fewest possible vehicles, and unfortunately, this setting cannot be adjusted. This setup can create awkward scenarios for businesses with their own fleet and drivers, potentially resulting in one driver sitting idle while another works overtime. Additionally, we observed that Route4Me's ETA estimations are often unrealistic. For instance, in one route section where both Routific and Google Maps estimated a travel time of 18-19 minutes, Route4Me estimated just 10 minutes. Such consistently underestimated journey times can lead to numerous late deliveries and ultimately result in a poor customer experience. As a result, we found ourselves needing to invest significant extra effort to ensure that routes were realistic and ready for dispatch.

In terms of route quality, Route4Me generally produces slightly shorter routes than Routific, albeit with a notable prevalence of overlapping routes resembling spaghetti.

User ratings currently stand at 4.5 based on over 380 reviews.

Pricing starts at $319 per month to include route optimization, with additional features such as customer notifications and delivery time windows available as add-ons, increasing the overall cost. For example, adding time windows incurs an extra $79 per month. Notably, there are no proof of delivery features included in the pricing structure.

Understanding the distinction between a route planner app and a route optimization app is crucial. Route planning involves the entire delivery process, from collecting orders and addresses to optimizing routes, inspecting and adjusting them, dispatching them to drivers, and communicating estimated arrival times to customers. On the other hand, route optimization focuses specifically on refining the route to identify the most efficient and cost-effective sequence of stops.

Route optimization tackles the challenge of creating efficient multi-stop routes, which can be highly complex. While experienced drivers may know the best routes within their cities for individual stops, devising the most efficient sequence becomes increasingly difficult as more stops are added. With 20 or more stops, there could be hundreds or even thousands of potential routes to consider. Route optimization algorithms have the capability to evaluate billions of possibilities to determine the most efficient routes. This process requires significant computing power, which is why route optimization has only become accessible to small and medium-sized businesses in recent years.