Mastering the Dispatching Puzzle, Part 1: Route Optimization

Faith Kubicki

In the equipment rental industry, keeping up with the never-ending cycle of pickups and deliveries can be a full-time job.

The problem? It’s almost always just one of many tasks on a busy operations team’s plate.

To keep things moving as best as they can, many rental companies resort to ad-hoc dispatching. “5 Star Contractors needs an 80-foot boom lift by noon. Jim’s currently here - send him out to get it there.”

That may get the equipment to the customer at the promised time, but it ignores the other contracts you need to fulfill by the end of the day (or worse, the ones that are already overdue). Maybe there’s a generator that could be dropped off at another jobsite just a few miles away – or maybe there’s a forklift that’s been pending pickup just a few minutes down the road on the return trip.

If you’re not optimizing your delivery and pickups routes, you’re wasting time and fuel – not to mention putting unnecessary wear and tear on your trucks. But, on the flip side…who has time to plot out each day’s stops on a map and group them by driver?

That’s where Connected Transport comes into play.

Using Dispatch Scheduling Software to Optimize Your Pickup and Delivery Routes

InTempo CTX uses AI to evaluate all the pickups and deliveries in your queue, then automatically breaks them down into the most efficient routes. (Because it’s fully integrated with your contracts and reservations, you don’t have to manually enter each address or equipment number; it automatically schedules your routes based on real-time data from your ERP.) In many cases, it can process a list of 50+ stops in under a minute.

Drivers are given strategically organized plans for where to stop – both on the way out and on the way back in. You’re not running all over your service area without a plan or coming back to the rental yard with an empty truck.

The routing and dispatch system automatically accounts for the time and distance to each customer’s site, as well as the number of hours each driver has already worked for the day. It then proposes an optimized route.

Of course, AI can’t always account for the important personal knowledge your employees have accumulated over time. For instance, you may have a few VIP customers who should always be at the top of your priority list. Once your dispatching solution has proposed a base route, your dispatchers can make manual adjustments in an easy-to-use drag-and-drop interface.

Once they’ve approved and finalized the route, your drivers get their assignments in a connected app. They get turn-by-turn directions for each trip, while your customers get real-time notifications of their driver’s ETA.

If the driver runs into traffic (or any other unexpected delay), your rental dispatch software keeps everyone up to date. Meanwhile, if any stops can’t be added to the day’s plan – for instance, if a driver called out sick at the last minute and you don’t enough haulers to take over every single one of their planned deliveries – the remaining stops are added to an “unassigned” queue for your dispatchers to handle as one-off exceptions.

Accommodating Last-Minute Changes on the Fly

Of course, we all know that most actual dispatching plans look different in execution than they did at 8 AM (or more likely, at 5 PM the previous night.) Day-of dispatching changes don’t have to derail your entire plan. InTempo CTX lets you add new stops, sub out equipment, re-assign vehicles and drivers, and update addresses or delivery instructions as the day plays out. The system automatically looks for the least disruptive way to execute each change request, reducing the impact on your day-to-day operations.

Pre-Loading Your Next Day’s Stops

If a driver gets back to the rental yard with time left in their workday, InTempo CTX lets you get a head start on the next day’s stops. You can assign out the next set of stops so they can start pre-loading their truck; the next morning, they can get right out on the road once they arrive.

Comparing Planned Routes to Actual Routes

In an ideal world, drivers would stick to the exact plan, 100% of the time.

Unfortunately, that’s rarely how rental equipment dispatching plays out.

Many deviations are well-intentioned – for instance, to try to avoid traffic. Others are minor (yet problematic) detours that tank your on-time delivery rates – or worse, your customers’ perception of your reliability. InTempo’s rental dispatching software lets you compare your actual routes to your planned routes so you can address repeat deviations before they negatively impact your business.

Collectively, automated dispatching solutions let you turn route planning from a chaotic game of putting out one fire at a time into a streamlined, cost-efficient cycle. You get to spend less time on manual administration and more time focusing on what really matters: keeping your business moving forward.

See InTempo’s Rental Equipment Dispatching System in Action

Ready to discover a faster, more efficient approach to dispatching and route optimization? Check out this recorded demo or request a one-on-one walkthrough of InTempo CTX.