With both on-demand and same-day delivery services on the rise, courier management software is increasingly important in distributing packages across local areas. A recent study by delivery experience company Circuit revealed that nearly 20% of Amazon customers now expect same-day delivery, and more than 75% expect their goods to arrive within three days or less. While e-commerce companies, including Amazon, once touted drones as a solution for the challenges associated with last-mile deliveries, these have yet to move past beta tests in suburban areas and are likely still years away from being practical solutions.
International consulting giant Accenture now predicts that artificial intelligence (AI) will increase logistics and transportation efficiencies 40% by 2035, but some companies are getting a head start by moving their logistics operations in-house. In fact, AI-enabled courier management software already allows customers and businesses to schedule same-day deliveries and assign them to couriers.
According to Anar Mammadov, owner and CEO of California-based Senpex Technology, semi-autonomous software can now handle operations, route planning and optimization, manage vehicles and fuels, and even handle approvals for courier expenses. “Even as supply chain issues and labor shortages have challenged traditional logistics operators, innovative cloud-based solutions are making same-day delivery far more possible,” Mammadov says. “AI-driven software is already helping our customers manage all of the processes that are involved in running a profitable package delivery service, from managing vehicle fleets to uploading customer appointments.”
AI, Mammadov adds, helps to manage the challenges faced by businesses on a daily basis, such as late and untraceable deliveries, manual sorting, lost packages, poor communication, and inefficient route planning — all of which can lead to unsatisfied customers and increasingly expensive returns.
Dispatch efficiently
Courier software is, ideally, an end-to-end solution that should kick in the moment a customer places an order online. It can then automatically sort orders by category type, volume, and other parameters. Senpex’s software, for example, is equipped with a centralized dashboard to control and monitor every step throughout the entire delivery management process. But, as software experts know, AI is more about empowerment than control.
Empower drivers
Human capital has never been so expensive or scarce as it is today. As a result, the ability to empower, motivate, and retain drivers is key for logistics companies. Senpex’s software allows drivers to onboard immediately by downloading a user-friendly mobile app. The app then manages courier profiles in one virtual courier management hub, which can, for example, assign delivery orders to preferred couriers in real-time.
“Real-time updates are sent to drivers in less than one minute,” Mammadov says, “vastly increasing the efficiency and speed of the package delivery while keeping drivers engaged.”
As Mammadov explains, Senpex also employs AI-driven multi-stop route delivery optimization, which automatically generates the best route for delivery drivers to take to get a package from the client’s hub to its destination within a set time frame. The result is more deliveries, better pay, and less frustration overall.
Manage effortlessly
Senpex created an advanced tool for real-time tracking of multiple orders on the client’s side. The progression of all deliveries can be tracked without having to wait for one delivery to be completed before beginning work on the next. Clients can also analyze each driver’s history and measure their performance in order to help drive future performance improvements and retain good drivers.
Meanwhile, an embedded electronic proof of delivery (ePOD) module streamlines and automates the final delivery receipt documentation, verifying that the package has been delivered successfully to the end customer. Relevant data, such as an included — if necessary — provides proof of delivery without generating paper documents or requiring signatures.
Consolidate
Senpex recently began offering its courier management software outside of California. While most of us associate logistics with e-commerce, its clients include everything from car dealerships and fishing boats to pet food suppliers.
These clients all have a desire to manage their last-mile logistics in-house rather than risk a third-party delaying or even losing their shipments — and possibly their customers. According to Mammadov, demand for AI-enabled software will only continue to grow, even if drones eventually take off.
“We have been able to combine an easy-to-use application programming interface, collection service, and multi-route planner under one mobile platform,” he says. “No matter how goods are delivered in the future, our software will get them there quickly and reliably.”
