Business Fleet, January/February 2018

TOOLBOX WWW BUSINESSFLEET COM BUSINESS FLEET January February 2018 24 A s a single mom of three kids it was difficult for Sharyn Vross to find time to pick up her weekly package of organic produce She decided to start her own produce company that would deliver a weekly package to each customers doorstep In 2015 I started White Picket Produce with eight boxes and just me doing the deliveries says Vross owner of the Sarasota Fla based company Two years later the company now has 140 to 150 deliveries per week and five to six drivers Because the deliveries consist of fresh produce they need to get to the persons house quickly after they leave the warehouse We dont have refrigerated vehicles says Vross I would rather have more drivers and get the produce delivered quicker than having one driver delivering all day Two full time drivers complete the majority of the deliveries in the companys two ProMaster City fleet vans Delivering twice a week the two drivers put approximately 75 miles per week on each fleet van Vross then hires other drivers who use their own vehicles to deliver to the outlying areas more than an hour away So far the ProMaster City vans have been a good fit for the company Vross was initially drawn to them because they were in her price range and had the appropriate cargo capacity for her type of deliveries Additionally they are easy to drive and can maneuver in and out of neighborhood streets easily according to Vross ADVANTAGES OF ROUTING SOFTWARE With several drivers each having their own route it can be time consuming to route each driver manually Vross uses Kiva Logic a software program designed around home deliveries to manage the boxes in her business The software includes a routing app but using it is a manual process and the app doesnt suggest a route Vross tried a few routing systems including RouteSavvy She became a beta tester and used the software for a few months RouteSavvy has worked so well for my business she says For Vross it has also been easy to integrate RouteSavvy with the Kiva Logic software Designed for small to mid sized fleets of up to 100 vehicles RouteSavvy offers route planning software that doesnt involve a lot of tech time or maintenance When inputting multiple addresses RouteSavvy organizes locations and creates more efficient routes for deliveries pick ups or sales calls according to the company It then provides directions and exports the optimized route to mobile devices for each driver Route planning software thats specifically designed for small to mid sized fleets has been proven to consistently generate savings on fuel costs overtime labor costs and office staff time says Steve Milroy president of OnTerra Systems the makers of RouteSavvy Vross draws territory lines for each driver so any new stops assigned within that territory are automatically assigned to that driver and the route is optimized RouteSavvy has saved our routing coordinator time from having to manually put in each drivers route says Vross And the price is affordable starting at 25 per month especially for a small business BF HERES ONE WAY TO DELIVER FRESH PRODUCE WITHOUT REFRIGERATION WITH MULTIPLE DELIVERIES PER DAY THIS SMALL PRODUCE DELIVERY SERVICE USES ROUTING SOFTWARE TO CREATE OPTIMIZED ROUTES FOR ITS DRIVERS WITHOUT BREAKING THE BANK BY AMY HERCHER A 5 STEP PROCESS RouteSavvy optimizes routes with a 5 step process 1 Upload or input the stops 2 Organize routes 3 Optimize routes 4 Get directions 5 Print or export the optimized route for use by drivers RouteSavvy also integrates with mobile devices for driver guidance and turn by turn navigation The program costs 25 per month for up to three users and has been proven to generate thousands of dollars of savings per year By reducing the miles driven RouteSavvy is designed to save fuel costs time and overtime labor as well as improve customer satisfaction For more information visit www RouteSavvy com Sharyn Vross founder of White Picket produce makes deliveries in two ProMaster City vans Vross says she likes the ProMasters maneuverability and cargo capacity Photo courtesy of Sharyn Vross