How can I reduce delivery costs? A dispatcher’s checklist

Measure before you change anything

Take two weeks of cost per stop with your current method, and keep the same season and a similar mix of stops for the “after”. Next to it, track the numbers that explain the cost.

• Cost per stop: the answer on cost per delivery stop has the formula and a hypothetical example
• Stops per hour, share of stops delivered inside their window, share of stops that failed, and miles per stop
• In Afi Planner, analytics show on-time, stops per hour and miles against the previous period, and a Cost per stop card prices your routes at your own hourly and per-mile rates; all of it exports to Excel

Planning: miles and drive time

Plan every driver in one run, not route by route, so the split of stops between drivers is decided together. A plan that ignores your rules looks cheap on paper and costs you in redeliveries and overtime.

• Put the real rules in; the answer on planning routes for multiple drivers lists them
• Pick the planning goal that matches your costs: “Shortest distance” when miles cost most, “Fastest finish” when paid hours do, and “Use as few drivers as possible” when a van-day is your biggest fixed cost
• Read the reason for every stop left off the routes, for example “A driver can’t reach it within its time window (7:00 AM–7:10 AM) after starting work at 7:00 AM”: one changed window or one extra shift often places it
• Turn on “Prefer drivers who know the area” if familiar routes are faster for you; it looks back 60 days of a driver’s deliveries
• Check each route’s time split between driving, stops, break and waiting: long waiting is a window problem, not a miles problem

Failed deliveries and customer notifications

A failed stop is a cost you pay twice. These are the levers a dispatcher can reach, in order; none comes with a promised figure.

• Check addresses at import: vague ones are flagged, for example “Only the street was found, not the house number”
• Give customers the tracking page: status, live ETA, the driver’s position only while heading to them, and a way to leave instructions or, if you turn it on, pick another day. The aim is fewer “where is my driver” calls and fewer visits when nobody is home
• Capture proof at the stop (photo, signature, recipient name or barcode scan), so a dispute does not turn into a second trip
• Work the Needs attention list (failed, late, not started, silent GPS, missing proof) the same day, and read why orders failed in analytics

Mid-day changes and overtime

Late orders and a driver who runs behind are where a good morning plan leaks hours. Absorb them without rewriting the part of the day already driven.

• Add late orders with Fewest changes: each goes into the route where it adds the least work and the other stops keep their order
• Drivers keep their route until you click Send updates, and re-planning keeps finished stops on the route of the driver who did them
• Watch hours: shifts with breaks in the schedule, overtime and per-stop pay in driver pay, planned versus measured hours in analytics

The weekly review, and where Afi Planner fits

Once a week, on the same day, compare cost per stop, stops per hour, in-window share, failed share and miles per stop with the previous period. Change one lever at a time, note the date, and keep it only if the measure moved over a few weeks on a similar mix of stops. Afi Planner is route planning and delivery management software for local delivery teams, made by Afi Labs. It covers the planning, notification, driver and measuring levers above in one place; it does not cut costs by itself. It is free for three months with no credit card, so you can measure your own before and after.