Modern technology is changing the way that many industries are operating their businesses. This is especially true for international and domestic courier services, where the latest technology driven operational changes have transformed the customer service experience. Here are some examples of how this has been done.
Planning delivery routes
New route planning software, now studies details of all of the deliveries that a driver has to take out with them in the morning from a depot. This information is then used to plot the most optimal driving route for voice recording services. They also import road works and traffic conditions to work out when each parcel is likely to me delivered. A sat nave route planner is then loaded to each vehicle and tells the delivery driver exactly where to go after each drop. The result is the driver minimises the petrol used and their time per delivery. This enables the courier companies to drive down their operational costs.
Customer Expectations
As the courier services now know a rough time when each parcel is due to be delivered, they have a fantastic opportunity to raise rates of clients being in to accept their deliveries. They do this be texting and or emailing the receiver with the information that a parcel has been loaded onto a vehicle for collection and that it will be out for delivery today. They can also specify a one hour window when the delivery is expected to be made. This enables the receiver to manage their time to ensure that they are in for the delivery. If they are not going to be in it also gives them the ability to advise the carrier so that the driver and avoid wasted time and reschedule the delivery for when they are going to be in.
International customs clearance processes
In recent years this has been revolutionised to such an extent that for many international parcel deliveries to destinations outside of the European Union, the customs documentation is submitted whist a consignment is in transit before it arrives at the destination. For many items they can be automatically cleared and not selected for inspection. Meaning that the transit time for the shipment has been reduced. This is especially important for fast international parcel delivery to countries outside of the European Union.
Online tracking updates
The days when couriers could collect a parcel with only a hand written address on them are rapidly ending. Now most courier services require clients to print of an air waybill from their online despatch system. This will validate a female voice over artist delivery address, and provided a printed label that can easily be read with a bar code on. The bar code used acts as a unique identifier for the shipment and is scanned every time a parcel is moved by the courier. So if you use a courier service to send a parcel to Holland you can monitor its transit at every step of its journey giving greater peace of mind.
These are some of the ways that modern domestic and overseas courier services are adopting new technology to improve their services and lower their costs.