Paragon Software Systems, Inc., a leader in vehicle routing and scheduling optimization solutions, sees many benefits in automating the driver debrief process. It is important to monitor driver and vehicle in-route performance to ensure good planning has been carried out as intended and to help create more realistic plans for the future. Driver debrief best practices ensure drivers meet customer service requirements, while reducing fuel usage when optimized plans are followed.
“If a driver sticks to the journey plan, fleet operators should know what route they are going to be on and where and when they are likely to be making deliveries,” said William Salter, CEO, Paragon Software Systems. “Under normal circumstances, drivers have no reason to deviate from the plan. If drivers do deviate from their agreed route, this can jeopardize your planning efforts and cost fleet owners more money.”
To facilitate driver debriefing, Paragon software users utilize the Paragon Route Execution module, which is linked to information from a tracking solutions partner. Using Route Execution, it is possible to compare, amongst many other KPIs (Key Performance Indicators), the plan vs. actual distance travelled and report this in the Paragon Workbench. In Route Execution, the information is displayed in tables. The columns in the table can be sorted and the trips filtered to alert the user to specific driver shifts that need to be examined in more detail.
Using information from Route Execution and from the driver, fleet managers can compare the planned vs. actual trip, discover areas of congestion, review issues with customers, assess problems with loading and unloading deliveries, etc. When investigating the reason for a discrepancy in trip distance it is invaluable for the user to be able to plot on a roadmap, not only the tracking points that indicate where the driver actually went, but also the planned roads that Paragon would have used during the planning process. The planned journey is calculated by using the configuration of road speeds, road map edits, regional reduction areas and truck restrictions, such as height, width, length and weight constraints. The roadmap can also be modified in Paragon to allow for local restrictions that may constrain drivers, which is often the case with residential areas.
It is common for users to create a specific workspace that is configured to show particular map and table details for use in the debrief process. Often a cost effective “additional workbench” is used to provide this valuable information to users in the transportation department. The results of such analysis may highlight changes being required to the Paragon set-up. For example, a specific stretch of road could be excluded from use. These alterations can be made quickly. The subsequent plans will then improve in terms of their accuracy.
“Taking time to find what went right and what went wrong during a driver’s journey is time well spent. The feedback you receive can help improve efficiency and reliability in the future,” adds William Salter.
