Getting your deliveries done with style and speed is much easier when you have an awesome route planner. It cuts down on driving time, saves money on fuel, and reduces time spent in traffic. Using a route optimization app will assure that your deliveries arrive on time, in the most efficient fashion saving your business unnecessary stress and expenses. So today we will be giving you a breakdown of how the popular routing app app Routific compares to Straightaway in terms of standard features, pricing, and bonus features.
Sending a driver off with a long list of delivery addresses, and just Google Maps to figure out the best route is a thing of the past. With access to route optimization, just about anyone can run their own courier service. If you’re a business that provides personalized deliveries, consultations, or services straight to your customers' homes, you simply need a route optimization app to help you. But if you’ve dipped your toe into the world of courier services, you’ll see that there’s a lot of these apps to choose from. What’s best for you? Straightaway or Routific?
Straightaway Route Planner
While new to the route planning game, Straightaway is the one to be beat. This route optimization software has worked its way up to being the #1 route planning app for FedEx, USPS, on Trac, Amazon, DHL, and USPS alike. Straightaway has integrated their highly-intelligent optimization algorithm into a simple, streamlined app that even the most directionally challenged drivers can use with ease. Here’s a rundown of the features that sets Straightaway apart from the competition:
Standout Features
At a glance, Straightaway offers a nuanced selection of features that’ll make your delivery journey much less stressful:
• Instantly Capture Stops: To add delivery stops into the Straightaway, all you have to do is snap a picture of them. Right away, the app recognizes the addresses and generates the most efficient route for you.
• Optimizing Fastest Route: The Straightaway algorithm can schedule up to 250 stops in the speediest order possible. The app prioritizes saving the driver time, with users reporting an average of 1 hour spared per shift in comparison to fellow route delivery apps.
• Live Traffic Updates: Straightaway factors in real-time events such as traffic congestion, road closures, and more to actively reroute you and keep you away from slow-moving traffic.
• Turn-by-Turn Navigation: Built-in navigation provides Straightaway users with detailed directions to every delivery spot, making it unnecessary to switch back and forth between the app and third party GPS systems.
Straightaway Pricing
Straightaway offers a Free and Pro version of the app. Here’s what distinguishes the two options:
Pro version: $7.99 per month annual subscription, or $9.99 monthly
• Optimizes up to 250 delivery stops per route
• Endless route options
• Unlimited access to the app’s built-in navigation system
• Upload unlimited amounts of addresses via camera
Free Version:
• All the features of the Pro Version
• A Limit of 25 stops per route
If you’re not convinced that Straightaway is an outstanding optimization app, here are a some additional perks to win you over:
• Pattern Recognition: Straightaway takes into account traffic patterns, road conditions, distance between stops, weather, and over 100 other data sources when determining your best route. They also adjust your routes in real time. So if traffic patterns change throughout the day, the app will automatically re-optimize and give you the option to reorder stops on-the-fly.
• Diversity: Straightaways services are for virtually anybody--retail businesses, food deliverers, cable companies, real estate agents, home healthcare providers, traveling sales reps, and more. Professionals from a multitude of industries use Straightaway to plan multi-stop customer visits, deliveries, or consultations.
• Simplicity: Straightaway has packed all these amazing features into a gorgeous, simple to use interface that doesn’t overwhelm you with unnecessary setting options and features.
Routific Route Planner
Routific is a route optimization software and app provider that’s been around for over a decade. The company boasts its ability to maximize fleet capacity by increasing stops-per-route and lowering cost-per-delivery up to 40%. Here are the distinguishing features that Routific offers:
Standout Features
• Basic Route Optimization: Routific generates an optimized route for it’s users in minutes. Their specific algorithm is centered around increasing stops per routes for each driver. This means businesses can hire less drivers at the potential expense of longer shifts for their existing drivers.
• Automated Customer Communications: This convenient feature allows drivers to send text alerts to customers when a delivery is on it’s way and once it’s been completed. Additionally, when a driver is running late customers are automatically notified.
• Importing Addresses: Routific provided four ways to uploader customer addresses: import them via spreadsheet, save previous customer profiles onto the app, integrate customers from shopify, or manually add them.
Routific Pricing
Though they offer a seven-day trial, Routific doesn’t have a free version of their app. Instead they offer the following versions:
Essential: $39 per month
• Route Optimization generated in minutes
• Ability to dispatch routes to individual drivers
• Four options for address importing
Professional: $59 per month
• All Essential Version features
• Driver Progress Tracking
• Proof of Delivery with photo and signature capturing
• Customer notification features (must pay additional $19 monthly)
It’s evident that Routific centers it’s app around cool features that make it easy for their users to keep their customers in the know and stay organized while carrying out deliveries. Routific also offers these additional benefits:
Bonus Features
• Driver Tracking: Routific allows companies to keep track of their drivers with a live GPS tracker. They can also dispatch routes to their drivers’ app via text message.
• Proof of Delivery: Drivers can provide proof of delivery by uploading pictures of dropped off packages. This allows them to provide completely contactless delivery, which is essential during COVID times.
• Delivery Analytics: Routific provides businesses with end-of-day reports, allowing them to measure their success by comparing driver delivery rates.
And the Winner Is…
While the Routific app certainly offers lots of bells and whistles, Straightaway reigns triumphant when it comes to route optimization. Straightaway’s ability to provide an optimized route instantly, rather than in a few minutes like Routific, makes it one of the quickest apps on the market. Straightaway also factors in over 100 variables when planning the most efficient route.
If you’re looking for a moderate to high priced navigation app that lets you easily integrate contacts, keep a close watch on your drivers, and uphold customer service values while maintaining social distance, Routific might be the app for you. But if you are a business owner looking for advanced, efficient, money-saving route optimization services, look no further than Straightaway for all your courier needs.
