Modern Delivery Issues Faced by Couriers & How to Deal with Them

keyKey Takeaways:
  • Late deliveries and damaged packages are major delivery issues that can spoil customer relationships and damage a company’s reputation.
  • Delivery businesses need to keep customers in the loop by providing tracking information to their clients.
  • The delivery team carrying packages with care can prevent accidental damage and ensure timely deliveries

Over 69% of the clients don’t want to shop with a retailer if the delivery is not made within two working days.

Businesses have lost over $1.2 billion in revenue opportunities because of delivery issues that cause delivery failures and delays.

With the rising demand, the complexity of delivery operations is rising. Delivery operations face modern delivery issues that need to be tackled with finesse.

So, what are these issues?

And how can you overcome them?

Let’s find out.

10 Delivery Problems Every Delivery Business Faces

Delivery businesses can face multiple issues, but we have filtered the top 10 issues that you must tackle and bypass.

1. Lack of visibility

The unclear supply chain ecosystem can be the core cause for multiple delivery issues that can hinder customer satisfaction and result in unhappy customers.

Clear visibility of the package delivery can ensure timely and safe shipment processing and minimize the inefficiencies that can cause damage, delays, or losing shipments.

Getting real-time visibility can help you share the details with your customers, which helps them deliver a quality customer experience and increase customer loyalty.

Solution

Lack of visibility can be removed using professional delivery management software to help you gain a competitive edge and provide real-time location updates for delivery drivers and packages.

Creating a robust delivery ecosystem using item-level scanning, shipping label creating, digital waybills, etc., can also streamline the problem and minimize shipping delays.

2. Motor vehicle problems

Vehicle issues are bound to happen during the delivery operations if proper care and regular checks are not made. It can delay the shipment processing and hinder the smooth workflow.

Sometimes vehicle delays may happen when the delivery drivers have no access to the repair solutions; it can deliver late deliveries and shrink your competitive advantage.

Solution

You should ensure that your delivery drivers regularly check the vehicle parts and get the repair work done to avoid hassles. Also, you should integrate a powerful vehicle tracking system that can help you assist your delivery driver during emergency times.

Ensure your delivery drivers are trained to handle vehicle breakdown situations to process timely delivery.

3. Losing packages

Losing a package during transit can be the most frustrating experience for your customers. Misplacement, accidental shipping label removal, or merely a damaged label can cause the loss of a package during transit.

Also, not having a professional proof of delivery system can raise issues from different clients about not receiving their packages. Sometimes, delivery drivers can also ship to the wrong address due to countless inefficiencies in the management and logistics.

These troubles can cause additional workload for your delivery operations and hinder the smooth processing of your supplies.

Solution

You can ensure that powerful product tracking, proof of delivery, and shipping label scanning features can be integrated into your business operations.

Also, cross-check different shipping details before the delivery driver provides efficient routes.

4. Traffic congestion

With the rise in vehicles across different cities, traffic congestion has become a major issue for delayed deliveries. Different shipping companies are facing losses worth millions because of traffic congestion.

Also, Ineffective communication with the customers restricts shipping carriers from updating the late delivery process because of traffic congestion.

Solution

Use a powerful route planning software that can deliver the most efficient routes and minimize the delivery time. If a delay happens, quickly update the customers about the delivery times to minimize the negative impact of delayed deliveries.

5. Harsh weather conditions

Unpleasant weather can be troublesome for your delivery drivers to ensure on-time deliveries. Heavy snow, rain, and foggy windows can hinder delivery operations and increase the delivery delay.

Ensure delivery drivers can choose a different route to help them bypass the harsh weather conditions and avoid delays.

Solution

Use a route planner that can analyze the real-time weather conditions and deliver the desired optimized delivery routes for your products. 

Train your team to handle the unavoidable weather conditions if the deliveries are urgent to operate with maximum efficiency and effectiveness.

6. Managing bulk load

During the peak and festive season, the demand for item delivery can increase. Without a professional delivery management ecosystem or adapting to a modern approach with the latest technology to process deliveries, it can be difficult for your business to manage the rising demand.

The bulk load can lead to incorrect address delivery, customers waiting longer, and mismanagement of required documents, among other delay-causing issues.

Solution

A shipping carrier should ensure that the delivery process is streamlined and well-equipped to handle the rising business demand. Minimizing the complexity of bulk order processing and improving your delivery company productivity and help you bypass the modern delivery issues.

7. Failed delivery attempt

Sometimes, the delivery driver cannot locate the delivery location, or the customer is unavailable at the site, which can cause a failed delivery attempt.

The issues must be tackled effectively and professionally. You should provide your delivery driver a digital ecosystem to click a picture or add some proof for the failed delivery that can avoid a poor customer experience.

Solution

Integrate a quality software that can handle the data capturing and storing to help you provide proof of delivery failures for different reasons. You should also provide real-time notifications that can alert the customers and help them to take specific action to avoid delivery failure situations.

8. Custom clearance 

During the international product delivery, your delivery company must ensure the proper documentation is present to avoid issues and delays.

The governing authorities can inspect the cargo and require the proper documentation to avoid escalating the situation and further complications.

Solution

You can cross-check the proper documentation before processing the delivery packages for custom inspection. Ensure that your team has created all the required documents to avoid future issues and troubles.

9. No communication link

Due to traditional delivery operations and ecosystem, you might face delivery issues and delays because of the ineffective communication between the on-ground and management teams.

Improve the communication between your teams that can help to minimize the errors and help the on-ground workforce to bypass the dynamic issues that may arise during the delivery operations.

Solution

Use quality in-house software to streamline your communication and minimize delivery failures and delays. Boost the efficiency and increase the productivity of your business and establish a stronghold in the industry.

10. Manual planning of delivery routes 

Relying on traditional and many delivery processing and route planning can cause havoc in the modern-day delivery business requirements and customers’ demands.

Manual route planning can result in inefficiencies and human errors, hindering smooth delivery operations. Replacing manual route planning with automated, efficient delivery route planning can transform your business operations and help you handle the modern delivery issues with finesse.

Solution

Choosing a professional delivery route planning and optimization software like Upper Route Planner can help increase your business efficiency and make you stand out.

Analyzing these modern delivery issues and implementing the required solutions can strengthen delivery operations and help you manage the changing industry and consumer behavior.

Most of your delivery issues can be resolved once you integrate a professional route planning software like Upper Route Planner in your business operations.

Upper Route Planner Can Resolve Your Modern Challenges

Upper Route Planner is a leading route planning and optimization software that can help you bypass modern delivery issues like lack of visibility, clarity, traffic congestion, ineffective communication, etc.

You can create multiple routes within a few clicks and strengthen your delivery business ecosystem. The software interface is smooth, making it easier for your team to adapt to the new integration.

The software algorithm analyzes real-time traffic and weather updates and delivers optimized and shortest delivery routes to increase business productivity.

Avail the 7-day trial period, boost your delivery operations efficiency, and bypass the delivery issues.

Bid Adieu to Your Long-term Delivery Woes

Upper is the all-in-one solution for your unexpected delivery issues. Be it delivery or pickup, Upper makes sure you don’t fall prey to such recurring problems.

FAQs

Delivery delays can happen due to multiple reasons. But the biggest cause for delivery delays is the rigid delivery ecosystem of the delivery businesses. Most delivery businesses depend on manual and traditional operations, which cause inefficiencies and human errors. It can lead to delayed or failed delivery results that can hinder the quality of customer experience and minimize the business effectiveness.

Integrating professional and systematic modern tools and technologies can deal with delivery issues. You can rely on a powerful delivery route planner to help you increase efficiency and streamline your delivery operations. You can bypass different modern delivery issues and scale your delivery business to new heights.

Summing Up

Delivering quality delivery results in the industry can help you stand out and improve your brand image with finesse. Understand the major issues and take the desired action to bypass these problems to enhance your delivery results.

Using a professional route planner like Upper Route Planner can minimize your effort in tackling different delivery issues and help you increase your business productivity.

The route planner can also assist you with multiple-stops routing and your employees strengthening their work input.

Try out the 7-day trial period now and handle the modern delivery issues with finesse.

Author Bio
Rakesh Patel
Rakesh Patel

Rakesh Patel, author of two defining books on reverse geotagging, is a trusted authority in routing and logistics. His innovative solutions at Upper Route Planner have simplified logistics for businesses across the board. A thought leader in the field, Rakesh's insights are shaping the future of modern-day logistics, making him your go-to expert for all things route optimization. Read more.

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