Transport and delivery: Scheduling software for courier services
Scheduling software for courier services that brings collection windows, delivery instructions and driver capacity together, so a trip is only promised when it actually fits.
What makes scheduling hard for courier services.
A courier service does not plan on empty hours but on time windows. A customer wants a collection between nine and twelve, a recipient is only home in the afternoon and a pallet does not fit every van. As long as those agreements live in emails, loose lists and the planner's head, trips get promised that turn out to be impossible on the road. Drivers call back for missing delivery instructions, waiting time goes unrecorded and a failed delivery disappears from view until the customer asks about it. Scheduling therefore has to weigh time windows, vehicle capacity and instructions per address at once, and show which trips are still provisional.
Scheduling software for courier services
Example- 1
Capture orders with their window
DoneEvery order arrives with a collection and delivery window, parcel sizes, weight and details such as a loading dock or a named contact.
- 2
Build trips around capacity
In progressThe planner sees the load space of each van, the driver's working hours and the windows already fixed.
- 3
Feed exceptions back into planning
NextA failed delivery, extra waiting time or a refused parcel is reported by the driver from the route with a short reason and a photo.
From job to confirmed appointment.
Capture orders with their window
Every order arrives with a collection and delivery window, parcel sizes, weight and details such as a loading dock or a named contact. If something that determines the trip is missing, the order stays provisional and the planner sees which question is still open. Nothing is promised on the basis of half an address.
Build trips around capacity
The planner sees the load space of each van, the driver's working hours and the windows already fixed. A new order is only suggested for a trip where the window is achievable and the load fits. When a window changes, the system shows which other stops in the same trip move as a result.
Feed exceptions back into planning
A failed delivery, extra waiting time or a refused parcel is reported by the driver from the route with a short reason and a photo. That report becomes a task for the planner: deliver again, return to sender or hold at a service point. The customer is only notified once that decision has been made.
Alongside your calendar and your team.
Most courier services already work with an order portal or shop integration from their clients, a scanner or driver app and an accounting package. At the start we agree together which system leads for the order, where status is tracked and where surcharges for waiting time and extra mileage end up. Where a client supplies a regular export, we read it in; where orders arrive by phone, the entry screen stays as short as possible. Nobody has to type the same trip twice.
Fixed routes or daily trip planning
A courier with fixed routes to the same shops mostly benefits from a template that is filled every day and only highlights exceptions. With changing one-off orders, the point is seeing quickly which existing trip can still take a new stop. At the start we set planning up around the pattern that costs your planners the most time.
Automatic suggestion or the planner decides
Software can suggest a trip based on windows and load space, but the planner knows the customer who is never ready on time and the street where you cannot unload. So the suggestion stays a suggestion: the planner confirms, moves or splits it, and that choice is kept so you can later see why a trip ran the way it did.
Charging surcharges now or later
Waiting time and extra mileage are often only sorted out at the end of the month. When drivers record them per stop with a time and a reason, they are ready as invoice lines for the client. That prevents disputes, because every surcharge can be traced to a specific trip and a specific moment.
Clients in other industries.
No customer story from this industry yet. This is how the software works for businesses elsewhere.
All customer stories
Hotel Aadam Wilhelmina
Online check-in, even at two in the morning.
Read the story
L'Artiste Barbershop
A full calendar starts with easy booking.
Read the storyNovaw Pilates
Focus on the class. Let the booking take care of itself.
Read the storyWhat we set up in the schedule.
Ready at the start: one order flow from arrival to signed-off trip, with orders and time windows, trips assembled around capacity and deviations that drivers report back from the road. An ordinary working day and a day when a van breaks down are played through with your planners, so it is clear who moves what. Reading consignments from a large client's order portal and surcharges that land straight in invoicing can be switched on once that first flow runs in practice.
View pricingSupport and updatesGood to know.
Explore pricing and optionsCan drivers see and change the schedule on the road?
Drivers see their trip in a fixed sequence with address, window and delivery instruction. They do not change the schedule themselves, but report an exception such as a closed address or extra waiting time. The planner decides what happens to that stop, so the sequence stays correct for everyone.
Does this work when orders come in by phone?
Yes. Phone orders get a short entry screen that only asks for what determines the trip: addresses, time windows, parcel sizes and special instructions. Orders from a portal or an export land in the same list, so the planner keeps one overview instead of three.
How does the schedule handle failed delivery attempts?
A failed attempt becomes its own task with a reason and, where useful, a photo. The planner decides whether the parcel gets another attempt, goes back to the sender or is held for collection. Only then is the customer notified, so they never receive two conflicting messages.
Do we need to replace our current scanners or driver app?
Not necessarily. If your current scanners can export or pass on proof of delivery and statuses, we connect to them. Only when the existing app cannot record an exception with a reason does a dedicated driver screen make more sense. We assess that together using an ordinary trip.
What often connects to this.
- Digital job cards for courier servicesDigital job cards for courier services: each trip order with delivery instructions, contact and proof of delivery on the driver's screen, and back at the office.
- Website for courier servicesA website for courier services that explains delivery services and service levels clearly enough for a shipper to know in advance which one suits the consignment.
- Enquiry form for courier servicesAn enquiry form for courier services that asks for parcel dimensions, weight and collection and delivery windows, so the planner can judge whether a trip is feasible.
A schedule that works in practice.
Start with a short intake. Then we schedule a call to show the software with your services, team and way of working.
WhatsAppinfo@vorlyo.com Scheduling software for courier services: plan trips around time windows, parcel sizes and drivers, with failed deliveries routed back to the planner.
- Capture orders with their window
- Build trips around capacity
- Feed exceptions back into planning