Synergy Dispatch

Overview

A Dispatch System with Route Intelligence Featuring: Delivery Planning, Route Optimization, Driver Management, Outbound Planning Synergy Dispatch is an innovative system designed to improve the productivity and cost-effectiveness of your Pickup and Delivery operations. Using computerized mapping, static or dynamic routing and mobile data terminals (MDTs), Synergy Dispatch can save from 7–25% of your total P&D costs! With Synergy Dispatch, you can provide a higher level of customer service while saving time and money. With this management tool, you can eliminate missed pickups and deliveries, reduce personnel requirements, decrease clerical errors, increase the number of stops per hour, and decrease missed appointment time windows. Using Mobile Data Terminals (MDTs) and WWAN technology (data over wireless phone networks), real-time proof of delivery can be provided, drivers are notified of new pickup calls, and stripping the pickup unit and the loading of line haul trailers is expedited by having pickup data in advance. Synergy Dispatch can operate as a standalone application, or with your host computer system to automatically receive information on inbound shipments. With Synergy Dispatch and tools such as WWAN and MDTs, you can save operating costs. Delivery Planning The Synergy Delivery Planning allows you to route inbound freight to local routes before the freight arrives. Freight can then be stripped from an inbound trailer and put onto a city delivery trailer as soon as it arrives. In Delivery Planning, you can review bills, make appointments, plan re-delivery of returns and OS&D freight, and route freight using Synergy Dispatch’s Dynamic or Static Routing, then manually review and balance routes as needed. The routing system also pulls out freight that requires any special routing. Freight for selected special handling customers is automatically segregated onto a trap route. Any stop where the weight or pieces exceed a user-set level is automatically set aside as a heavyweight or truckload route for review. The system also segregates freight with lift gate delivery requirements. Once a delivery plan is selected and modified, the system prepares the Stripping Manifest for each trailer. However, you can still manually assign unexpected shipments to delivery routes. If Synergy Cross Dock is integrated with Dispatch the strip and load manifests are transferred to Cross Dock for automated tracking.

Static and dynamic delivery routing Call Taking Scheduling City Dispatch GPS Positioning Driver Monitoring Outbound Line Haul Planning Drop Lot Trailer Tracking Spotted Trailer Tracking

Our Routing Makes the Difference

The dynamic routing algorithm used in Synergy Dispatch has been fine-tuned over a period of many years to provide the most efficient routes possible, while taking into account most of the variables encountered in pickup and delivery operations. This is a list of the major parameters used by the dynamic routing algorithm:

Scalable maps with street level view

There has traditionally been resistance to dynamic routing because a stop can be assigned to a different route and driver on different days, based on the freight distribution. Our Anchor Stops feature allows stops to be statically assigned to a route, allowing drivers to keep familiar customers on their route. This can be accomplished with only a small loss of efficiency. Enaptive is confident that our routing will provide the tightest routes while still accommodating the need for familiarity and customer relationships.

If your delivery plan does not account for anticipated pickup activity, you don't have an accurate delivery plan. Synergy Dispatch keeps historical data on previous pickups. The inbound planner can include selected historical data to help predict what today's pattern of pickups may be. The system sets aside time in the driver's work day to make that anticipated volume of pickups. Pickup forecasting and routing also balances the work load in a more realistic manner than routing deliveries alone. Given geographic route areas rarely balance each other between deliveries and pickups, they are either higher volume outbound or inbound. Pickup forecasting and routing ensures that you have the correct number of drivers on the street, that they have the time to make the pickups, and that they are in position to make the pickups. Synergy Dispatch can even recommend starting pickup only drivers in the afternoon if pickup volume warrants.

Handheld Route Summary Screen

City Operations

Color-coded call list shows calls by over a dozen criteria

Using clear, color-coded information, City Operations allows you to take complete command of your company’s P&D operations. In the Call List and Driver Status screen, routes can be verified and accepted or reassigned; pickups can be assigned and dispatched; messages can be sent; trailers dropped or hooked; and pickups split or canceled. The Customer Call screen is used to record calls for pickup. Detailed information including shipper, pieces, weight, destination zip, freight description, and special handling is identified. Repetitive information is set up in a master file and auto-fills the call screen, saving keystrokes. Completed calls are stored for reference and production reporting. Synergy Dispatch can also create Daily Pickup Plans based on the existing dynamic routes. This ensures that pickups will be assigned to the driver already in the area. In addition, a Dynamic Pickup Plan can be run on the fly to organize the remainder of the driver’s day. The system looks at the driver’s location, remaining deliveries, actual pickups that are called in, forecasted pickups for the area, and whether the driver is late, on time, or early on his stops. The system then automatically assigns pickups to the proper driver.

Graphic Mapping

Graphic Mapping provides real-time vehicle tracking (using WWAN & GPS) to aid in routing and scheduling pickups an deliveries. Synergy Dispatch allows you to review route building, display driver and stop location, find addresses and geocode new customers and inbound bills.Without GPS, the approximate truck location can be displayed based upon status messages entered by the driver.

Mobile Data

While Synergy Dispatch can operate without MDTs, the benefits of wireless MDTs are important to overall efficiency. Mobile data allows pickup calls to go straight to drivers, whether in or out of the truck, improving efficiency, reducing backtracking, and increasing the number of stops. Outbound Line haul Planning benefits from early knowledge of outbound freight destinations. Mobile data also provides real-time proof-of-delivery with optional signature capture.

Finally, mobile data provides management control by tracking driver location at all times and providing performance data of planned vs. actual route.

Outbound Line Haul Planning

Synergy Dispatch not only helps with your inbound delivery plan but with your outbound line haul planning as well. Total pieces, weight, and handling units are automatically calculated for break freight, local pickups, and a total of both due for each destination service terminal. Destination terminals are grouped by 'load to' break bulk terminals in each lane. Totals for each break bulk are also displayed.

The Outbound Planning tool identifies and highlights possible direct loads that can bypass normal break bulks, saving service time, handling cost and possible OS&D problems. For some carriers this has been the largest area of cost savings from Synergy Dispatch.

This is a real-time planning tool. Collated information is available on local pickups as soon as the pickup calls are taken. The call taker gets pieces, weight, and destination zip. Synergy Dispatch then confirms the service terminal for the consignee zip code as well as the line haul lane to get to the service terminal. Any information on pickups that drivers get on their handheld computers is updated in real time.

There are two detailed views. You can drill down on any destination service terminal to see detail listing of pro bills that make up the total. While you are in this view you can change the load point of the bills on the fly. You can also drill down to see what trailers the freight is on inbound line haul or city trucks.

Synergy Dispatch has two primary reports for Outbound Planning. The Outbound Planning Report summarizes local pickups by destination terminal. Destination terminals are grouped by 'load to' break bulk terminals in each lane. Totals for each break bulk are also displayed. The Destination Weight Report can display a summary or detail report. The Summary Report shows total outbound pieces, weight, and handling units by destination terminal. The Detail expands on the Summary report by showing all the bills, with associated consignee name, address, package description, zip code, and PRO number. In the case of through bills the anticipated arrival time at the break bulk terminal is also displayed.