Choosing the Best Courier Management Software for Your Delivery Needs

Key Takeaways

• Choosing the right courier management software can optimize your delivery operations, reducing costs and improving customer satisfaction.
• Circuit for Teams is a comprehensive delivery management software that offers route optimization, route monitoring, delivery confirmation, and customer notifications.
• There are several courier management software options available with unique features and pricing structures.

Courier software is a technology solution designed to help dispatchers optimize their internal delivery teams. 

It usually includes route planning and optimization, vehicle tracking, delivery route status updates, and electronic proof of delivery (ePOD) capture. 

Courier companies use the software to improve efficiency, reduce costs, enhance customer experience, and gain visibility into their operations.

But choosing the wrong courier management software for your team can be costly.

Not only could you end up drastically overspending on a service full of features you don’t need, but you could also end up with a courier management system that doesn’t help you achieve your overall business goals.

For dispatchers, the wrong courier management software can result in mismanaged resources, delayed deliveries, and diminished customer satisfaction — ultimately affecting team performance.

This is more likely than you might think because dispatchers have a wide variety of needs within the four main types of courier services.

These needs depend on several factors, such as the size of your team, what you’re delivering, and how you’re delivering it.

And not every software solution was built for the same type of delivery business model.

To help you find the best courier management software for your team, we’ll cover eight solutions and how they work toward giving the most common benefits of a good courier management system:

• Reducing transportation costs with tools like route optimization and preventative vehicle maintenance checks
• Increasing customer service with route monitoring, estimated time of arrival (ETA) notifications, and signature capture as proof of delivery (POD)

Before we dive into the various courier management software platforms, we want to introduce Circuit for Teams.

This delivery management software has critical last-mile delivery functions, such as route optimization, route monitoring, and delivery confirmation.

Here’s a bit more about what we can do to help your delivery team, followed by an explanation of what full-fledged courier management software brings to the table.

How Circuit for Teams delivery software helps dispatchers

At Circuit, we offer delivery solutions for drivers and dispatchers, since they need to work together to deliver goods to customers. 

We started helping individual drivers find the shortest route on multi-stop trips and have grown to help mid-sized businesses with delivery teams bring products straight to consumers.

We offer four features that our customers have told us are important to them.

1. Route optimization to get your drivers where they’re going faster

With the Circuit for Teams’ route planning services, you can take delivery windows and time-sensitive deliveries into account by adding priority stops. 

Circuit for Teams also considers driver availability and vehicle capacity to make sure all your drivers carry the optimal load for the vehicle they’re driving.

Circuit for Teams considers the number of delivery stops a driver can cover, the hours they can work per day or week, and the number of deliveries they can make in one stop.

By analyzing this information, the software assigns the appropriate number of stops to each driver based on their availability and capacity.

Vehicle capacity evaluates the number of packages a driver’s vehicle can hold and determines if the driver needs to stop for refueling during their shift.

For example, if a driver has a larger truck that can hold 150 packages but needs a refueling stop, Circuit for Teams will create a route for the 150 packages and your driver can add a stop for refueling.

Plus, if you want everyone to use the same software, it’s helpful to have something drivers actually enjoy using.

For dispatchers managing multiple depots, Circuit for Teams now offers enhanced functionality for managing deliveries across locations for larger teams.

Circuit for Teams has three features that make it a favorite among drivers (so getting them to use it is easier).

First, the Circuit for Teams app uses Google’s street address auto-complete software. Generally, dispatchers upload the day’s stops with a CSV or Excel file. 

But if drivers need to add an address directly, it’s as fast as typing it straight into Google Maps. They can save address nicknames, too.

Second, drivers can reoptimize their routes based on real-time developments. Instead of having the driver contact dispatch for an updated route, Circuit for Teams lets drivers reoptimize quickly from the app. 

This feature helps keep your delivery schedule on track so customers don’t experience long delays.

Finally, Circuit’s route optimization services work with a driver’s preferred navigation app (Google Maps, Waze, or another navigation service) on iOS and Android devices.

As a dispatcher, you can also set your preferred app for the entire team, so your tech is consistent throughout the delivery process. 

2. Route monitoring so that dispatchers can track route progress

Circuit for Teams route monitoring keeps dispatch informed of where each driver is within the context of the route.

That’s important because many driver tracking services only give the GPS location of a vehicle.

With Circuit for Teams, you don’t just find that the driver is at 18th Avenue and Grant Street; you find the stops the driver has completed and where the driver is going next.

And that makes the work of centralized dispatching significantly easier.

3. Updates to keep your customers informed on the most up-to-date ETA

To increase customer satisfaction, Circuit for Teams lets you set up customer notifications (as an SMS message or an email), offering dynamic or fixed delivery windows to provide greater transparency and flexibility. 

So, customers know when to expect their package.

This is a great way to make sure a customer is present to get their delivery (if needed), so your drivers don’t have to reroute and make a second delivery attempt later in the day.

4. Tools to capture your customers’ signatures or take photos of delivered parcels

When a driver delivers an item, they can report one of the following:

• Delivered to the recipient
• Delivered to a third party
• Left in a mailbox
• Left in a safe place

If you need electronic proof of delivery (someone to sign for the package), your drivers can use the Circuit for Teams companion mobile app to easily collect it. If you don’t need a signature, drivers can still snap a photo of your package and upload it into the app.

Circuit for Teams now offers the ability to copy, view, and share proof of delivery (POD) documents, streamlining document management and making it easier for dispatchers to access and share crucial information.

This photographic record is good to have if a customer claims their order was never delivered or they can’t find it.

8 of the best courier management software platforms — at a glance

Now that you know how Circuit for Teams helps dispatchers, let’s cover similar  courier management software systems to find what unique features they offer to help dispatchers save costs and make delivery easy.

1. Samsara — best for large teams needing detailed tracking

Samsara is a delivery management software solution worth considering if you monitor a large team. 

Samsara offers route optimization, route monitoring, customer updates through client accounts, and other valuable benefits for your delivery business. 

However, at the time of this post, Samsara doesn’t offer any type of invoicing or waybill features.

One of the more unique features of Samsara is its live vehicle location tracking. Without this, there could be a lag between where your driver is and where they’re showing up on your dashboard. 

Usually, the time difference isn’t significant (a matter of minutes), but if you need 100% accuracy, Samsara’s real-time tracking is a big win.

Samsara also lets your dispatch team set up geofencing alerts.

As a dispatcher, you can designate an area (drawing a fence over a map) that sends you an alert when the driver has entered or left the designated area.

Samsara also knows there are several ways to rack up costs when it comes to maintaining your vehicles.

Their courier delivery management system fights transportation costs in several ways.

First, there are fuel costs, which Samsara claims its courier management software helps you to reduce with its proprietary fuel reporting algorithm. 

It looks into fuel trends to spot inefficiencies or abnormal activity (such as hard braking, carrying heavier-than-planned loads, or constantly turning the vehicle off and on during idle routes).

Second, there’s vehicle maintenance. It’s recommended you do pre- and post-trip vehicle inspections at dispatch.

With the Samsara app, you can record your observations and share anything that needs attention (such as an illuminated check engine light or a flickering taillight) to your team’s mechanics.

Pros:

• Real-time vehicle location tracking
• Geofencing alerts
• Fuel reporting algorithm

Cons:

• User reviews mention complaints about poor customer service.
• One user reported that the gateway occasionally records driving time even after the driver has gone off-duty and parked the truck, leading to Hours of Service (HOS) violations on logs.
• No transparent pricing — you have to enter your information before learning more about pricing for your needs.

Pricing: Samsara doesn’t have transparent pricing. You have to enter your information and talk to sales before learning the price and getting started. However, off-site sources say Samsara is about $27 to $33 per vehicle per month. For a midsize team of 25 drivers, that’s around $675 to $825 a month.

2. OnTime 360 — best for QuickBooks integration

OnTime 360 is courier management software that focuses on helping you manage all your courier business’s needs, offering end-to-end solutions. 

OnTime 360 offers advanced integration with QuickBooks, route optimization, route monitoring, customer updates, and a system of collecting invoices, waybills, and bills of lading.

Route optimization is built into OnTime 360, and — like other services on this list — it’s a feature that’s handled exclusively by dispatch. (Drivers can’t reoptimize their routes based on unforeseen obstacles or traffic delays.)

But OnTime 360’s route optimization services come with a caveat.

The route optimization included in its basic plans is simple point-to-point optimization features that don’t have “mapping data, roads, and time windows.” 

For delivery dispatchers, simple point-to-point features without considering mapping data, roads, and time windows may not be enough for efficient route planning.

This means the optimized routes may not account for factors like traffic conditions, road restrictions, and specific delivery time requirements for each stop.

This can lead to suboptimal routes, longer delivery times, and reduced overall efficiency for the delivery team.

If you want to factor in those variables (and most courier companies do), you’ll need to buy advanced route optimization credits.

For example, OnTime 360’s advanced route optimization is offered for as low as $0.15 per optimization.

If you’re doing 2,000 routes a week, that’s an extra $500 a week or $1,000 a month.

OnTime 360 lets you track your vehicles, which helps with route monitoring and keeping up on vehicle maintenance. 

Plus, you can set parameters so that when a vehicle hits a certain mileage or service, it’s flagged for a preventative maintenance check.

This delivery tracking also lets customers check the status of the order, the assigned driver, the official drop-off time, and any proof-of-delivery receipts. What the customer can and can’t find is up to courier dispatch.

Just remember that OnTime360 needs dispatch to turn the GPS tracking off and on. Make sure it’s turned on if you want to use it.

One other feature that’s valuable for a dispatch management team is the ability for drivers to update their availability from the mobile app. 

This way, when a driver’s availability changes, dispatch knows of it immediately, and they don’t have to reoptimize routes at the last minute.

Finally, of all the courier management software listed, only OnTime360 offers integration with QuickBooks.

This lets your back office streamline accounting by easily sending invoices so your team can get paid.

Pros:

• Only courier management software on this list that offers integration with QuickBooks
• Vehicle maintenance tracking
• Real-time driver availability updates

Cons:

• One user review details how OnTime360 is not fully mobile, requires a Windows operating system, and has slow functionality and updating.
• There are numerous complaints about issues with API and integrations, such as a lack of tracking number confirmation API.
• One user’s review states that OnTime 360 includes unnecessary features, such as accounting and fulfillment functions, making the interface less efficient and user-friendly, and they don’t want to pay a premium price for features they won’t use.

Pricing: While pricing starts at $39 per month and a $99 activation fee, for a team with 25+ drivers, the pricing is $349 per month + $99 account activation for 18 users.  Additional users add $19 each to the monthly fee.

3. ShipTrack — best for businesses that need SLAs

ShipTrack positions itself as a “full-featured track and trace” courier software solution. Which makes it a little less than a complete courier management system but a little more than just basic dispatch software.

ShipTrack offers route optimization, route monitoring, and delivery status updates for customers, but it doesn’t offer any features for sending invoices or collecting signed digital waybills and bills of lading.

What we like about ShipTrack is that it allows dispatchers to specify service-level agreements (SLAs) in their processes. 

This way, dispatchers using ShipTrack can report back to their business how ShipTrack is doing in meeting their specific key performance indicators (KPIs).

Plus, if you’re a dispatcher with a fleet of messengers, you might appreciate that ShipTrack allows cash-on-delivery (COD) services.

Pros:

• Delivery status updates for customers
• Allows dispatchers to specify SLAs
• Supports cash-on-delivery (COD) services

Cons:

• User reviews mention lack of customization options
• Limited customer support
• One user mentioned the occasional delay in getting tracking information

Pricing: ShipTrack doesn’t have transparent pricing, and you have to talk to sales to get specifics. However, secondary sites claim plans start at $18.37 per month but don’t specify features or how many drivers that covers.

4. Bringoz — best for warehouse and inventory management

Bringoz is one of the more unique and involved courier management software solutions on our list. 

It positions itself as a “modular solution” that offers a scalable delivery infrastructure to help shippers and carriers improve their logistics.

Bringoz has route optimization, route monitoring, customer updates, invoicing, and waybill and bill of lading collection. Bringoz also has warehouse and inventory management.

With Bringoz, you can connect online, offline, and in-store channels to your courier service. 

Then, Bringoz processes orders and automatically assigns a base, creating the most optimized routes and driver availability.

Pros:

• Flexible and scalable courier management software solution, allowing businesses to customize the system based on their specific needs
• User reviews share that the app is user-friendly and easy to learn
• Integrates with existing systems to create an automated, comprehensive end-to-end process

Cons:

• No transparent pricing. You have to book a demo and talk with sales to learn more.
• One user reports inaccurate driver locations, saying it shows drivers “in a river somewhere.”
• Another user says drivers can’t be deleted from the system.

Pricing: Bringoz doesn’t have transparent pricing. You have to talk with sales and book a demo to learn more.

5. Tookan — best for medical courier businesses

Tookan is an end-to-end pickup and delivery software that aims to save delivery costs and increase driver efficiency. 

It offers a hassle-free booking process, real-time tracking, automated dispatch, and optimized delivery routes with proof of delivery to give an exceptional customer experience.

Tookan offers customer and driver apps, which offer features like real-time tracking, payment gateway integrations, and instant order notifications.

Tookan’s pricing starts at $99 per month for new delivery businesses and operations, including 700 tasks per month and unlimited drivers, with additional tasks charged at $0.15 per task. 

While many user reviews are positive, some negative reviews mention poor customer support and issues with the app, like crashing, inability to customize, and lack of integrations.

Pros:

• Don’t need to talk to sales before getting started
• Good option for medical courier businesses 
• Integration with over 45 POS systems

Cons:

• One user says the app is down often, preventing customers from making bookings and causing lost revenue
• App may drain drivers’ phone batteries quickly
• Numerous complaints about poor customer service

Pricing: Pricing starts at $59 per month for unlimited drivers but only 700 tasks a month. However, this is the Startup plan and may not offer many features.

6. Onfleet — best for easy-to-use UI

Onfleet is a cloud-based software as a service (SaaS) that offers a range of features to help businesses manage their delivery operations. 

Some key features include route optimization, automatic dispatching, real-time driver tracking, and status and ETA-triggered notifications.

Onfleet is ideal for businesses of all sizes, from small courier companies to large enterprises. 

It’s particularly well-suited for businesses that need real-time updates and delivery confirmation, such as food delivery services, eCommerce businesses, grocery delivery services, and medical supply companies.

However, depending on your business needs, Onfleet can be pricey. Plans start at $500 a month, but if you want barcode scanning and age verification, you’ll need to opt for a pricier plan ($1,150 a month). 

You can also use Onfleet as a logistics software to gather and analyze your delivery process, but if you want more than 90 days of historical data, you’ll need to opt for a more expensive plan.

Pros:

• Real-time tracking
• Users say the software is robust and easy to use
• Direct communication with drivers and clients

Cons:

• Reliability issues
• Entry-level pricing package lacks many essential features, and the higher level tiers have high prices
• Users say they’d like more integrations and customization options

Pricing: Plans start at $500 per month for 2,000 tasks and unlimited users

7. Track-POD — best for affordable pricing

Track-POD offers an all-in-one delivery management solution that helps automate and streamline delivery operations for businesses of all sizes. 

The software features an electronic proof of delivery (ePOD) app that captures geotags, time stamps, photos, and signatures — making delivery confirmation quick and easy.

Track-POD has GPS vehicle tracking, custom delivery notifications, and route optimization, which helps reduce fuel costs and increase profitability. 

With an API available, businesses can integrate Track-POD with other systems to further automate and optimize delivery operations.

Pricing is affordable compared to some competitors. The Standard plan is $29 per month per driver or vehicle and covers up to 3,000 deliveries a month. 

However, each plan has specific limitations, so you’ll need to study the features to be sure you get the right plan for your particular business operations and needs.

Pros:

• Electronic proof of delivery (ePOD) app for quick and easy delivery confirmation
• API available for integration with other systems
• Users love the customer service and continual software improvements

Cons:

• Users report editing orders and routes after starting them is convoluted and unnecessarily difficult.
• Another review says the app has overly sensitive map scrolling, no historic tracking of drivers speeds, and can be cumbersome to use
• Inability to remove a delivery stop on a route once the driver has started their route

Pricing: The Standard plan is $29 a month per driver per vehicle. For a team of 25 drivers, that’s $725 a month.

8. RoadWarrior — best for field sales

RoadWarrior is route management software designed for businesses that rely on drivers to make deliveries. 

Their Flex plan allows businesses to plan and optimize routes based on multiple stops, saving time, miles, and gas money for all the drivers on your team. 

As a dispatcher, you can use the RoadWarrior courier management software in your browser window, making it easy to access from anywhere.

Your delivery team can download a companion app for free on their mobile devices, for both iOS, and Android that allows them to access their assigned routes and stay on track while on the go.

The software also allows dispatchers to upload a whole list of locations from Excel spreadsheets or enter stops one by one — which you can customize with time windows for certain stops, or set to avoid highways, school zones, and more.

Overall, RoadWarrior Flex is a solid choice for delivery drivers, delivery managers, technicians, field sales representatives, and more. Pricing for RoadWarrior Flex is straightforward — $14.99 per month per team member.

Pros:

• No contracts required
• Users say it’s easy to use and set up
• Allows bulk upload of locations from Excel spreadsheets or manual entry of stops

Cons:

• Users report cumbersome and slow processes
• Not able to assign drivers from the mobile app; must use desktop
• Users report experiencing inaccurate driver position and ETAs

Pricing: Pricing starts at $14.99 per month, per team member, but there are limited features. For a team of 25, that’s $374.75 a month.

Courier management software: final thoughts

Finding the right courier management software for your business is a critical step in taking your delivery operations to the next level of growth. 

By using courier software, you can streamline your processes and benefit from features like route optimization and cloud management to store your invoices and waybills. The trick is matching up what you need with what the software is offering.

Here’s a snapshot of the functions that various courier management software platforms include compared to what you’ll get from Circuit for Teams:

That’s a lot of information to take in, but the bottom line is finding the best tool for your team.

Route optimization is one of the most essential features to get your drivers where they need to go faster and more efficiently.

Circuit for Teams route optimization is designed to streamline the delivery process by automatically creating the most efficient routes based on multiple factors, such as the number of stops, delivery time windows, and driver work hours.

While other delivery management software solutions offer some level of route optimization functionality, they may not be as comprehensive or effective as Circuit for Teams.

Some services are jam-packed with features and integrations, but that can also slow down the app, eat up your drivers’ phone batteries, or affect app reliability — and you pay a premium for features you don’t even need.

At $500 per month for the Pro plan — which includes your first six drivers and offers route optimization, real-time driver tracking, API integration, proof of delivery capture, customer notifications, and delivery data analysis — Circuit for Teams has a robust solution for teams focused on delivery efficiency.

So, if you’re focused on last-mile delivery functionality or won’t benefit from a complex platform like Samsara and Bringoz, start your free 14-day trial of Circuit for Teams now, used by 15,000 drivers to complete 5 million deliveries a month.