City Couriers Direct finds the perfect package with Podfather

Use cases:
Planning and optimisation Vehicle checks Tracking and notifications ePOD
Industry:
Logistics
Location:
Nottingham

City Couriers Direct Ltd, the nationwide courier service provider, has introduced Podfather’s route planning and electronic proof of delivery (ePOD) solution to help improve efficiency and eradicate paper from its operation. With over 1,000 contracted drivers, 3,500 parcels being moved each week and order numbers rising, City Couriers Direct needed a reliable software partner to help plan and manage its transport process. 

City Couriers Direct

Having previously relied on a paper-based method, City Couriers Direct is delighting in the benefits of switching to electronic proof of delivery.  All deliveries are now tracked via the Podfather app and proof of delivery is captured and shared in real-time, giving the City Courier Direct team full visibility across its whole operation. 

City Couriers Direct specialises in first-mile parcel distribution; collecting from high-street retailers, SMEs and independent traders and delivering consignments to designated hubs for onward delivery. Since its first delivery in 2019 City Couriers Direct has gone from strength to strength. The boom in parcel services during the pandemic quickly increased volumes from 19 collections a week to an average of 3,500 first-mile collections being made from 11 depots around the UK.  Now well established as a reliable first-mile parcel courier, the City Couriers Direct team knew there had to be a better way to manage its now 1,000+ driver strong fleet than using pieces of paper.

The Podfather solution has been a real game changer for us.

Becki Hunter

Commercial Director

“A lack of visibility was a big problem for us as we did not have any way of tracking collections and deliveries,” comments Becki Hunter, Commercial Director at City Couriers Direct. “That’s fine when things are running smoothly but when there is an issue or a customer discrepancy you really need the real-life data that Podfather gives us. Now, we wouldn’t be without it.”

City Couriers Direct’s first step has been to introduce Podfathers vehicle check, recurring route planning and electronic proof of collection/delivery functionality. Internal teams and the 1,000+ third-party drivers have gotten to grips with the Podfather app incredibly quickly and data now flows across the business.  The next phase is the introduction of Podfather’s route optimisation functionality to help improve efficiency across the business’s 300+ daily routes covering the whole country.

“The data that we pull from our Podfather system is helping us make strategic business decisions in advance of our next phase of growth,” adds Hunter.  “The Podfather solution has been a real game changer for us, freeing up time previously spent tracking down missing orders or dealing with discrepancies.  This time can now be channelled into looking at what delivery vehicles we’re sending where giving us the information we need to make strategic decisions for the future.”

Podfather develops and delivers advanced yet easy to use software that simplifies the complex process of planning and managing a vehicle fleet. “We are delighted to be able to help City Couriers Direct and joining forces with them during this period of rapid growth proves just how scalable the Podfather solution is,” comments Colin McCreadie, Managing Director at Podfather. “Route optimisation, vehicle checks, driver tracking, customer notifications and electronic proof of delivery are all standard features within our core product and seeing our solution showcased here by this hugely successful first-mile courier service provider is incredibly satisfying for our talented team.”

Use cases:
Planning and optimisation, Vehicle checks, Tracking and notifications, ePOD,
Industry:
Logistics,
Location:
Nottingham