For Josh Park, it was hard to find a routing system that wasn’t too expensive for his small fleet. Based in Davenport, Iowa and covering the Quad Cities region, Cartridge World runs three fleet vehicles, including a Scion for sales and a Nissan NV200 van for deliveries.  

Each vehicle travels around 20,000 miles per year. Cartridge World’s delivery driver completes up to seven deliveries and pickups per day in the NV200.  

“Because our drivers can make multiple deliveries per day, creating efficient routing is important,” says Park, QC operations director at Cartridge World, which supplies ink, toner, and other items for printers along with full-service printer repairs.  

Park was drawn to OnTerra Systems’ RouteSavvy route optimization software and the fact that RouteSavvy can be installed on a smartphone instead of having to install hardware in the vehicle.  

“We have a company smartphone and put the RouteSavvy app on it,” says Park, adding that his company is not ready for the installation cost and greater monthly expense that come with other telematics systems. “RouteSavvy is a more cost-effective option for small fleets,” he says.  

After inputting multiple delivery stops, RouteSavvy’s software organizes the locations and creates the most efficient route for the deliveries. The web-based software integrates with mobile devices to send the optimized route and directions to the driver. 

“If new stops need to be added to the driver’s route that day, I can pull up the software on my desktop computer and email the new stops to the driver,” says Park.  

In addition to being more affordable, Park says that RouteSavvy has been easy to use. “I like that all the features can be completed through one system.” 

The mandatory base license for RouteSavvy route optimization software is $300 per year. For more than three users per year, it’s $300 plus $100 per additional user, according to OnTerra Systems. The fleet tracking function can be added to the annual fee. 

Real-Time Tracking 

Park started using RouteSavvy exclusively for routing but is now also using its tracking feature. Working with RouteSavvy’s route optimization software, the tracker mobile app displays a driver’s location and history.  

By tracking a driver using a smartphone’s geolocation capability, fleet managers can see the position of their vehicles.  

For Park, the tracking feature has been helpful for letting customers know the exact location of his driver. Park can provide a more accurate time of arrival and doesn’t have to call the driver for his precise location. Additionally, he can check speeding and see any instances of erratic driving behaviors.  

"GPS fleet tracking traditionally costs $20-$50 per vehicle per month, costing small fleets thousands of dollars per year, plus the cost of hardware, for a typical fleet tracking system," says Steve Milroy, president of OnTerra Systems.  

In contrast, the RouteSavvy fleet tracking app using smartphones costs $500 per year for up to 10 phones, in addition to the $300 base price. 

After using RouteSavvy’s routing and tracking features, Park has noticed that deliveries are getting done at a faster rate. Before tracking, the company’s driver wouldn’t always finish his deliveries in an eight-hour workday. “The tracking has probably cut his route down by at least an hour per day,” he says. 

For Park, the OnTerra System delivers driver accountability and management peace of mind. 

“We wanted to make sure that the driver was adhering closely to the assigned routes,” says Park. “Sometimes we need customers to be served in a priority method; we can now see if the driver decides to go off track and reorder the stops.”