How Efficient Delivery Management Can Grow Your Farm Business

Delivering fresh produce and farm products directly to the local community can be a rewarding venture, and a great way to grow your business beyond farmers’ markets. But it’s not without its challenges. The most difficult part? Route planning. 

Many farms face the problem that customer delivery addresses are spread around a wide area, sometimes in different towns. Poor route planning can waste a lot of time and money, with late or unpredictable deliveries leading to customer complaints. 

The solution? Delivery software that makes it easy for you to manage your entire delivery operation, with built-in route optimization for efficiency. 

💡Routific has everything farms, CSAs, and food hubs need for easy, efficient deliveries. Sign up for a free 7-day trial to test it for yourself.

Delivery management in action at Terra Firma Farm and Harvestly

Here’s how two different farm delivery operations have benefitted from using delivery management and route planning software:

Scaling deliveries from 80 to 1,000 at Terra Firma Farm

At Terra Firma Farm in Connecticut, owner Brie Casadei was spending hours each morning planning routes manually. Sometimes her delivery truck wouldn't leave until 2 or 3 PM because they were still figuring out logistics. The farm operates in a challenging area, with tourist traffic and a drawbridge that could trap drivers for 45 minutes if routes weren't planned properly.

After implementing Routific through their Barn2Door integration, the farm:

• Grew from 80 deliveries per month to nearly 1,000.
• Reduced fuel costs by 35%
• Cut daily route planning from hours down to “literally one button click”.
• Used automated customer notifications to maintain personal connection with customers.

Streamlining weekly orders at Harvestly

‍Harvestly in San Luis Obispo connects local farmers and food producers with customers through an online marketplace. They work with around 150 local vendors and deliver fresh produce, prepared meals, and other local products. With around 250 regular customers, Harvestly sends out an average of 70 orders each week on their Friday delivery schedule.

After implementing Routific for delivery management, Harvestly was able to:

• Streamline route planning for their Friday delivery rounds.
• Provide automated text messaging to customers when deliveries are dropped off.
• Coordinate efficient pickups from three satellite drop-off locations across their service area.
• Maintain their commitment to fresh products that are never more than 48 hours old from farm to customer.

How to optimize your farm delivery service

Many growing farm delivery services hit similar bottlenecks as they scale beyond manual planning:

• Manual data entry wastes time exporting orders to spreadsheets and typing addresses into navigation apps.
• Zero driver visibility means you can't track deliveries or provide accurate customer updates.
• Quality preservation suffers when inefficient routes keep perishable products on trucks longer than necessary.
• Growth stalls because manual planning can't handle the jump from 50 to 200+ weekly deliveries.

The good news? Small changes to your delivery process can eliminate these bottlenecks and set you up for sustainable growth.

1. Audit your current systems

Before you start making changes, take a week or two to audit your current process. Ideally, you should have numbers for the following key metrics:

• Driver time. Log start and end times, driving times, and the time spent at each delivery point. This will give you a clear picture of your true labor costs.
• Mileage. Use an app or odometer log to track the actual miles driven for deliveries.
• Customer complaints. Add up the number of customers making delivery-related complaints (e.g., late deliveries, missed items, wrong boxes, etc.).
• Loading/unloading times. How long does it take to load vehicles, and then to find and unload orders at each stop?

Once you have a clear picture of your inefficiencies, you can implement smart changes. 

2. Create “pick and pack” lists for deliveries

If you (or your drivers) spend too much time loading vehicles, it may be time to optimize the pre-delivery process.

Start by implementing “pick and pack” lists for delivery days.

• The “pick” list covers what needs to be harvested or assembled for all orders on a specific delivery day.
• The “pack” list covers what needs to be packed up for each individual customer order.

This simple system will help save time while reducing the risk of errors when preparing customer orders. Drivers can also load up their vehicles more quickly because orders are already ready to go.

3. Implement a zone-based delivery system

Although on-demand deliveries are convenient for customers, they’re inefficient. Instead, create a zone-based delivery schedule. Group deliveries into specific geographic zones, and assign a specific day or days of the week for deliveries to each zone.

For example:

• Zone A: Tuesdays and Thursdays
• Zone B: Mondays and Wednesdays
• Zone C: Fridays

By breaking your deliveries into zones, you can plan routes more efficiently and keep your driver in one specific area rather than sending them all over town (or the county).

4. Prioritize orders based on perishability

Not all fresh produce has the same shelf life. To maintain high-quality deliveries, prioritize route stops based on perishability.

For example, a high-priority order may have milk, eggs, and delicate sprouts. These are items that need to reach their destination fast to keep the quality as fresh as possible. A low-priority order, on the other hand, may have sturdy root veggies and bread. 

Every delivery day, take an overall look at your orders and prioritize those with the most perishable and delicate items. Then, plan routes based on priority to ensure customers receive fresh food every time.

5. Use route optimization software to make your delivery routes more efficient

Creating a zone-based delivery system and prioritizing orders can improve efficiency and quality. But route optimization software will make your food delivery routes hyper-efficient.

Routing apps like Routific automate the entire planning process. They use advanced algorithms to calculate the most efficient routes for your drivers based on:

• Delivery locations
• Delivery windows
• Driver preferences
• Delivery zones

These solutions will not only save you time on route planning, but they’ll also help you save on fuel and labor costs. Many of these apps will also integrate with farm management platforms, making your deliveries smooth and seamless.

Ideally, you want a solution that offers:

• A real-time driver app. Apps make it easy for drivers to receive their dispatched routes, view delivery instructions, send delivery statuses, use navigation apps, and more. Live GPS features will also help you see where your drivers are and get updated ETAs throughout the day.
• Customer notifications. Look for software that will keep customers in the loop about their delivery windows. Solutions that send text or email notifications along with tracking links are ideal.
• Proof of delivery features. Choose a solution that allows drivers to collect signatures or take photos of the delivery. This lets customers and dispatch know that deliveries are completed on time and creates a clear record.  
• Reports and analytics. As your farm business grows, you may need to make adjustments to keep your delivery routes efficient. Tracking key metrics like miles per route, time per stop, and delivery success rates will help you understand where to make these changes and make data-backed decisions.

Ultimately, you want a route planner that can streamline the delivery process. Several solutions are available. We’ll talk about them more in-depth below.

6. Integrate your e-commerce platform with your delivery optimization solution

Even if you use an e-commerce platform to manage online ordering and route optimization software to manage regular deliveries, you can still experience bottlenecks.

Why?

Because they’re not integrated.  

You want a solution that can “talk to” your e-commerce solution. 

An Application Programming Interface (API) is a powerful way to achieve this goal.

Here’s how it works:

• A customer places an order through your online store, pays with a credit card, and goes through the checkout process.
• Your e-commerce platform’s API sends a request to the route planning solution and syncs the order’s details: customer name, address, phone number, order contents, etc.).
• The route planning software receives the data, processes it, and creates an optimized route with driver assignments and estimated delivery times.

All of this happens instantly, saving you time and eliminating the need for manual data import and export.

Many route planning solutions easily integrate into leading e-commerce and farm management platforms.

7. Implement standard organizational systems for your delivery vehicles

Loading and unloading can eat up more of your driver’s time than you think. Inefficient loading practices can slow down any delivery business, but it’s especially problematic for produce delivery and farm products because every second counts.

Customers expect their farm boxes to be fresh. If drivers are spending extra time trying to find customer orders at every delivery stop, the quality of your deliveries may suffer. And it can make your business look disorganized, too. 

Instead, create a standardized organizational system for your drivers to follow. Make sure orders are organized in the truck to match the delivery route. This will save drivers from having to search for the right box at each stop.

You can take this organizational system one step further by grouping orders by location. For example, one side of the vehicle may be dedicated to a specific neighborhood, and boxes can be organized to match the delivery route for that area.

A little preparation and organization at the start of the day can go a long way in making sure your organic produce and other local food items are as fresh as possible at delivery.

Finding the right route optimization software

Route planning can be a game-changer for farm-fresh delivery businesses. Delivery software automates the process, so your team isn’t driving around in circles, wasting time and fuel along the way.

We’ve already covered the benefits of route planners and what to look for when choosing one. Let’s explore some of the top solutions local farms, CSAs, and food hubs rely on to manage their deliveries. 

1. Routific

Routific simplifies route optimization and helps businesses slash their delivery costs by 25%. Their biggest strength? They’re delivery specialists who understand local farmers, not farm software trying to do delivery.

API integration makes it easy to sync orders from your e-commerce platform, helping eliminate manual processes and reduce errors.

Routes are calculated not just based on time or distance, but also on:

• Historical traffic patterns
• Driver preferences 

You’re in complete control, so you can adjust routes with drag ‘n drop or even add last-minute deliveries.

Other standout features include:

• A dedicated driver app. Send routes directly to drivers, and let them use the navigation apps they prefer (like Google Maps, Apple Maps, or Waze). Drivers can also collect signatures and send delivery photos.
• Live GPS tracking with updated ETAs throughout the day.
• Customer notifications that include home delivery windows and tracking links.
• Analytics and reporting features to help you track key metrics.

Routific understands the needs and delivery challenges of farm-to-table businesses. Not only are you delivering highly perishable items, but you’re likely planning rural, tricky routes and dealing with seasonal fluctuations. Flexibility makes Routific stand out and helps you overcome these challenges.

• Harvestly, which does about 70 farm-fresh food delivery orders per week, relies on Routific to plan its routes, manage driver shifts, and communicate with customers. 
• Walden Local, which delivers grass-fed meat and wild-caught fish in New York and New England, has more than doubled its drivers on staff since it started using Routific. They’ve grown from 30 deliveries per route per day to 100+ per route in their densest areas, lowering their total cost of delivery.

And Routific’s partnerships with e-commerce platforms like Barn2Door and Local Food Marketplace make it easy to manage orders and deliveries from one centralized location.

With Routific’s free trial, you can take this platform for a test drive to see if it’s a good fit for your farm delivery business.

2. Metrobi

Metrobi works a little differently from platforms like Routific. Rather than helping you manage your own delivery team, they connect farmers and food hubs with local, independent drivers who handle deliveries for you.

You maintain control by choosing:

• How much you pay for each delivery.
• Your delivery drivers, who are reviewed and rated by other local businesses on the platform.

The platform also offers route optimization and delivery monitoring. Routes are sent to drivers through the Metrobi Drivers App, making deliveries quick and efficient. Customers are also sent notifications and kept informed about their delivery progress every step of the way. 

Proof of delivery photos help you keep track of delivery success rates and resolve disputes quickly.

Metrobi integrates with leading e-commerce platforms like Shopify, WooCommerce, Squarespace, and Wix to make delivery and order management a breeze.

3. OptimoRoute

With OptimoRoute, farm businesses can easily import orders to get the most efficient routes based on:

• Delivery windows
• Driver skill and availability
• Traffic patterns
• Last-minute cancellations
• Vehicle capacity

A dedicated driver app makes it easy to send routes directly to your drivers and see where your team is at any time. You can share ETAs with customers and automatically send updates on delivery progress to keep your customers in the know. 

Drivers can capture signatures and share delivery photos, too. 

Smart FDS

Smart FDS aims to be an all-in-one solution for farm delivery businesses, offering:

• A custom website with e-commerce functionality
• Built-in route planner
• Automated billing and accounting features
• Weekly delivery planner to keep your inventory full
• A customer dashboard that allows users to subscribe to recurring deliveries

Smart FDS has a laundry list of features, and you can easily request a demo to take this platform for a test run.

Conclusion

Manual route planning may seem like a simple solution at first, but you’ll quickly outgrow this approach as your farm delivery business scales. Prioritizing orders, creating delivery zones, and optimizing your loading/unloading process can help, but route planning tools are the real game-changers. Weigh your options carefully and choose a solution that will scale with you while giving you flexibility and control over your routes.