Are you getting as much on your plate as you should be?

Virtually all food products are delivered either frozen or refrigerated to restaurants, cafes, bars and take-away food outlets. Telematics and GPS tracking are becoming more popular in this space.

Food delivery fleets are a crucial part of our economy and are heavily relied upon. Imagine if Melbourne’s supply of coffee was affected!

These delivery fleets have numerous tasks at hand to ensure food and beverages are delivered on time, in good condition and within regulation without blowing the budgets of businesses.

Whether a small foodie fleet or an armada of vehicles, GPS tracking devices are becoming increasingly popular to track orders to keep shelves stocked and tables served.

Chris Edwards, managing director at Australian Catering Services in Brisbane says while business is going well, tracking technology is definitely something to be aware of as a way of improving efficiency.

“We are looking at tracking systems for food delivery utes and vans,” he said, “We use online booking systems and see on delivery sign-in services as a future step to improve customer experience.”

“I sit on a the QLD council for Restaurant and Catering and I know business needs to pick up more before those technologies get investigated further for our business. We have a fairly simple system running well at present, our clients just contact us directly if there is a problem with delivery or timing, however I see apps and vehicle tracking as part of the future for food deliveries.” he added.

In the US, ETAs are being utilised to alert customers, that is cafe owners and restaurant management, of stock arriving. Offering customers exceptional customer service provides peace-of-mind and reliability because empty stores are a nightmare to those small to large business operators.

Advanced routing and mapping technology offers food fleets the benefit of shorter transport routes and resulting delivery duration. The knock-on effect here is less wear and tear on the fleet and cost savings through fuel use. It also provides a reduced demand on drivers, increasing safety and staff wellbeing. More importantly however, it reduces the chance of food spoilage with expiration dates.

It’s been suggested in the US that restaurant businesses will have over 70% of food delivered from outside the restaurant by 2020, meaning increasing fleet competition.

Table up!