Requirements checklist
What to ask for when choosing software for delivery companies.
A checklist built from how delivery companies work, to print or save as a PDF and bring to any supplier meeting.
What the software should cover
Tick each one that matters to your business.
- Booking and pickup requests
- Hub scanning and sorting
- Run sheets and route assignment
- Proof of delivery and failed attempts
- Cash on delivery reconciliation
- Customer rate cards, invoices and rider pay
Roles that need their own access
Who logs in, and what each person may see or change.
- For dispatchers
- For hub staff
- For riders and drivers
- For customer service
- For accounts and owners
Reports to ask for
Ask to see each one with your own sample data.
- Parcels delivered, failed and returned by day and depot
- Run sheet completion by rider and zone
- Cash on delivery collected, short and owed to senders
- Invoices by customer, fuel surcharge and billing period
- Rider earnings by drops, attempts, pickups and distance
- Fuel, tyre and service cost per van and run
- Parcels held in cages at the hub beyond agreed handling
Systems it may need to connect to
Note which ones you already run.
- SMS
- WhatsApp or other messaging
- Barcode scanners and label printers
- Mapping service
- Shop platform order files
- Accounting software export
Questions for any vendor
Put these to every supplier you are comparing.
- Is this for couriers or for trucking companies?
- How does a rider capture proof of delivery?
- What happens when a recipient is not at home?
- Can cash collected by riders be reconciled per parcel?
- Can we give business customers their own rates?
- Can senders track parcels themselves?
- Can we keep the barcode scanners and label printers we already own?
- Can current parcels and customers be moved across?
- What does it cost?
Where the work usually breaks today
Circle the ones you recognise. They set the order of the project.
- Parcel status lives in several tools
- Failed deliveries are handled by phone
- Cash collected does not match run sheets
- Customer rate cards are applied by hand
- Rider pay is calculated at month end
Prefer to talk it through? See the delivery companies page.