As a wholesale distributor of building materials serving 12 states with 60 locations, Homer Glen, Illinois-based Richards Building Supply (RBS) invested in route planning and delivery software to help ensure consistent, on-time delivery to its growing customer base.
RBS noticed some trucks heading out, even though they were under capacity, Vetter says. The analytics help employees assess the reason why any trucks are under capacity, such as a tight delivery time frame. RBS can then determine whether it would have been possible to place more material on a truck, therefore reducing the need to reload.
delivery, employees would have to manually gather the information. The Descartes system indicates, among other data, whether a truck has left and the time it’s expected to arrive at a customer’s location. Employees were “blown away” by the ease with which they could access the solution’s range of information, Vetter says. For instance, once employees enter their vehicle information into the Descartes routing system, it flows into the commercial navigation system RBS drivers use. Manually planning routes, as RBS had been doing, can eat up several hours each day, across each branch. With route planning software, this job often can be completed in about 30 minutes, Parfeniuk says. The proof-of-delivery notifications available through the system include pictures that drivers take of the materials delivered, including any stickers that contain product information, the number of items delivered, and their condition. The application also prompts drivers to capture pictures of driveways before and after each delivery. These can be used to evaluate any claims that one of the company’s trucks damaged a driveway. The reporting available through the route planning solution also provides valuable information, including the number of orders on each truck. Early on,
incomplete, so RBS can ask for additional information before drivers are on the road. “We can spend less time trying to figure out where the address is and go straight to it,” Vetter says. As orders flow into RBS, they’re entered into the company’s ERP system. From there, they flow to the Descartes route planning software, which builds a safe, efficient route that accounts for constraints such as delivery windows, as well as the availability of different trucks and drivers. THE PAYOFF Vetter says she can’t imagine working without the Descartes solutions. Customers receive an email or text notification when an RBS delivery is on its way, with an estimated arrival time. Customers also receive an email or text once their deliveries are complete, so they spend less time calling to ask about the deliveries. “This allows them to run their business more efficiently,” Vetter says. That’s a dramatic contrast to the previous manual white-board system, which provided little beyond the customer’s name and the truck that would make the delivery. It couldn’t provide information on a truck’s location, nor the number of deliveries the driver had to make before it was expected to arrive at a specific customer. When a customer called to check the status of a
CUTTING DRIVE TIME AND COSTS Many companies enjoy a modest
reduction in drive times when moving to the route planning system, Parfeniuk says. If a company is using a paper-based process, shifting to the route planning solution typically saves about $1 per delivery, per day, he adds. The system can also reduce any disputes about products going missing from job sites, as well as any claims that a driver damaged a customer’s property. Vetter and her team at RBS continue to look at other features of the Descartes solution that will enable them to continue to improve the customer experience, create efficiencies, and reduce the cost of deliveries, all within an environment of safety. For example, they’re exploring the Descartes customer engagement platform to further boost the service they can provide. “Descartes has become a strong partner for us over the years,” Vetter says.
July 2026 • Inbound Logistics 177
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