ETA in Shipping: Why Retailers & Delivery Partners Need to Pay Attention

ETA or Estimated Time of Arrival is an essential component of shipping logistics. It refers to the predicted time when a parcel is expected to arrive at its intended destination. ETA is a crucial aspect of shipping and logistics, as it helps retailers and delivery partners plan and organize their operations efficiently.

However, despite its importance, ETA in shipping can be challenging for retailers and delivery partners due to various factors such as unpredictable weather, traffic congestion, and delays in customs clearance. In this blog, we’ll explore the concept of ETA in shipping and the challenges that retailers and delivery partners face in ensuring timely deliveries.

The Concept of ETA in Shipping

Estimated Time of Arrival is a prediction of when a shipment will arrive at its intended destination. It is calculated by considering various factors such as the distance between the origin and destination, the mode of transportation, and any potential delays that may occur during transit. The ETA is usually communicated to the recipient and other stakeholders involved in the shipment, such as retailers and delivery partners.

The ETA can be calculated in different ways, depending on the mode of transportation. For example, in air freight, the ETA is calculated based on the flight schedule and the expected flight time. In sea freight, the ETA is determined based on the shipping schedule, the port of origin and destination, and any potential delays in customs clearance.

ETA Related Challenges Faced by Retailers and Delivery Partners

Despite the importance of ETA in shipping, there are several challenges that retailers and delivery partners face in ensuring timely deliveries:

Traffic Congestion: Traffic is a major issue, especially in urban areas. It can cause delays in the transportation of goods, resulting in a delay in the delivery of goods.

Fuzzy customer addresses: Inaccurate information such as incorrect addresses or contact details can result in a delay in the delivery of goods. This can cause additional costs and can impact the reputation of the retailer or delivery partner.

Manual package sorting: When delivery partners are the warehouse sorting packages manually according to location, size, vehicle type, etc, the ETA is significantly increased and your driver’s morale is hit due to long hours of time under the roof leading to more time spent on the job.

Captive, contracted and outsourced fleet problems: Typically, retailers typically outsource some of their deliveries and rest are handled via their captive fleet. The challenge for them is not being able to accommodate on-demand orders since a legacy fleet management system doesn’t have the capabilities of advanced automation.

Weather Conditions: Unpredictable weather conditions such as storms, hurricanes, and heavy snowfall can significantly impact the ETA of a shipment. These weather conditions can delay the transportation of goods and can cause closures of roads and airports, resulting in a delay in the delivery of goods.

How can Retailers and Delivery Partners Overcome these Challenges?

Retailers and delivery partners can overcome these challenges by adopting technology solutions to make a difference.

• Route management: A robust routing solution can help you get rid of issues like fuzzy customer addresses or traffic congestion as these solutions have built in smart algorithms that account for real world constraints like road closures, traffic, etc and provide you with an optimal route for faster deliveries.
• Smart geocoder: Fuzzy customer address challenges can be tackled with smart geocoders that can convert any address to precise latitude and longitude coordinates. This helps delivery partners to make on-time deliveries and retailers to keep their 99.5% SLA promise intact.
• Take control of your fleets: A robust fleet management system can optimize your captive fleet, and help you ship through a vast carrier network, renew contracts, audit carriers and get real time quotes based on your requirements, all in one place.
• Automated package sorting: Carriers/3PLs come under a lot of pressure when it comes to ETA, as they are ones who make the deliveries for the retailers. With a robust package sorting solution, you can cut down sorting time by over 60% and personnel by 70% leading to reduction in time under the roof and last mile costs.
• Exception Management: A robust dispatch management system will be integrated with an automated expectation management system. Exceptions in deliveries due to factors like weather and natural disasters are quickly communicated to the customers for improved customer experience and transparency. Also, unexplained halts and deviations can all be tracked by dispatcher through the DMP to make sure ETAs are not affected.

In conclusion, ETA is a critical component of the shipping process for both retailers and delivery partners. It provides transparency and predictability, helps with inventory management, enables proactive communication, facilitates efficient logistics planning, minimizes costs associated with delays, and improves overall customer satisfaction. By prioritizing ETA and incorporating it into their shipping processes, retailers and delivery partners can improve efficiency, reduce costs, and ultimately provide a better customer experience.