Scared of technology? You’re not alone.
According to a recent study by Chapman University, technology was ranked the second-highest fear, after natural disasters.
“People tend to express the highest level of fear for things they’re dependent on but that they don’t have any control over,” said Christopher Bader, a sociology professor at Chapman and one of the co-authors of the study. “And that’s almost a perfect definition of technology.”
Meet Deb. At 60+ years of age, Deb is a self-proclaimed technophobe and she’s not alone.
As a customer service rep at FrogBox Toronto, Deb juggles multiple tasks from dealing with customers to administrative work to planning pick-up and delivery routes.
Two years ago, Deb was initially reluctant to try route optimization software. Now, she can’t imagine life without it.
“I’m old school,” she admitted. “I’m in my 60s. I don’t use technology in my personal life. I don’t have any of that social media stuff, but I do heavily rely on technology in my job.”
We asked Deb to tell us about the challenges she faces, and how she uses technology to help her:
- How did you get your start at route planning?
I’ve been planning routes since the 1990s. For more than a decade, I was tasked with coordinating logistics for a driving school in Toronto. Driving instructors needed to pick up students from their schools and drop them home at the end of the lesson. I planned all of that manually.
Now I work as a customer service rep at Frogbox. I also plan pick up and delivery routes every day, but it’s different because I use software to help me.
2. What are some of the biggest challenges when it comes to route planning?
Meeting our customer’s expectations. Some customers require their goods to be delivered ASAP. We’re always dealing with adjustments and last minute orders.
3. How did you plan your routes before Routific?
I know the city really well. I can drive around the city with my eyes closed!
Before I knew about route optimization software, I relied on Google Maps to plan my routes from A to B. It took copious amounts of time because I had to plan each route manually.
But at Frogbox, our drivers have to make as many as 20 stops a day. This is why I can rely on software to make those calculations faster and better than I can.
I’m able to plan my route in 12 minutes, and my drivers spend less time on the road — they now get Sundays off!
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