Paragon enhances routing software to support electric vehicles
Paragon has enhanced its routing and scheduling software to address the potential challenges associated with planning for sustainable vehicles.
In a statement issued on Friday (21 February), Paragon said that it had taken this step in response to the increasing take-up of electric and hybrid vehicles – which currently have more limited ranges than petrol and diesel machines.
“Green fleets are firmly on the radar of many logistics operations as they look to minimise environmental impact by moving away from vehicles powered by petrol and diesel, while also contending with emissions-based restrictions in many urban areas,” said William Salter, Managing Director of Paragon Software Systems. “With this in mind, we have added functionality to our software solution to simplify the planning process for fleets that combine both sustainable and conventional vehicles.”
Transport planners will now be able to define the actual range of a sustainable truck or van, ensuring that the Paragon routing and scheduling software restricts the distance of any trip to the vehicle’s maximum range. If any subsequent manual adjustments result in extra mileage beyond the range of a vehicle, a warning will alert the planner to the potential issue.
Paragon’s latest annual UK customer survey found that the most significant transport development this year is expected to be around vehicle innovation, especially alternative power sources or autonomous technology. In fact, it found that almost 20% of respondents already have electric or hybrid vehicles, with a further 26% expecting to adopt in the next two years.
Phil Ingham, Support Director of Paragon Software Systems, commented: “We initially developed this functionality to meet specific customer demand, but we believe it will become increasingly relevant for many types of logistics operations as they introduce greener vehicles over the coming years. With a growing number of low emissions zones in town and cities, companies that handle urban deliveries will in particular face added sustainability challenges.”
