Most organizations now operate with some form of routing and scheduling software, yet a new industry survey suggests those tools are not keeping pace with operational needs. According to the “Routing & Scheduling Reality Check” report from ORTEC and JBF Consulting, a striking share of companies describe their systems as merely adequate, reflecting a market where adoption has outpaced satisfaction. As delivery windows narrow and planning cycles compress, many transportation teams are looking for capabilities that move beyond static routing and basic status updates.
Neutral Satisfaction Levels Signal a Maturing Market
Although 68% of companies use a routing and scheduling platform, only 10% say they are “very satisfied,” while two-thirds describe themselves as neutral or dissatisfied. That middle category, 46% of respondents, highlights a market stuck between wide adoption and underwhelming performance. Cost, operational complexity, and persistent data-quality challenges remain the top obstacles for organizations that have yet to modernize or fully leverage their systems.
Interest is rising in more advanced functions such as integrated territory and daily scheduling planning, a priority for nearly 30% of respondents. Another 26% are looking for more accurate, predictive delivery-time estimates, capabilities that reflect rising service expectations and the shift toward more dynamic fulfillment models. Recent industry analyses also note accelerated investment in tools that can ingest real-time network constraints, a trend driven by congestion, labor shortages, and fluctuating service levels across regional carriers.
Leadership involvement is expanding as well, with C-suite and director-level roles accounting for nearly half of the decision-making in new technology investments. Their focus aligns closely with three KPIs: fleet utilization (36%), vehicle uptime (28%), and route-optimization efficiency (21%), reinforcing the financial and operational rationale behind modernization efforts.
Automation and Predictive Planning Gain Ground
The survey indicates that 60% of companies are moving toward automated customer delivery updates, reflecting a push to reduce manual exceptions and improve transparency around estimated arrival times. Yet 45% of operations still depend on static routing, an approach increasingly strained by daily variability. The gap between automation ambitions and current execution highlights why many organizations feel their systems are only “functional,” not transformative.
Vendor-agnostic advisors like JBF Consulting note that one in five users are actively dissatisfied with their current platform, reinforcing the need for clearer implementation roadmaps and stronger alignment between process design, data governance, and technology selection. According to trade reports, logistics networks that pair routing modernization with disciplined operational practices tend to achieve outsized improvements in service reliability, suggesting the dissatisfaction gap is less about lack of tools and more about fragmented execution across people, policy, and systems.
Where Routing Innovation Will Need to Go Next
As companies recalibrate their transportation strategies, the next wave of differentiation may hinge on how effectively routing tools incorporate constraints beyond the fleet itself. Utilities data, local congestion patterns, yard capacity, and labor availability are becoming increasingly relevant inputs for daily scheduling. Integrating these signals, rather than merely optimizing around miles and minutes, could define the platforms that move from “functional” to truly “exceptional,” especially in a market where neutral satisfaction is no longer a safe middle ground.
