Nonprofit Fleet Route Optimization Case Study: Food & Friends Uses the RouteSavvy Route Optimization API To Deliver Life-saving Food, Save Time & Reduce Operating Costs

When the Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit Food & Friends was launched in 1988, the founders may not have envisioned delivering more than 20 million meals for seriously ill people in the area, thus requiring nonprofit fleet route optimization.

This busy nonprofit delivers nutritionally tailored meals or home-delivered groceries to people with cancer, diabetes, AIDS & other life-threatening diseases. These delivered meals are a lifeline for ill, exhausted, broke people who literally are fighting for their lives.

The RouteSavvy Route Optimization Application Program Interface (API) from OnTerra Systems USA offers nonprofit fleet route optimization. The RouteSavvy API helps Food & Friends streamline & simplify the process of delivering meals and groceries throughout 5,300 square miles covering Washington D.C.,  and parts of Maryland and Virginia.

“This year, Food & Friends is on track to deliver 1 million meals to 3,000 people,”
– Carrie Stoltzfus, Executive Director | Food & Friends, Washington, D.C.

Steady Growth, 9 Delivery Vans + 100s of Volunteers Required Nonprofit Fleet Route Optimization Technology

In the early days, Food & Friends staffers were manually creating routes for their van drivers and volunteers, according to Ms. Stoltzfus. 

“We would manually organize clients on routes, input the delivery address into Microsoft MapPoint (which is no longer supported), optimize each route, and give a printout to each driver,” she said.

But steady growth to more than 1 million deliveries per year meant that manual route planning was no longer feasible.

“Meals and groceries are now delivered by staff drivers using a fleet of 9 retro-fitted refrigerated vans and hundreds of individual volunteers who deliver meals or groceries,” she said.  “As we grew, route optimization became a critical need, along with software to help us coordinate food, groceries, and deliveries.”

New Software System Developed For Food & Friends To Coordinate Food Preparation & Routing

To help streamline operations & coordinate a complex plan of food preparation & deliveries for thousands of people, Food & Friends commissioned a software development company to develop a comprehensive software system. Nonprofit fleet route optimization was a needed component.

“We first heard about the RouteSavvy Route Optimization API because our software engineer recommended it,” recalled Ms. Stoltfus. “Our engineer liked the RouteSavvy API because it had the functions we needed at a very reasonable price.”

As a result, software engineers used the RouteSavvy API to integrate much-needed nonprofit fleet route optimization into Food & Friends’ new software system.

The Food & Friends software system helps manage the complex process of providing food & groceries to thousands of people with widely varying food requirements each year. Their software system:

• Coordinates the recipients, their location & special dietary needs (example: low-sugar meals)
• Provides instructions on what meals or groceries should be prepared for them
• Includes logistics information for delivery such as “give him plenty of time to get to the front door to receive the delivery”
• Optimizes the routes for 9 vans & delivery routes for hundreds of individual volunteers

“Before using the RouteSavvy API as part of our software system, we were spending 2 hours a day manually optimizing and printing routes. After using RouteSavvy, we’re saving 10 hours per week for the office staff, or 520 staff hours per year.” – Carrie Stoltzfus, Executive Director | Food & Friends, Washington, D.C.

By using the RouteSavvy Route Optimization API to incorporate nonprofit fleet route optimization into their operations, Food & Friends is achieving significant benefits, according to Ms. Stoltzfus.

“We’ve been using the RouteSavvy Route Optimization API for about five years now,” she explained. She says the benefits of using the RouteSavvy API have included:

• Saving roughly 10 hours per week for the office staff
• Saving driver time for staff drivers & volunteers
• Fuel cost savings
• Generating powerful talking points about efficient operations conveyed to donors

“The RouteSavvy Route Optimization API helps us stretch our financial resources, which is helpful in approaching donors who want to know that we’re using their money wisely.” – Carrie Stoltzfus, Executive Director | Food & Friends, Washington, D.C.

The RouteSavvy API is providing an important role in helping Food & Friends accomplish its mission of feeding people who are so sick that they need assistance with basic life chores such as cooking and shopping. The RouteSavvy API also is helping Food & Friends make the most efficient use of its’ volunteers and their time.

“RouteSavvy is helping us get food delivered to people in need in the most efficient manner, we also recognize that our hundreds of volunteers make an important contribution of their time. RouteSavvy gives them a tool to make their deliveries efficiently, and use their time efficiently.“The RouteSavvy Route Optimization API is helping Food & Friends make better use of time, fuel, and donated resources.”
– Carrie Stoltzfus, Executive Director | Food & Friends, Washington, D.C.

Learn More about the RouteSavvy Route Optimization API.