The other half is making sure those goods are delivered at a time when there will be someone at the premises to accept the delivery. 

And, for that reason, you now have the ability to set opening times against any location in Stream. 

How do location opening times work?

You can now add opening times to any location address for an order. 

Opening times are then used when using the automated route planning functionality (autoplan) in Stream to ensure the delivery meets the opening times of the location.  

Use Cases:

Here are a few examples of use cases/situations in which you might find location opening times a valuable feature for aiding delivery planning:

• Restaurants/takeaways, where their delivery windows often fall outside of the hours that the venue is open for service, and/or they operate on split shifts, e.g. fish & chip restaurants that have frying times over lunch and dinner
• Businesses that only accept delivery of goods on specific days and/or at specific times
• A business that is in an area/street with time restrictions on when deliveries can be made
• Businesses with whom you have arranged designated days/times to make their deliveries
• Businesses where there is nobody on the premises before or after the published opening/closing times

Benefits of using opening times for deliveries:

If you feel that one of these use cases explains your logistics operation, then here are some of the benefits you can expect when planning with opening times:

• Fewer failed deliveries, as drivers will only be scheduled for delivery jobs when there’s someone available to receive the goods
• More accurate route planning as you can plan specific deliveries based on their opening times and plan any additional delivery and/or collection jobs for other customers around them
• More reliable ETAs thanks to being able to account for opening times during the route planning stage and not dealing with the consequences after the fact
• Reduced delivery mileage/retracing of routes as drivers won’t turn up to find a business closed or nobody available to receive goods at that time and have to come back at a later time or date
• Better vehicle utilisation as drivers don’t need to spend hours waiting around for locations to open and can complete more deliveries in a single shift
• Reduced reliance on complex opening times schedules being stored in individuals’ brains
• Win more business as you can offer deliveries during set opening times

How do I set up Location Opening Times

Want to get started adding opening times to your delivery locations?

Check out our knowledge base article on Location opening times for help getting started.

Not yet a Stream customer?

Explore more of our delivery route planning benefits, or book a demo with our team today. 

The post What’s New: Location Opening Times appeared first on Stream.

Logistics continues to evolve with customers now expecting absolute transparency from the moment they make a purchase to the point that their order is delivered, be that through comprehensive order and delivery tracking or irrefutable evidence that a delivery has been completed.

Upgrading from outdated paper run sheets to electronic Proof of Delivery (ePOD) isn’t just about saving paper; it’s about eliminating the operational blind spots that slow business down and eat into your bottom line.

Here’s all you need to know about the benefits of opting to use digital Proof of Delivery against obsolete paper forms or their equivalents with examples of what a typical ePOD application should offer, for further context..

What is electronic Proof of Delivery (ePOD)?

Electronic Proof of Delivery (abbreviated to ePOD), replaces physical paper Proof of Delivery forms, signatures, clipboards, and other types of manual run sheets with a real-time digital record of every delivery event.

Stream has been developed as an event-based application. Events can be captured right down to individual line item level. 

This granularity is exceptionally useful across most industries Stream works across, but particularly in high compliance sectors such as pharmaceutical logistics and wholesale distribution.

Delivery events captured in Stream include (and in no particular order):

When a driver uses an ePOD system, like the Stream ePOD app, a back-office gets immediate, end-to-end visibility into exact delivery timestamps, item-level order statuses, digital signatures, and geotagged photo evidence captured at the doorstep to provide irrefutable proof that an order has been successfully delivered as expected.

Irrefutable proof of delivery and the delivery events detailed above are especially important if you’re an operator with an in-house logistics fleet looking to scale your marketplace sales as Stream is a recognised carrier on a growing list of marketplaces including Amazon, eBay and Temu.

Rather than waiting for paper manifests to return to the office at the end of the day, digital delivery data moves instantly from where the driver has captured the information.

Your back office can be alerted to any delivery issues, such as missing items or inaccessible properties, instantaneously, rather than waiting for the paper Proof of Delivery to be hand-delivered back by the driver.

The irrefutable delivery data is securely stored in the cloud, giving stakeholders an easily accessible, searchable audit trail to resolve customer disputes instantly without filing physical paperwork away in cabinets.

Upon completion, applications like Stream can automatically email the end customer their proof of delivery link, review requests, or feedback forms, which is ideal for B2C operations.

Business partners and distributors can also access ePODs directly through their portal logins, cutting out inbound queries and manual admin effort.

It is worth noting here that the Stream driver app is available for both Android and iOS devices. Though drivers will be able to scan barcodes with any smartphone, capture ePOD and complete vehicle walkaround checks, we would recommend using a more specialised system, typically through a rugged handheld device or phone to a central system. 

Why paper Proof of Delivery hurts business in comparison to digital

In the digital age there are still, surprisingly, logistics operations that rely on paper Proof of Delivery simply out of habit.

It’s familiar, it’s what their staff and drivers have always used, and switching feels like somewhat of a hassle.

But paper comes with a host of red flags: it is inherently fragile, easy to misplace, and quickly takes up storage space in your office cupboards when delivering at scale. Perhaps most importantly, a paper run sheet is completely disconnected from the office the moment the driver pulls out of the depot; that information is beholden to the paper it is written on.

The messaging app trap: swapping one headache for another

Once operators realise that paper proof of delivery has quickly become a relic of a bygone era, other quick-fix solutions are explored – a WhatsApp group consisting of numerous staff members, a shared spreadsheet, virtually anything to get some visibility back while maintaining a sense of progression.

It feels like progress initially, but these methods introduce a new set of hidden costs and inefficiencies, despite what the illusion their cunningly contrived solution may tell them.

After a laborious scroll through hundreds of WhatsApp messages in the ‘Customer Deliveries’ group chat consisting of numerous staff members, the seemingly genius ‘quick fix’ the Logistics Manager suggested starts to look a lot like the paper problem in digital clothing.

It’s frustratingly slow to find the correct delivery information against 50 others that were delivered on the same day, and easy to lose track of.

There’s also a quieter risk sitting underneath it: customer names, addresses, and delivery photos ending up stored on drivers’ personal phones.

From a GDPR compliance standpoint WhatsApp is not suitable for sharing customer data, addresses, or access codes with employees due to issues surrounding data control, stolen devices, and WhatsApp’s terms of service.

Dedicated electronic Proof of Delivery systems are purpose built to avoid these issues entirely and store data according to the law and GDPR practices.

Real-world ePOD applications across industries

Whether an operation runs B2C or B2B deliveries, replacing paper run sheets with a digital workflow removes friction at almost every touchpoint, particularly the final mile.

B2C: proving it arrived in one piece

In home delivery sectors like furniture, large appliances, and general retail, the moment of delivery is where delivery disputes are typically won or lost.

While general parcel delivery failure rates hover around 5% to 7% and big-ticket home delivery faces significantly higher friction.

Up to 7% furniture deliveries arrive damaged (scuffed, scratched, or broken), making transit/doorstep damage the leading driver of post-delivery claims.

Capturing timestamped photographic evidence and a digital signature before and after delivery, or for white glove operations and installation, these irrefutable methods of data capture give a business hard proof evidence that an item arrived in perfect condition – protecting against fraudulent damage claims that would otherwise come down to one person’s word against another’s.

Particularly in the age of ever-growing porch piracy – the theft of packages and parcels left unattended on a front doorstep, porch, or entryway after commercial delivery.

B2B: signing off without a signature

Some B2B deliveries – like food and drink drop-offs at restaurants or automotive parts sent to garages – happen outside opening hours, when the location is unstaffed and no one can sign for them.

As a workaround, drivers log time-stamped proof of site access and capture photographic evidence of the successful product placement(s) directly, with no physical signature required. This proof is then instantly accessible in digital form to all of the stakeholders, offering peace of mind and security throughout the process.

How an ePOD app replaces the clipboard: the five-step driver workflow

A well-designed ePOD driver app doesn’t just digitise a paper form; it enforces operational compliance before the vehicle has even left the depot.

Stream’s driver workflow follows five key steps for a safe and secure workflow:

1. Secure driver login – the driver authenticates via individual credentials, with password resets handled securely through email.
2. Mandatory vehicle safety checks – time-gated checks are run via vehicle registration search. If a major defect is flagged, the vehicle’s status is set to Unusable and Stream automatically blocks the route from departing until a planner reassigns a safe vehicle.
3. Depart route & live customer tracking – the timestamped departure activates live ETAs, stop counts, and dynamic map tracking for internal monitors and end-customers alike.
4. Doorstep delivery & reconciliation – on arrival, the driver reconciles items on-site, whether that’s confirming a full delivery, adjusting quantities, or splitting line items for a partial drop.
5. Digital sign-off & cloud sync – a signature or photo is captured, and completing the drop syncs the data instantly to Google Cloud Storage, triggering automated customer emails and updating any connected partner portals.

Using electronic Proof of Delivery to manage exceptions without the guesswork

When a paper run sheet comes back with an ineligible scribbled note reading ‘1 item missing,’ office staff, if they can even read the scribble in the first instance, are left guessing or reading between the lines.

Digital ePOD applications, like Stream, replace that guesswork with two precise digital methods for handling item quantity issues at the depot or during delivery.

Method 1: Quantity adjustment 

The quantity adjustment feature is best suited to bulk and weight variations. If a driver identifies a shortage on-site, such as delivering 9,500 kg of wheat instead of the anticipated 10,000 kg, the quantity is adjusted directly within the line item, which proportionately scales down the total weight.

The missing volume is permanently written off and removed from the system.

Method 2: Line-item splitting

This is the preferred approach for missing goods and re-deliveries.

If a driver finds one item damaged or missing out of a multi-quantity order, such as one desk out of a two-desk delivery, the line item is split in the app into two separate single-item lines.

One is marked delivered ok; the other is marked failed with a designated reason code.

The completed item is registered against the system as successfully delivered, while the failed item stays active in the system so the office can replan a second delivery attempt without having to start from scratch.

Loading errors are a common source of friction that can cause items to go missing. Stream’s Driver App solves this with meticulous barcode scanning during both loading and unloading, ensuring every item is accounted for before departure or delivery.

Warehouse or depot teams scan goods as stock arrives, and drivers perform scan-to-van checks using Stream package labels in reverse stop order for efficient ‘first-in, last-off’ loading, making missed item errors or issues significantly more infrequent in comparison to their paper-based counterparts.

Built to match the pace of the operation

For high-volume drops, Stream can be configured with a shortened workflow, bypassing screen confirmations, skipping completed stop lists, and making photo or signature steps optional to keep drivers moving.

Certain conditional logics can still require a photo automatically if a hazard is flagged, and clean, customer-facing PDFs are output directly to Google Cloud Storage regardless of which workflow is running.

For multichannel sellers, real-time webhooks send automated marketplace tracking ‘Dispatched’ and ‘Delivered’ updates to major marketplaces like eBay, Amazon, or Temu the moment a driver completes a delivery drop, protecting seller ratings without anyone having to manually input the data.

Conclusion

Paper run sheets, spreadsheets, and popular messaging apps like Whatsapp might each solve a small part of the proof of delivery puzzle, but relying on them significantly harms fleet productivity and delivery management, while quietly draining profit margins over time.

Not to mention further issues when a customer dispute lands, a GDPR question gets raised, or a driver’s scribbled notes turn out to be the only record of what actually happened at the door. 

The last mile, arguably the most important aspect of the supply chain, is where business reputations are won or lost and customer trust is earned, not assumed.

Replacing these outdated methods with a purpose-built, digital ePOD solution hands operational control back to the business, with error-proof driver workflows and full visibility over the delivery supply chain, from depot to doorstep.

The post Paper vs. Digital: What Is ePOD and Why Are Paper Run Sheets Hurting Your Bottom Line? appeared first on Stream.

You can’t fix an operational breakdown in the middle of Black Friday. The real work happens in August.

To help you get ahead of the curve, our partner Linnworks are hosting Sell. Ship. Scale: The Peak Season Virtual Summit.

Designed as a practical, 4-hour roadmap, this event follows the exact sequence of peak operations – from multi-channel sales and inventory alignment to cross-border shipping, AI customer support, and returns management.

Event Details:

• Date: Thursday, August 27th, 2026
• Time: 1:00 PM BST | 8:00 AM EST
• Format: 4-Hour Virtual Summit

What you’ll learn:

• Channel Strategy: Preparing your online marketplaces and websites for high-volume order surges.
• Inventory & Fulfilment: Aligning stock across locations to eliminate overselling and fulfilment friction.
• Shipping & Support: Securing carrier strategies, cutting delivery costs, and leveraging AI to handle support spikes.
• Returns Playbook: Protecting revenue and retaining customers after the holiday volume settles.

Instead of firefighting this Q4, build an operation that scales effortlessly under pressure. Plus, attendees who join live will be entered into a giveaway to win an exclusive swag pack.

Register here

The post Why Wait for the November Chaos? Peak-Proof Your Ecommerce Operations Now appeared first on Stream.

What is new with the Shopify integration?

Stream can now connect directly with Shopify through a direct integration designed, developed, and maintained by Rishvi Limited.

The new direct integration is two-way, i.e. order information from Shopify to Stream and delivery updates from Stream to Shopify. The direct integration gives businesses that run their own in-house delivery operation a more efficient, automated, and comprehensive order-to-delivery workflow.

Once order information is automatically passed from Shopify into Stream, you can then plan and optimise delivery routes; track orders and drivers in real-time; and capture electronic Proof of Delivery (ePOD).

What are the benefits of the direct Shopify integration?

Connecting Shopify with Stream brings a host of efficiency benefits to your own-fleet logistics operation:

Automatic order creation

Any new Shopify order is automatically created in Stream, ready to be planned for delivery. No manual input is required.

Plan efficient delivery routes

Plan, optimise, and schedule your Shopify delivery (and collection) runs in just a few clicks. 

Capture irrefutable Proof of Delivery

Capture Proof of Delivery (and collection), including photos, signatures, and timestamps, through the Stream Driver App. The mobile app also enables your drivers to scan barcodes for item level traceability, as well as complete walkaround checks and report vehicle defects. 

Real-time tracking & notifications

Get real-time order, delivery and driver tracking, with automatic notifications for both you and your customers. Tracking IDs generated in Stream are passed back to Shopify.

Delivery updates can be synced between both systems to further reduce manual work.

How do I set up my Shopify integration?

For full details on how to set up your Shopify integration with Stream, check out our Shopify help articles in the Knowledge Base.

Our integration partner Rishvi, who specialises in eCommerce solutions, system integrations, and inventory management, has developed the new seamless, direct integration between Shopify and Stream.

You can still connect Shopify with Stream using the existing integration with Zapier.

Not yet a Stream customer?

Book a demo of Stream today to start automating your in-house e-commerce logistics operation.

Book My Demo >>

Frequently Asked Questions

The post What’s New: Direct Shopify Integration for Own-Fleet Logistics Operations appeared first on Stream.

Failure to provide valid tracking can lead to poor account health, compliance issues and increased “Item Not Received” claims.

What began as valid tracking for seller-fulfilled orders on Amazon has grown to cover more marketplaces, including eBay, Temu and B&Q marketplace. 

Stream is now integrated with Mirakl, a leading provider of dropshipping and marketplace platforms serving over 450 retailers globally. 

This new integration with Mirakl means you can now provide valid tracking for marketplaces such as Tesco, The Range and Debenhams, with many more to come in the near future.

And now with access to all of these new marketplaces, we’ve changed the way we’re pricing our marketplace integrations. 

Unlimited marketplace integrations

Stream subscribers can now get unlimited access to our available marketplace integrations for just £300 per month, and that includes 1,000 tracked orders per month. 

Additional order bundles can be purchased for businesses processing high volumes of marketplace orders. 

Check out the full list of Stream’s marketplace integrations here.

What is valid tracking for marketplaces?

Valid tracking refers to a tracking number, or tracking ID, that is supplied by an approved carrier and one that the marketplace recognises as legitimate confirmation that an order has been shipped. 

If you are a merchant who sells on these marketplaces, Stream solves tracking compliance issues for seller-fulfilled operations.

Select StreamTech as your recognised carrier in each marketplace. Add the Stream tracking ID for each order. 

This ensures customers get real-time tracking updates from order to door.

Why is this important for self-delivery sellers on marketplaces?

Valid tracking on marketplaces is incredibly important for ensuring your seller accounts remain healthy. 

Maintain high seller standards

Stream provides real-time updates directly to each marketplace from initial order confirmation all the way through to delivery confirmation and electronic Proof of Delivery. 

Your seller metrics remain protected and you have irrefutable proof of completed orders as well as a full audit history in the case of fraudulent claims. 

Marketplaces penalise merchants for missing tracking data. They restrict listings or suspend accounts. 

Reduce penalties and INR claims

Customers file “Item Not Received” claims when visibility is poor. These claims can significantly damage margins and delay payments from the marketplace concerned. 

Your drivers capture clear electronic Proof of Delivery (ePOD) in Stream’s mobile app. This includes GPS-tagged, time-stamped signatures and photos of delivered products and protects you from invalid refund requests.

Improving the customer experience

Buyers on any marketplace expect transparency and want to know exactly what is happening with every order, especially when their order is going to arrive. 

By using Stream’s marketplace integrations, you can provide buyers with accurate delivery windows and valid tracking updates from order to door. 

This reduces “Where Is My Order” (WISMO) enquiries and the chances of receiving negative seller feedback.

Not yet a Stream customer?

Book a demo of Stream today to start automating your marketplace in-house logistics operation and protecting your seller rating. Book My Demo

The post What’s New: Unlimited Marketplace Tracking for in-House Logistics appeared first on Stream.

But at the end of the day, businesses want to know how much everything is costing, where their money is going, and what’s affecting their bottom line.

At a time when operating costs are stretched and profit margins squeezed, this has never been more important for a logistics operation.

Stream’s latest feature lets you calculate the total cost of a run. Plus, if you’re adding charges to your orders in Stream, it will enable you to get a clearer picture of the margin of a run.

And you can do all of this before the driver even departs on the run, giving you advanced visibility of whether a run is going to be profitable.

How does run costing work in Stream?

Run costing is the ability to generate a total cost for each of your delivery runs.

The total cost for a single run is calculated by taking the predefined costs associated with the vehicle being used and combining that with any additional costs you choose to manually add to the run.

Any charges applied to orders, such as delivery fees which are paid by the customer, will then be displayed and deducted from the total run cost, to give you the overall margin for the run.

Understanding the vehicle costs

• Hourly Cost – A cost that is applied for every hour that the vehicle is being used on a run [VALUE x run duration].
• Fixed Cost – A single fixed cost that is applied once, when the vehicle is used on a run.
• Distance Cost – A cost that is applied based on the distance covered on the run [VALUE x run mileage].
• Job Cost – A cost that is applied for each job (delivery/collection) on the run, calculated as [VALUE x no. drops].

Default vehicle costs can also be set against a ‘Vehicle Type’, meaning that any vehicle within that type will automatically use the associated costs.

The vehicle cost fields have been made flexible, as some businesses will determine certain costs in different ways to others. 

For example, Company A may choose to include the driver’s pay against the ‘Hourly Cost’ field, whilst Company B may assign this as a fixed cost, and Company C may pay their driver per delivery and therefore assign it in the ‘Job Cost’ field.

Benefits of run costing

The great thing about run costing is that it provides businesses with a variety of benefits:

• Receive a realistic picture of how much each of your runs costs
• Uncover reasons why your runs might be operating at a loss
• Highlight cost inefficiencies in your delivery process
• The process can be automated, meaning less time spent looking for various costs from different places

Run costing use cases

You may be interested in generating and reviewing run costs if you want to:

• Understand exactly how much each of your delivery runs is costing your business
• Identify routes, vehicle types, or delivery types that generate the highest margins.
• Calculate whether your delivery runs are profitable and understand whether you are charging enough for your deliveries
• Create a benchmark to work out how you can reduce the overall cost of your delivery runs

How do I calculate costs for my runs?

For details on how to calculate run costs in Stream, check out our knowledge base article Generating Run Costs.

The post What’s New: Calculating Run Costs appeared first on Stream.

Driving a Heavy Goods Vehicle (HGV) on the roads of the UK and Ireland can be somewhat challenging at times. 

Planning a safe and compliant route for a HGV requires meticulous planning to account for vehicle height, weight restrictions, narrow lanes amongst other factors.

With over 1,500 HGV bridge strikes reported annually across both the UK and Irish railway network, the margin for error is slim – and costly for transport companies; railway and highways operators. 

A single bridge collision doesn’t just cause traffic; it carries a heavy financial and legal price tag to boot. 

In this article, we explore how to plan a safe Heavy Goods Vehicle (HGV) delivery route, the true cost of getting it wrong, and the importance of using  purpose-built technology – such as Turn GPS – to keep professional drivers safe.

The cost of cutting corners

Bridge strikes are more than just an inconvenience. 

According to Network Rail, the average cost of a bridge strike is approximately £13,000. 

That’s around £23 million a year in taxpayer money. 

Beyond the immediate repair costs, bridge strike incidents cause:

• Significant delays: Every strike requires a structural inspection, halting both road and rail traffic.
• Damage to reputations: bridge strike incidents can damage the reputation of your business and trust from your clients.
• Legal action: Drivers and operators can face fines and the loss of an Operator’s Licence (O-Licence).
• Safety risks: At worst, these incidents lead to serious injuries or fatalities.

Shockingly, research by Network Rail shows that 32% of drivers don’t know their vehicle’s height before setting off and 56% fail to consider low bridges during route planning.

How to plan a safe HGV delivery route

1. Know your dimensions (before a journey!)

Your vehicle’s height isn’t fixed. It can change based on a number of factors, such as the dimensions of the trailer you’re pulling, the load you’re carrying, and even tyre pressure.

• Measure up: Never guess. Use a tape measure or a measuring pole.
• Display the height: It is a legal requirement for vehicles over 3 metres to have the maximum travelling height displayed in the cab.

2. Ditch generic Sat Navs

Using common navigation apps such as Google Maps or Waze means vehicle dimensions won’t be taken in consideration when routes are created.

These applications have not been designed for HGVs and other large commercial vehicles.

Turn GPS has been designed and developed specifically for vans, trucks and HGVs.

Turn takes into account the specific vehicle profiles, including height, weight, width, and length when planning routes for deliveries and collections.

Complex lane guidance and speed limit indicators keep drivers informed and compliant, reducing the risk of fines and accidents.

When a width, for example, is specified, the routing engine will take into account legal restrictions. Beyond legal restrictions, our turn-by-turn routing system is optimised for commercial vehicles. Turn favours high-priority roads and will actively avoid unsuitable routes such as narrow residential streets, small forest roads, or tight, narrow side streets, even if a formal width limit isn’t posted.

Because Turn GPS connects to Stream’s ecosystem, drivers can launch turn-by-turn navigation directly from their delivery stops, reducing the time spent manually entering postcodes.

3. Use van and HGV specific mapping

Safe routing for vans and HGVs isn’t just about avoiding bridges.

It is also ensuring that drivers are routed safely and efficiently.

Not only does Turn ensure drivers avoid low bridges, but it can also ensure drivers don’t need to make unsafe turns or travel down unsuitable roads.

For Land Energy, a supplier of wood pellet fuels, this was particularly important:

“Turn means any of our drivers can jump in the cab and navigate to each delivery location safely. Personally, I’m based in the South West. We do have a lot of narrow roads down here in rural locations, which aren’t necessarily restricted for weight, for instance, but we know that they’re not suitable for a truck.” 

If you have very specific routes you need your drivers to navigate, Turn also features ‘Waypoints’ and ‘Avoids’ to build custom routes to specific locations. 

For Explore, a specialist haulage and plant hire business uses this particular feature for managing routes to construction sites and urban areas:

“Due to the type of contracts Explore has, we have to ensure drivers follow specific routes. For instance, they might not be able to pass through a certain village when travelling to a construction site. Even though that might not be the most direct route. If you put a location into Google Maps, it will bring up three different ways in which you can go. Turn will do that as well, but we can now build the precise route within the software. We know then that is the precise route the driver will take as well. And that is critical.” 

Turn GPS uses a clean, familiar interface for drivers, offering clear, high-quality 2D and 3D map views that help drivers visualise complex junctions or turns before they arrive.

 It also features a Night Mode (Dark Mode) to reduce glare and driver fatigue during late-shift deliveries, ensuring safety remains a priority 24/7.

4. Conduct thorough digital walkaround checks

Pre-journey checks are your first line of defence. 

Using a digital walkaround check app ensures that height and width data are captured accurately and recorded before a driver sets off. 

This creates a tamper-proof audit trail, proving due diligence was performed before the wheels started turning and any issues are identified through to resolution. 

5. Obey signage!

While planning is vital, the driver must also remain aware, educated, and vigilant.

• Red circles vs. Red triangles: Understand that a red circle indicates a mandatory prohibition, whereas a triangle is a warning. Common examples include speed limits, “no entry”, no right/left turns, and no overtaking.
• Report discrepancies: If your measured height differs from what is shown on the vehicle’s headboard, report it to your transport manager immediately.

Safe & compliant routes for HGVs

Planning the perfect HGV delivery route is a combination of driver vigilance and smart technology. 

By knowing your vehicle’s exact dimensions, using HGV-specific navigation tools like Turn GPS, and obeying road signs, you can protect your cargo, your licence, and the general public.

Don’t leave your route to chance. Plan ahead, stay height-aware, and keep the UK’s roads moving safely.

Explore how Turn GPS can protect your fleet.

Frequently Asked Questions

The post 5 Ways to Plan Safer HGV Routes: Avoiding Low Bridges and Restricted Roads appeared first on Stream.

If so, you’re opening yourself up to a significant liability risk.

You’re also creating a significant blind spot in your operation that is costing you and your business time, money, and customer trust.

An electronic Proof of Delivery (ePOD) app is nothing new, and is no longer a ‘luxury’ that’s exclusively available to large,  enterprise businesses. 

It should, in fact, be considered a requirement for any business delivering goods and products using its own fleet.

ePOD apps are accessible to fleets of all sizes, whether it’s a single-vehicle operation, or an enterprise business with hundreds (if not thousands) of vans, trucks, and HGVs.

So let’s dig into exactly why your delivery drivers need an ePOD app, and why the switch to digital proof of delivery will benefit your back office teams.

1. Stop guessing where your goods are

When a driver leaves the warehouse with a stack of paper, they are effectively entering a black hole. 

You don’t know if a delivery has been successful until they return to the depot at the end of their shift, assuming every paper POD finds its way back to depot, which can cause a whole host of issues.

With an ePOD app, delivery statuses and events update in real-time. 

Every barcode scan, every GPS location, every signature, note, and photo.

The moment a driver completes the required proof of delivery, the ePOD system reflects it. 

You effectively get a live feed of progress across your entire fleet, allowing you to manage exceptions as they happen, rather than wasting valuable time on doing damage control the following morning.

2. Irrefutable delivery evidence

‘I never received it’ is a phrase that significantly impacts profit margins. 

Without photographic evidence and a precise GPS location stamp, it is essentially your word against the customer’s.

ePOD apps allow drivers to:

• Capture sign-on-glass signatures: digital signatures that prove a person received their order.
• Take photo verification: Crucial for “safe place” deliveries or documenting the condition of goods upon arrival.
• GPS & time-stamping: Every event is anchored to a specific coordinate and an exact second, creating an audit trail that is impossible to argue with.

3. Protect marketplace ratings and reduce claims

Selling on marketplaces, such as Amazon and eBay, brings incredible volume, but it also introduces the risk of ‘Item Not Received’ (INR) disputes. 

Marketplace algorithms and customer service teams generally favour the buyer, unless you can provide airtight, digital proof of delivery and valid tracking.

If you manage your own in-house logistics for Amazon and eBay orders, maintaining your On-Time Delivery Rate (OTDR) and Valid Tracking Rate (VTR) is non-negotiable. 

Using an integrated ePOD solution, which is listed as an approved carrier on these marketplaces, ensures that every order is backed by valid tracking and clear, auditable evidence,to ensure funds are not withheld from your accounts.

4. Dynamic handling of on-site delivery events

Deliveries rarely go perfectly. 

Maybe the customer only wants half the order, or a specific item is damaged.

Using paper, these changes require messy scribbles that the accounts department has to decipher later. 

An ePOD app allows drivers to adjust quantities and split line items on the spot. If an item is rejected, the driver can record the specific reason and attach a photo of the damage. 

This data flows back to your ERP or accounting software instantly, ensuring the invoice is accurate the first time.

5. Answer the question:”Where Is My Order?” (WISMO)

Customer service teams spend hours answering phone calls from people asking for updates and the age old ‘where is my order?’ enquiry. 

By the time a driver finishes capturing proof of delivery in the app, the system can have automatically updated the delivery status and notified the customer.

Providing this transparency reduces the volume of inbound enquiries. 

Customers can then get the confirmation they want via email or SMS, and your team stays focused on high-value tasks instead of tracking down drivers for updates.

Should you switch to an ePOD app?

In an era of rising fuel costs and heightened customer expectations, efficiency is the only way to stay competitive. 

Moving to an ePOD app removes the friction of manual data entry and provides the ‘track and trace’ visibility that modern commerce demands. 

It protects your business from claims and gives your drivers the tools they need to work faster and more accurately.

However, these are only a handful of reasons your delivery drivers need an ePOD app.

If you’d like to learn more about all of the features available in an ePOD app, visit: Capture instant proof of delivery

Delivery driver ePOD app FAQs

The post Top 5 reasons your delivery drivers need an ePOD app appeared first on Stream.

We’ve recently extended Stream’s capabilities at the point of delivery, enabling your team to be notified immediately if a delivery is made outside of a predefined distance radius. 

An automated alert for an unexpected delivery location enables you and your team to investigate who signed for the order and where exactly it was delivered.

You can then liaise with your customers and have all the correct information right at your fingertips.

How do unexpected delivery location alerts work in Stream?

In Stream, when a delivery is completed outside of the expected delivery location, an event will be automatically created against the order. 

This event can then trigger an automated email or SMS notification to be sent to any team that may need to be aware of the event having occurred. 

The distance threshold can be specified in your account settings to determine how far away from the expected location the delivery needs to be made before this event will be created. 

This new feature complements the existing capture of precise GPS coordinates from the driver’s mobile device when the delivery is completed in the mobile app. 

Benefits of unexpected delivery location alerts

There are several benefits available to your team when setting up unexpected delivery location alerts in your Stream account:

• Acts as a backup for driver errors
• Notify relevant teams as soon as a delivery is delivered at an unexpected location
• Proactive resolution of delivery issues
• Highlight difficult delivery locations where more precise coordinates may be required
• Can be used as evidence in customer disputes to determine liability
• Could potentially highlight delivery fraud being committed by drivers

Unexpected delivery location alert use cases

There’s probably a great reason to set up these alerts, no matter what or where you are delivering; however, there are a few use cases that might make this a particularly useful feature:

• You’ve had drivers delivering goods to incorrect locations
• You’ve had complaints from customers who aren’t able to locate their deliveries
• You’ve had drivers falsely claiming that goods have been delivered to the correct location
• You are delivering high-value or high-compliance items and require an extra check on the correct goods being delivered to the correct place

How do I use unexpected delivery location alerts in Stream?

For details on how to set up these alerts in Stream, check out our knowledge base article on Setting up unexpected delivery alerts.

The post What’s New: Unexpected delivery location alerts appeared first on Stream.

Or are you considering selling on a particular marketplace and looking for guidance on how to launch, grow and (ultimately) win on those platforms?

If either is the case, then Thursday April 23rd is very much worth four hours of your time.

>> Register for the Linnworks Meet the Marketplace half-day virtual event

Starting at 2pm (BST), the online event involves leading marketplaces and industry experts sharing the key strategies that are working right now for sellers.

Sessions come directly from the likes of Amazon, eBay, Temu, B&Q, Tesco, Debenhams, The Range, TikTok Shop, Rackhams, and OnBuy.

There are three dedicated vertical tracks covering:

• Home & Garden
• Consumer Electronics & Refurbished
• Health, Beauty & Fashion.

What’s on the agenda?  Linnworks will be delivering more than 20 sessions during the event with themes centred on:

• How marketplaces continue to shift and how sellers can win in 2026
• Strategies to help you launch on marketplaces presented by TikTok Shop, Temu, SHEIN and Reebelo
• Playbooks to help sellers scale from Amazon, Newegg, eBay and Rackhams
• Plus tactics to help optimise your listing from Walmart, Buy Box on Amazon and how to use data to drive growth

Looking at specific sessions, these caught our eye:

Why Home & Garden Sellers Thrive on The Range: A Marketplace Built for Growth

Presented by: Brian Flower, Marketplace New Business Lead

TikTok Shop: Launch Where Discovery Happens

Presented by: Rohan Bhandari, Strategy – Seller Acquisition and Sidhant Mishra, Partnerships and BD Manager from eBusinessGuru

Temu EU Entry Strategy: What Electronics Sellers Must Know

Presented by: Arjang Salehi, Senior Business Development Manager Lead – Electronics & Automotive at Temu

How to start selling on the B&Q Marketplace

Presented by: Lucas Christiano, Strategic Partnership Lead at B&Q and Steve Collinge, Managing Director, Insight Retail Group

Explore the potential of Amazon Expanding Marketplaces

Presented by: Giovanni Bertora, Account Manager at Amazon

How Brands Thrive on Rackhams: The Growth Playbook

Presented by: Will Spencer, Sales Director and Mike Hart, Head of Marketing both from Rackhams

Supercharge Your Electricals Business on Tesco Marketplace

Presented by: Amber Charalambous, Marketplace Business Development Manager at Tesco

Debenhams Home Growth Blueprint: Expanding Beyond Fashion into Living

Presented by: Zoe Wills, Business Development Manager and Sally Sherman, Senior Account Manager from Debenhams

How Top Sellers Avoid Stockouts and Dead Stock with Inventory Planner

Presented by: Finn Coles, Solutions Advisor from Inventory Planner and Forrest Gordon, Senior Solution Engineer at Linnworks

Winning the Buy Box on Amazon: Advanced Tactics for Electronics Sellers

Presented by: Jason Rubenstein, Senior Partnership Development Manager at Amazon

Connect Linnworks with Stream

Stream is fully integrated with Linnworks and is available through their App Store. For sellers on Amazon, eBay and Temu who have in-house logistics operations, Linnworks and Stream helps you automatically update those marketplaces with the information required to provide valid tracking on self-delivered orders:

• Selects Stream as the recognised carrier in each marketplace
• Adds the Stream tracking ID to each order.
  

To see how Stream’s marketplace integrations work, book a demo with one of our specialists.

The post Register for Linnworks’ Meet the Marketplace event appeared first on Stream.