When Barry Thompson started looking at AI routing software for his Ballarat-based distribution company, the first thing vendors told him was how much money he’d save.

“They all showed me these beautiful maps with optimised routes,” Barry said. “Then I asked if their system knew that the bridge on Learmonth Road gets closed every time the creek rises.”

Turns out, most didn’t.

The Regional Challenge

AI routing tools are designed for metropolitan markets where roads are predictable, traffic follows patterns, and infrastructure rarely changes. Regional Victoria operates differently.

Barry’s fleet of 14 trucks services customers from Geelong to Horsham, Bendigo to Hamilton. That’s a lot of unsealed roads, seasonal closures, and local knowledge that doesn’t appear in any database.

“Our drivers know which farm tracks turn to mud in winter. They know which towns have truck restrictions during school hours. No software company was capturing that,” he explained.

Finding the Right Approach

After evaluating four different platforms, Barry settled on a hybrid approach: commercial routing software for the base calculations, with a custom layer of local data his team maintains.

The setup isn’t as automated as the vendors originally promised, but it actually works.

“We spent about two months just documenting what our experienced drivers already knew,” Barry said. “Road conditions, customer delivery windows, where to get diesel at reasonable prices—practical stuff.”

That local knowledge database now feeds into the routing system as constraints and preferences. The AI handles the optimisation. The humans provide the context it’s missing.

The Numbers After Six Months

Barry’s tracking the results carefully:

• Fuel consumption: Down 12% (lower than the vendor’s 25% prediction, but still significant)
• Late deliveries: Down from 8% to 3%
• Driver overtime: Reduced by roughly 15 hours per week across the fleet
• Customer complaints: Halved

“The fuel savings alone pay for the software,” Barry noted. “Everything else is bonus.”

What Surprised Them

The biggest surprise was how the drivers responded. Barry expected resistance to “computer-generated” routes.

“Honestly, they love it. Takes the guesswork out of planning. And when they disagree with a route, we actually listen—that’s how the system gets smarter.”

One driver identified a routing pattern that consistently added 20 minutes to deliveries in Ararat. The software was sending trucks via a highway section that had roadworks extending far longer than any traffic database showed. A quick constraint update fixed it.

Advice for Other Regional Businesses

Barry’s recommendations for other country businesses considering similar technology:

Start with your data. Before talking to vendors, document what you already know about your routes and constraints. That knowledge is valuable.

Budget for customisation. Off-the-shelf solutions need regional adjustments. Plan for the time and potentially external help to make that happen.

Involve your drivers early. They’ll spot problems with automated routes faster than any software audit.

Be patient with accuracy claims. Vendor benchmarks come from ideal conditions. Regional reality takes longer to optimise.

Support Options

For businesses without internal tech expertise, several options exist for implementation support. Business Victoria maintains a directory of digital adoption advisors, and various AI consultants Melbourne firms work with regional clients remotely.

The important thing is finding advisors who understand that country business isn’t just smaller city business. The constraints and opportunities are genuinely different.

What’s Next

Barry’s now looking at predictive maintenance for his fleet—using vehicle sensor data to anticipate repairs before breakdowns happen.

“Same principle,” he said. “Find technology that solves a real problem, then make it work for our conditions. Not the other way around.”

His approach won’t win any innovation awards. But his trucks are running more efficiently, his drivers are less stressed, and his customers are happier. Sometimes boring works.