Free trial, pilot or 3-month agreement: what's the best way to prove route optimisation works?
If you plan routes on paper or spreadsheets today, or you bought a system years ago that never delivered, you have every reason to be sceptical. Route optimisation promises fewer miles, lower costs and less CO2. The question is how to find out whether it will deliver that for your fleet without betting the next three years on it.
There are three common ways to find out. Only one of them is built to give you a real answer.
Skin in the game on both sides: full software, live operation
What's wrong with a free trial of route optimisation software?
A free trial is designed to sell an upgrade, not to prove value. Most route optimisation trials limit something that matters: the number of vehicles you can route, the number of stops, the constraints you can apply, or the integrations you can use.
Routing a handful of vehicles tells you very little about a fleet of 40. Optimisation gets its gains from looking across the whole fleet at once, balancing loads, territories and time windows. Cut the fleet down and you cut out exactly the thing you're trying to test.
Free trials also put all the effort on you. With no commercial commitment on the vendor's side, you're often left to configure the software yourself, with your own data, alongside your day job. When the trial ends, the only path forward is to pay for the upgrade and hope the full version performs better than the cut-down one.
Why do route optimisation pilots and proofs of concept often fail?
Pilots usually prove one number, not a way of working. A typical proof of concept picks a single metric, such as miles saved on one depot's routes, and runs it in controlled conditions, often with the vendor's team doing the planning.
The result can look impressive on a slide. But it rarely answers the questions that decide whether the software will stick:
- Does it work with our order system, our vehicles and our real delivery windows?
- Will our planners actually use it every day, or go back to the spreadsheet?
- Do drivers follow the routes, and does proof of delivery flow back to the office?
- Does it work for every depot and team, not just the one in the pilot?
A pilot that proves big mileage savings on paper but never changes how the business plans is not proof of value. It's a demo with real data.
How does a 3-month route optimisation agreement work?
A 3-month agreement is a short, paid contract that puts the full software into your live operation and gives both sides three months to prove the value. At ProprGroup, we call it Propr Start, and it's our standard starting point for ProprTMS.
Each month has a clear job:
Month 1: Get the foundations right
We fine-tune the integration with your existing systems and set up how work is carried out on the road: the driver app, proof of delivery, and the execution workflows your operation needs. Your team plans and runs real routes from the first weeks.
Month 2: Prove the value
We tune the optimisation engine (ProprPlan) to your goals, whether that's fewer vehicles, fewer miles, tighter delivery windows, lower cost per drop or reduced emissions. Your results are measured against your own baseline, not a generic benchmark.
Month 3: Embed it across the business
We keep proving the value while making sure every operational team and depot is using the tool to get the most from it. By the end, it's simply how you plan.
At the end of the three months, you decide. If the value is there, we agree longer-term terms that suit you. If it isn't, you walk away without a 36-month contract or a large implementation bill behind you.
Why is a paid agreement better than a free one?
Because both sides have skin in the game. When a customer pays for a short agreement, they commit time, data and people to making it work. When a vendor is paid, they commit their best people to making it succeed, rather than leaving a trial account to run itself.
That shared commitment is what turns an evaluation into a real test. Free trials are easy to start and just as easy to neglect. A paid agreement means planners get trained, integrations get finished and results get reviewed, because everyone involved wants a clear answer.
Who is Propr Start for?
It's built for two kinds of operation:
- Fleets planning manually today, on paper, whiteboards or spreadsheets, who want to see optimisation work on their own routes before changing how they plan.
- Fleets that bought a system years ago and never achieved what they set out to achieve, and are understandably sceptical that the next one will be any different.
If you're already confident and want to commit from day one, you can. Propr Start simply means you never have to commit before you're ready.
Free trial vs pilot vs Propr Start at a glance
| Free trial | Pilot / proof of concept | Propr Start (3 months) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Functionality | Usually restricted (vehicles, stops or features) | Full, but in a narrow scope | Full, across the live operation |
| What it proves | That the software runs | One metric, in controlled conditions | Value in the way your business actually works |
| Who does the work | Mostly you | Mostly the vendor | Both sides, together |
| Commitment | None on either side | Varies | Both sides have skin in the game |
| What happens next | Pay to upgrade | Often a long contract | Longer-term terms only if you're happy |
What each option actually proves
| What a buyer needs to know | Free trial | Pilot or PoC | Propr Start |
|---|---|---|---|
| Works with our systems and data | In part | In part | Yes |
| Full features across the whole fleet | No | Yes | Yes |
| Our planners use it every day | No | No | Yes |
| Drivers run the routes, POD flows back | No | In part | Yes |
| Every depot and team on board | No | No | Yes |
| Measured against our own baseline | No | In part | Yes |
| Both sides have skin in the game | No | In part | Yes |
Frequently asked questions
Is there a free trial of ProprTMS?
No. Instead, we offer Propr Start: a 3-month agreement with full functionality across your operation. We believe a paid, committed evaluation proves far more than a restricted free trial.
What happens at the end of Propr Start?
You review the results against your own baseline and decide. If ProprTMS has proved its value, we agree longer-term terms. If not, there's no 36-month commitment to unwind.
Do I need to replace my existing systems?
No. Month 1 is spent integrating ProprTMS with the systems you already use, such as your order management or ERP system.
What size of fleet is Propr Start suitable for?
ProprTMS is designed for UK operations running 30 or more vehicles.
What results should I expect?
That depends on your starting point, which is exactly why we measure against your own baseline in month 2 rather than quoting a generic figure.
Ready to prove it?
We're currently welcoming founding customers to ProprTMS ahead of our launch on 1 December 2026. If you run 30 or more vehicles in the UK and want to see what route optimisation can really do for your operation, register your interest at propr.group.
Become a founding customer