“Economic pressures” driving U.S. sales, Paragon says

U.K.-based Paragon Software Systems said sales of its vehicle routing and scheduling programs in the U.S. are being driven by what it terms “overall economic pressures” faced by fleet operators – especially the need to control the impact of fuel and other operating costs on their bottom lines.

“We had a record breaking year of sales in the U.S. in 2011 and in the rest of the world as well [because] our customers are telling us that it is not just the rising cost of fuel and overall economic pressures that are forcing them to look at the best ways to reduce operating costs, but they are also being asked to significantly improve their service offerings,” noted William Salter, Paragon’s president and CEO, in a statement.

He pointed out that new sales increased 63% in 2010 and 81% to date, while over the last two years Paragon installed its routing and scheduling system across a wide range of fleets in the manufacturing, retail and food distribution industries – firms including Heritage Environmental Services, The Dufresne Group, Pizza Wholesale of Lexington, and McEntire Produce.

To date, Paragon said over 1,500 of its systems are installed at companies spread out among 45 countries worldwide.