Get an overview on how routing operates.
Overview
An assembly of schedules make up a route. Each instance of a schedule appearing on a route is called a "stop". All routes for 30 days in the future are saved in an optimized, efficient order and can be reordered as needed. A route begins with a truck start and stop location. See our article on setting your start and stop locations.
When you move schedules or make one-time adjustments to a schedule's existing stops, affected routes will be reoptimized overnight so the new order of the stops fit an optimal drive time. 300 stops (or waypoints) can be reoptimized per route. If a route contains more stops, the excess stops will be added to the end of the route.
Reoptimizing on the fly, moving stops, and locking stops into a certain spot can all be achieved on the Routing (1 Day w/ Map) and Routing (Date Range) screens on the Routing & Scheduling page.
Route Calculation Mechanics
We use Mapquest to get optimized routes with 25 locations (23 stops with a start and stop point) or less, and RouteSavvy for routes with more than 25 locations. The routing sequence is optimized to the interpretation of optimization by these routing services, and that interpretation may not be perfect 100% of the time. Users sometimes need to make their own adjustments based on their knowledge.
Locking stops into a certain spot on a route means that the stop stays in that position even if a route reoptimization occurs, in all situations.
When you lock a stop to the very beginning of a route, for reoptimization purposes, that locked stop is treated like the start point so more accurate optimization can occur. For example, if you were to lock ABC Customer into position #1 and XYZ Customer into position #2, and then perform a route reoptimization, XYZ Customer would be used as the start point so that the other stops on the route flow more accurately from XYZ Customer to the end truck location.
Similarly, when you lock a stop to the very end of a route, for reoptimization purposes, that locked stop is treated like the end position. For example, if a route has 10 stops, and you were to lock ABC Customer into position #10 and XYZ Customer into position #9, XYZ Customer would be used as the end point so that the other stops on the route flow more accurately from the start position to XYZ Customer, and then ultimately end at the normal end truck location.
Locking a stop somewhere in the middle of the route will result in that stop always being forced back into that position, but a route reoptimization will be unable to factor in the locked stop when recalculating. This could result in unintended consequences, like a route may be flowing in a certain way, but then a random, inefficient jump may occur to cater to a locked stop in the middle of the route.
If a route is reoptimized for today, and there are zero locked stops on it, and stops on the route have already been completed, the reoptimization process removes the completed stops from the route calculation, and then places those stops at the top of the optimized route in the order they were completed, according to the timestamp order of the manifests. For example, if ABC Customer was in position #1 of a route at the start of the day, but the driver actually completes a stop for XYZ Customer first, and then a reoptimization occurs, XYZ Customer will go to the top of the route because that is actually the way the route is being run. The last stop that was completed when the reoptimization occurred will be used as the start point for the reoptimization. The last completed stop is a good approximation of where the truck is currently located, so treating that stop as the start point of the reoptimization will result in a more efficient route.
Route Time and Distance
Route time and distance appears on driver pickup screen, as well as the Scheduling Report, Past Scheduling Report, Routing (1 Day w/ Map), Routing (Date Range), and route recommendations in the affiliate back end.
If you were to move stops on a route, a corrected time and distance for the route will be obtained overnight. Or you could reoptimize the route on the fly, and then get the updated time and distance at the same time.
If a route for today is adjusted in any way during the day, route reoptimization will occur overnight so the optimal route time and distance can be calculated for future reference. When this occurs, locked stops are factored in, but the actual order that stops were completed is not. This process occurs so that routes that show up in the Past Scheduling Report reflect an optimal time and distance, and can be used as an accurate reference point when planning future routes.
Route time takes into account expected stop times for every stop on the route. See our article on expected stop times.