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A delivery driver will need to make dozens of stops each day. Without a well-thought-out route, you can end up wasting a lot of time driving from one side of town to the other. Here are some tips you can use to plan a route with multiple stops.
Find a Good Software
Sometimes, you will be able to plan your route and stops manually, using maps and GPS. However, when you start to add in multiple stops, this can get very difficult. Because of this, it’s best to turn to an app to help you plan a route with multiple stops. For many people, the most obvious route planner will be Google Maps. It is free and easy to use. Plus, many phones have it as the default.
However, there are a few potential limitations that you should be aware of. First, it can struggle to plan longer routes. You won’t be able to enter more than 10 stops at a time. This is a big problem for delivery drivers, who might need to make hundreds of stops each day.
Another problem is that it doesn’t automatically optimize your route, putting the stops in the order that creates the fastest trip time. This can be adding hours of extra travel time to your day. You can optimize the route yourself. But this can be a finicky process, requiring you to change the order and look at the effect it has on travel time.
Enter Your Stops
Once you have downloaded the right software, it’s time to start putting it to use. The first step is to add in your stops. If you are using Google Maps, the route will be dictated by the order in which you put the stops in. Because of this, for the best travel time, you’ll need to start at the closest destination and move to the furthest away, so you have a relatively straight path.
Other types of software will allow you to optimize the route, automatically creating the fastest path. If you have hundreds of deliveries a day, you might want to get a software package that allows you to import a spreadsheet. It will remove the delivery locations and plan the best route. This saves you a lot of time.
Start Driving
Once you have planned everything out, you should create a map with multiple locations. Depending on the software, the order of the stops might change as you drive. This is often in response to the changing traffic conditions. It’s a good idea to look for software that offers driving directions with multiple stops. This will stop you from getting lost in unfamiliar parts of the city.
From there, you can start to track your performance and find subtle ways to improve. For example, you can pack your truck to make the packages easy to find. Some apps will even let you mark their location within the vehicle.
Conclusion
Planning a route with multiple steps can be difficult, particularly if you need to add the locations and optimize the route manually. Finding the right app will make optimizing your route a lot easier. Then, you just need to start driving.