If you need to drive to multiple locations on one day, you’ll benefit from reordered waypoints. Either for deliveries, pickups or services, finding the best route has many advantages. Here are eight reasons to optimize your next multi stop route.
1. Save time when planning
Ordering addresses by hand is a hassle. You are spending hours sorting locations. You’ll need to gather lots of data, maps and distance tables. When you can get hold of it all, finding the best route takes even more time, shuffling points around to get the optimal order. Route optimizers have all data readily available and do the math much faster.
2. Save time when travelling
Even if you can find a reasonable route by hand, the odds are it is not optimal. There are millions of possible sequences, even with a small number of stops. The chance of finding the best route without computer algorithms is minimal. You’ll be travelling unnecessary miles. Route optimizers will find a better route, which saves travel.
3. Save money
While gas may be cheap in some countries, multiple destinations often require driving long distances. Route optimization finds faster routes, saving up to 20% in miles and its equivalent in fuel. Why spend money on gas when you don’t need to? Driving fewer miles may also lead to less write-offs and less wearing off. Being more productive may even reduce the need for new vehicles or drivers.
4. Save emissions
Some 14% of all greenhouse gas emissions come from transport. A sustainable business should minimize the need for transport and increase energy efficiency. Route optimization will save fuel and lowers your vehicles emissions. Each gallon of gasoline produces almost 20 pounds of carbon dioxide, each liter of gasoline more than 2 kilograms of CO2. Better routes save greenhouse gas emissions.
5. Make your customers happy
If you spent less time on the road driving around, you’re getting things done faster. Pickups, deliveries and services will be more speedy, increasing productivity and improving response times. It will lower the time between order and fulfillment, e.g. when delivering pizzas. Faster response times will increase customer satisfaction, e.g. when solving failures.
6. Make your drivers happy
Experienced drivers appreciate well planned, efficient itineraries. No one enjoys driving the same roads in and out for no reason. Delivery drivers like to make more drops fast, to increase their salary or tips. Time-pressured service engineers will not be motivated by useless driving around. Route optimization makes travel more efficient.
7. Stop discussions
Planners and drivers may disagree on routes. People tend to focus on details, of which the impact may be small compared to the total. Avoiding a traffic jam may seem smart, but may add more travel or missed time slots. Discussing those details is even more time consuming. Automated route optimization will make better choices and prevent discussions.
8. Be professional
Big companies do not plan deliveries, pickups or services by hand. They spent millions on fleet management and sophisticated computer programs that optimize their logistics on the road. Why? Because they save even more with better routes. As your business grows, your need for better routes will also grow. You’d better be professional about it and prepare for the future now.
Smart route planning software used to be cumbersome and expensive. One could spend thousands of dollars on below-average transport routing solutions. Nowadays, algorithms got much smarter and faster. Online route optimizers are often free or only require a small fee.
Try it now – use our multi stop route optimization for free for routes up to 20 addresses!