Two drivers can carry the same parcels to the same stops and finish hours apart. The difference is often the order in which they visit the stops. This lesson gives you a simple way to choose an order that saves time and kilometres.
Why order matters
Every extra kilometre costs fuel, wear on the vehicle and time you could have spent on the next customer. A route that zigzags across town adds all three.
Step 1: Put the fixed stops in place first
Some stops cannot move. Mark them first.
- A customer was promised a time or a window, for example "before 10:00".
- A business closes at a set time, or only takes deliveries on certain hours.
These are your anchors. Everything else is arranged around them.
Step 2: Group the rest by area
Look at the remaining stops on a map. Stops that sit close together belong in the same part of your day. Finish one area before you move to the next.
Step 3: Make a loop, not a zigzag
A good route moves out in one direction and comes back by another, like a loop. A bad route jumps from one side of town to the other and back again. When you place a stop, ask: does this take me closer to the next one, or further away?
Example numbers only. A driver has four stops and a depot to return to, so each order has five legs. In the first order, the legs are 9, 11, 8, 10 and 8 km, a total of 46 km. In the second order the same four stops are grouped, and the legs are 4, 3, 5, 4 and 12 km, a total of 28 km.
The saving is 46 − 28 = 18 km. At an average of 30 km an hour in town, 46 km takes about 92 minutes of driving and 28 km takes about 56 minutes. The grouped route saves about 36 minutes.
Allow room for the unexpected
Traffic, a gate that will not open, a customer on the phone: every day has some of these. Leave room for them.
Example numbers only. Using the grouped route: driving 56 minutes, plus 4 stops at 8 minutes each (4 × 8 = 32 minutes), makes 88 minutes. Add a spare allowance of about a quarter (88 ÷ 4 = 22 minutes) and you plan for 110 minutes.
If the day goes smoothly, you finish early. If it does not, you still keep your promises.
Use your map app, but keep thinking
A map app gives you a way between two points. It does not read your list. Only you know that a customer wants a call from the entrance, or that a business shuts for lunch. Let the app suggest the road, and let your list decide the order. Enter the next address while parked, never while driving.
If you fall behind on a fixed stop, tell the customer early, from a safe stopped place. A call made in good time is worth more than an apology at the door.
- Place the fixed stops first, then group the rest by area.
- Aim for a loop, not a zigzag.
- Plan for the stop time at the door as well as the driving.
- Leave a spare allowance, and tell customers early if you will be late, only when parked.