Routes

Using Routes

Adding Routes

Creating Route Plans

Editing Routes

Removing Routes

Importing Routes

Dispatching Routes to Vehicles

Routes

The Routes feature in the application provides an effective way to reduce fuel consumption, mileage, and CO2 emissions by optimizing the routes your drivers use. You can use it to create route plans for your fleet, compare planned and actual routes, and identify new opportunities for operational efficiency.

Using Routes

There are two dimensions to the Routes feature of the Fleet Management application: Routes, which are simple sets of waypoints, and Route Plans, which are routes with certain expectations such as arrival times and stop durations. Depending on your needs, you may use one or both of these functions to help manage your fleet.

Navigate to Zones & Messages > Routes… > Routes to view a list of your current routes. Selecting the map pin icon to the right of each route name opens the Map feature.

Adding Routes

Routes are created by connecting a sequence of zones together to form a path. These sequences are completely customizable, and waypoints can be added in any order. Furthermore, routes can start and end at the same location, or be a sequence of linear stops.

To create a route:

1. 1. Navigate to Zones & Messages > Routes... > Routes from the main menu.
   2. Select the Add route button from the top menu to create a new route.
   3. Assign a departure point for the route by selecting a location on the map, and selecting Add Waypoint. Select any additional locations the driver must visit. 
   4. Select Save route located in the top menu.

Note: Selecting a waypoint to add to a route will automatically create a zone for that area in your database if a zone does not already exist in that location.

Creating Route Plans

A Route plan takes an existing route and applies it to a specific vehicle at a specific time. This allows you to specify criteria such as arrival time, stop duration, and departure time for each location on your route, and to select a vehicle to drive the route at that time. Once the route has been completed, you can compare the actual route against the route plan.

Note: Only one route plan can be assigned to a vehicle in a single day.

You can view your current route plans by navigating to Zones & Messages > Routes… > Routes and selecting Route plans in the Options menu at the top of the page. Because route plans are governed by applied to specific times and vehicles, your results are dependent on the vehicle and date you select in the options menu. The application defaults to the current day, but will not display any results if a vehicle is not selected.

Before creating your route plan, ensure that you have created the appropriate route using the directions found in Adding Routes.

To create your route plan:

1. 1. Select your desired route from the list found at Zones & Messages > Routes… > Routes.
   2. Select Create plan from the top menu.
   3. Use the dropdown menu to select a vehicle for the route.
   4. Select a start date on which the vehicle will drive the route.
   5. Select a time at which the vehicle will arrive at the first location on the route. If the vehicle’s origin point is a waypoint on the route, ensure that this location is ordered first and select the Vehicle parked here at route start option to make this location the starting point when optimizing your route.
   6. The application automatically populates the first three fields for each location thereafter: the arrival time, the distance from the previous location, and the time spent driving between each location. You can specify the length of the stop at that location by entering a time into the fourth field.
   7. Repeat steps 5 and 6 for every subsequent stop on the route.
   8. Click Save to save your planned route. The route now displays on the Routes page if Route plans is toggled on.

Editing Routes

Routes are edited in the Route Edit page. To edit a route:

1. 1. Select Zones & Messages > Routes… > Routes from the main menu.
   2. Select the route you wish to edit from the provided list. Here you can edit the route name, add comments and rearrange the order of stops in the route.
   3. To add or edit the stops on a route, select Show on map from the top menu to open the Map view.
   4. Select the route to open the menu options and select Edit route from the available options. You will now be able to modify the route by dragging existing points or by selecting locations on the map to add new points.
   5. When finished making changes, select Save route from the top menu.
   6. Update the route name, if desired, and select Save from the top menu. Your new changes will now display on the Map.

Removing Routes

Routes can be removed from the database in two ways. To remove a route from the Routes feature:

1. 1. Navigate to Zones & Messages > Routes… > Routes.
   2. Select the route you wish to remove from the provided list to open the Route Edit page.
   3. Select Remove from the top menu.
   4. When prompted, select Remove in the confirmation dialogue box.

Note: Routes removed in this way cannot be recovered after they have been removed.

To remove a route using the Map feature:

1. 1. Open the Route Edit page as above.
   2. Select Show on map in the top menu to display the route on the map.
   3. Select the route to display the route menu.
   4. Select remove route.

Note: Routes removed in this way can be retrieved via the Undo changes button in the route removal confirmation banner.

Importing Routes

This process requires the use of the Software Development Kit (SDK). There is an example file in the SDK to assist you in the process of creating a route import utility. The example file facilitates the rudimentary adding of route plans, whereby the details of the route name, stop locations, the estimated time to drive to each location and the estimated time to be spent at each stop are added via a simple user interface then imported into your database.

Note: Contact your authorized Reseller for more information on the SDK samples and for assistance with this process.

Dispatching Routes to Vehicles

You can send your routes directly to vehicles to dispatch a sequence of destinations the driver should reach. To send a route to a vehicle:

1. 1. Navigate to Zones & Messages > Routes... > Routes from the main menu.
   2. Select your desired route from the provided list.
   3. Send the route to the vehicle by clicking the Send to vehicle button from the top menu. 
   4. Select the recipient for the route and select Compose message. You can choose your recipient from your available assets, drivers, or groups.
   5. Compose your message to accompany your route. You can add a message for each stop on your route.
   6. Select Remove existing stops if you wish to remove the existing list of stops from your recipient’s device.
   7. Click Send to send your message. 

When you have sent your message, you will be given the option to select a canned reply to your recipient by selecting from the list or creating a new canned reply. You can also send an additional message or link to your recipient if desired.

If the recipient replies to your message, the reply will display in the same window as in a chat function.