Generic route optimisers assume every vehicle can do every job. Building supply, furniture and appliance deliveries don’t work like that. A crane job on a truck without a crane is not a slightly worse route; it is a failed delivery and a second trip.
Plan in the right order
- Vehicle first. Which jobs need a tail-lift, a pantech or a crane?
- Window second. Morning and midday windows, plus customer-specific times.
- Area third. Group what remains by suburb to cut backtracking.
Keep the planner in charge
Your dispatchers know things the system doesn’t: the site with the narrow driveway, the customer who is never in before ten. Good planning software suggests runs and lets them move stops before anything is sent to drivers.
The plan is a suggestion until a dispatcher sends it.
Close the loop
At the end of the day, compare the route driven with the route planned. Repeated detours and late stops tell you where tomorrow’s plan needs a different rule.
