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In some cases it is physically impossible to visit all of the stops in a single
day. The route is either too long or there are just too many stops that can
be visited in a day. There is also a waiting time or visiting time factor at
each stop. Fatigue and distance you can travel in one day are other variables.
All of these factors can affect how you go about your route. Here's how
TrackRoad can help you manage your route better.
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TrackRoad can split your route into smaller chunks of routes of approximately
same distance or equal number of stops (all of the smaller routes will also be optimized
and ordered correctly). In the vehicle page, you can specify maximum number
of hours you feel like driving each day---or maximum number of stops you can handle
in a given day due to limit in capacity---see image to the left.
Vehicle's MaxMinutes per day is a must-have feature
By using MaxMinutes field, you can create smaller and manageable optimized routes (6
to 8 hours each day) that you are able to visit comfortably each day and still arrive
at your place of rest at a reasonable hour before starting your next round of stops
the next day.
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Each stop can also have a waiting time period. This waiting time at each stop in
minutes can be specified in advance (enter manually or via Excel sheet column I).
The waiting time will then be factored into the route's total time and will
affect how the route will be split. TrackRoad will try to divide the route
into approximate equal length routes although it is almost always physically impossible
to make the routes 100% equal.
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To the left, there is an example on how our route was divided into 3 routes.
Note how officeStartFinish has been split into 3 parts. You can change
the number of split routes by modifying the MaxMinutes and the waiting time at each
stop. In our example, we used a MaxMinutes of 5 hours of driving time (remember
we are also stopping for 20 minutes at each stop). Depending on your route
and the number of hours you plan to travel in one day, you can chose a higher or
lower number of working hours. The same rule applies if you use the MaxStops
instead of MaxMinutes field of the vehicle.
Vehicle's On-The-Road is another must-have feature specially
if you go on long distance trips out of town and plan to visit several stops during
your journey. If you are on the road and you are not coming back to the office
every night then check the On-The-Road in the vehicle page also. When On-The-Road
is checked, your next day starting point will be the last point you visited the
day before.
Suppose we had 9 Stops: A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I. Depending on whether On-The-Road
is checked or not, the route will be divided differently.
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On-The-Road Checked
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On-The-Road Not Checked
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Day 1
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Office->A->B->C
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Day 1
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Office->A->B->C->Office
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Day 2
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D->E->F
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Day 2
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Office->D->E->F->Office
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Day 3
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G->H->I->Office
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Day 3
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Office->G->H->I->Office
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When On-The-Road is checked we do not come back to the Office each day (we are on
the road---maybe staying at a hotel for the night). Notice when it is NOT checked
we loop back to the office at the end of each route.
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