Introduction to Routes

Routes turns each day's scheduled jobs into one route per crew, then carries every route from dispatch to its last stop.

Read a day's routes

The board opens on today. Change the date to see another day.

1. Open Routes from the dashboard navigation.
2. Select the left or right arrow beside the date, or enter a date in Route date.
3. Select Today to return to today.

Each card shows the crew, status, planned start, stop count, distance, driving time, and on-site time. Past days can be viewed, but Build routes, Even out workload, and Add emergency job are disabled.

Build a day's routes

Build routes creates each crew's route for the selected date from the jobs assigned to that crew. The build skips a crew on time off, on a company holiday, or marked not routable. The full steps are in Build and optimize routes.

1. Select the date on the board.
2. Choose a Goal: Balanced, Fastest, Least driving, or Revenue first.
3. Select Build routes.

Even out workload uses the same Goal. It spreads the day's jobs across crews that can take work, skips crews on time off or a company holiday, then builds their routes.

Users with edit access see how many addresses need review and how many scheduled jobs have no crew. Fix addresses in Fix addresses. Assign crews to unassigned jobs in Jobs.

Add an emergency job

Use Add emergency job for a scheduled job that no route holds yet. It ranks the crews that can take the job by the time it adds.

1. Select Add emergency job.
2. Select the job to fit into the day.
3. Select Add beside a crew. A crew marked as missing skills or equipment has its Add button turned off.

The job appears as a stop on that crew's route. If no crew can take it, build the day's routes first.

Adjust and dispatch a route

Open a route from its card on the board. Stop order and pins change only while the route is Draft or Optimized.

Order the stops

1. Select Optimize to reorder stops to cut drive time. Pinned stops keep their place.
2. Select the up or down chevron on a stop to move it one place earlier or later.
3. Open More stop options and select Pin stop in place to hold a stop where it is.

A pinned stop shows the Pinned badge.

Dispatch the route

Dispatching sends the route to the crew. The full steps are in Dispatch a route.

1. Select Dispatch on the route page.
2. Select Dispatch route in the confirmation.

The route badge reads Dispatched. To pull a route back to planning, open the More route actions menu and select Undispatch route. The option appears only while every stop is Not started.

Run the route during the day

Crews advance each stop from the route page. Operations shows each dispatched route filling in. Run the day from operations covers that page.

Advance a stop

1. Select On my way on the Up next stop.
2. Select Arrived when the crew reaches the address.
3. Select Mark done when the work is finished.

The stop badge changes to On the way, then Arrived, then Done. On my way also sends that customer an on-the-way alert, unless the customer's preferences stop it.

Alert customers

1. Check Override quiet hours only when the alerts must go out during quiet hours.
2. Select Notify customers.

Each stop whose customer was notified shows a bell icon. Suppress all alerts under More route actions turns off alerts that have not gone out, and those stops show Alerts off.

Report a breakdown

1. Open the More route actions menu and select Report breakdown.
2. Select Report breakdown in the confirmation.

Route statuses

The board and the route page use different words for some statuses.

• Draft: the route is in planning. Both screens use this word.
• Planned on the board, Optimized on the route page: in planning, with stop controls on.
• Sent on the board, Dispatched on the route page: the crew has the route.
• Working on the board, In progress on the route page: the route is under way.
• Done on the board, Completed on the route page: the route is finished.
• Canceled: the route is canceled.

Stop statuses appear once a route is dispatched: Not started, On the way, Arrived, Done, Failed, and Skipped. The route page has no control that sets Failed or Skipped.

Access and crew settings

Routes appears in the dashboard navigation only when the feature is turned on and your role can see routes. See Roles and permissions.

• Users with edit access to routes see the planning, dispatch, and alert controls, and the address notices. They also see Address review under Routes.
• Users with view access to routes see Operations and Reports under Routes. View route reports covers the Reports page.
• Field crews see only their own route on the board and the route page, with the stop buttons. Share my location appears on their own dispatched route, and location is shared only while it is checked.

Build routes reads each crew member's skills, equipment, daily stop limit, start point, and whether the crew is routable. Emergency jobs and fleet balancing check skills and equipment.