Speedy Route Tips and Tricks #3

Finish in a Loop, at an End Location, or Anywhere?

Speedy Route supports different types of journeys, via the 'Finish Location' checkbox and 'Return to Start Location' & 'Other Location' radio buttons. These different options can produce very different calculated delivery routes, depending on the locations in your route:

Loop - If 'Finish Location' is checked and 'Return to Start Location' selected, Speedy Route will calculate a route that visits all your locations, but also endeavour to ensure that both the first and last location are both near your start (depot) location, and that all the other locations are spread evenly in-between. This will often result in a large looping route that visits all your locations and returns back to the start.

Specific End Point - If 'Finish Location' is checked and 'Other Location' selected, you can enter a specific location where the route should finish (and this can be different from the start location). Speedy Route will calculate a route that starts and finishes at the given locations, and visits all the locations in between in the optimal order.

Finish Anywhere - If 'Finish Location' is not checked, the calculated route will often be quite different, as the first location will often be the nearest to the start location, and the last location on the route will often then be the furthest from the start location. This is because the requirement to return to the start location or finish at a specific location doesn't apply, so the optimal route is nearest to furthest in order.

Multiple Delivery Vehicles

Speedy Route now supports the calculation of routes for more than one delivery vehicle. If you select 'Maximum Number of Vehicles' to be greater than one, the calculated route may be split up into vehicle routes that can be delivered to simultaneously by multiple vehicles.

The 'Finish Location' option also interacts with the 'Maximum Number of Vehicles' option in interesting ways. If 'Finish Location' is not checked (no loop or end location) in combination with multiple vehicles, the calculated route will often resemble a 'star' radiating from the central start location, with each vehicle route forming a 'spoke' as it travels away from the depot. It is also likely that most or all of the available vehicles will be used to make deliveries.

If 'Finish Location' is checked and 'Return to Start Location' is selected (loop) in combination with multiple vehicles, Speedy Route must calculate a number of separate looping routes that visit all the delivery locations and return to the start. Large routes are likely to be split into 'sections' that different vehicles visit, and it also may be determined that not all of the available vehicles have to be used to provide an optimal solution. A similar result also occurs if 'Other Location' is selected.