How to optimize routes and adjust them by hand
12 steps6 min read
Let Afi Planner do the heavy lifting, then make the changes only you know about.
In this guide
- 1.Check the planning setup
- 2.Give stops to a driver first
- 3.Plan the routes
- 4.Read the stops by route
- 5.Check a stop at a glance
- 6.Understand stops that didn’t fit
- 7.Drag and drop
- 8.Optimize one route
- 9.Reverse a route or change its color
- 10.Draw the route you want
- 11.Lock and re-plan the rest
- 12.Add late orders
Step 1: Check the planning setup
Click the settings icon next to Plan routes. Each rule is a sentence with a control: the goal, when drivers start, fair sharing, late stops, overtime and limits per route. Change them for this day only or for the whole company. Turn on “Prefer drivers who know the area” to give stops to drivers who delivered near them in the last 60 days.
Step 2: Give stops to a driver first
Some stops belong to one driver: a regular customer, a key only they have. Click Select on map, draw around those stops (or tick them in the list) and choose Assign to driver. Planning then gives them to that driver only and shares out the rest. Each stop shows its driver in the list, and its pin takes the driver’s color and initials. Choose No fixed driver to undo it.
Tip: If that driver isn’t working that day, planning leaves the stops out and says why instead of giving them to someone else.
Step 3: Plan the routes
Click Plan routes. The map shows each route in its driver’s color and the timeline shows the day from first stop to last, breaks included.
Why this route, and the map in colors · 33 s, no sound Step 4: Read the stops by route
Once the day has routes, the Stops list groups them by route: stops not on a route first, then each route in driving order under its driver’s name and progress. Each stop has the same numbered pin as on the map. Click a route’s header to fold it, tick it to select the whole route, or switch Route to As added to see the stops in the order you added them.
Step 5: Check a stop at a glance
Click any stop on the map, in the list or on the timeline. A card opens over the map with its driver and stop number and the drive that gets there: how long, how far, any wait until the window opens and when the driver leaves. An amber “Unusually long drive” means the pin may be on a highway: click Move the pin. Below are the customer and load, and the usual actions: Edit, Assign to driver, Move to another day, Put on hold, and Copy tracking link under ⋯ More. Press ↑ or ↓ to walk along the route, E to edit, Esc to close.
Step 6: Understand stops that didn’t fit
“Not on a route” lists every stop that couldn’t be planned and why: outside every shift, too heavy, no driver with the right skill. Adjust and plan again, or move them to another day.
Step 7: Drag and drop
Drag a stop to another driver or another time on the timeline, or switch to Columns to reorder lists. Times update as soon as you drop and the stop stays where you put it; the route then shows a “Manual order” chip. If the drop makes stops late, Afi Planner says so at once (“This makes 2 stops late”) with an Optimize this route button. Undo or Revert any time. Dragging never counts against your plan. To move several stops at once, ⌘/Ctrl + click them, or Shift + click to pick every stop from the last one picked, then drag one of them: the others follow, in their order. On a tablet, tap Select on the board’s bar (or press and hold a stop) and tap the stops you want; Done or Esc ends it. To leave them off every route, drop them on “Not on a route” or click Take off routes; in the stop list, tick orders and click Take off routes. Stops a driver already started, on a locked route or already in a van stay where they are. Driver too far to drag to? Click Move to… on the board’s bar (or Move to route… on a stop’s card), type part of their name and pick the route: the stops move as a drag would move them.
Step 8: Optimize one route
Open the route’s ⋯ menu and choose Optimize this route. The planner re-orders only that route: same driver, same stops, and stops already started stay first. A preview shows what it saves (time on the road, miles, fewer late stops) before anything changes. Choose Apply or Keep my order; Undo works as for any change.
Tip: It counts as one route planning. If your company plans on Google Route Optimization in its own Google Cloud project, Google bills your project for it like any Google planning, and it doesn’t count against your plan.
Step 9: Reverse a route or change its color
Open the route’s ⋯ menu and choose Reverse the route to drive it the other way round; Undo works as for any change. Pick a new color from the palette: it is the driver’s color everywhere, from the map to the run sheet.
Step 10: Draw the route you want
In the ⋯ menu, choose Draw the route on the map and click point after point (a click on a stop snaps to it; Backspace removes the last point). An arrow on each leg shows which way you are drawing. Choose Order stops this way (or press Enter): the stops go in the order your line passes them and the times are worked out again.
Tip: Stops already done or under way stay first, and Undo puts the old order back. On a route already sent, the driver gets the new order with Send updates.
Step 11: Lock and re-plan the rest
Lock the routes you are happy with and click Plan again: only the unlocked routes change.
Step 12: Add late orders
Select stops that are not on a route and choose Add to routes: insert them with the fewest changes, re-plan the affected routes, or give them all to one driver. Each driver shows how many of those stops they know (“knows 3/5”).
Related feature
Optimized routes that respect how your day really works →