You can watch the tutorial video to see how it works.
After you complete the setup, you’ll be able to click the Delivery link, and choose the date you would like to schedule your deliveries. The date field will actually take a range, but be careful not to make your range too large as the amount of data may cause slow operation of the software. You need to click it twice (once for the start date, once for the end date). You’ll see a map with all the event locations highlighted.
On the left side you’ll see all the unscheduled Deliveries and Returns. Hovering over the numbered balloon will cause it to change colors. The corresponding point on the map as well as any other related event block will highlight as well. Clicking on one of these blocks will bring up a popup showing additional details about the event. They can be dragged onto any vehicle on the right side.
Key / Color Definitions
The Purple blocks represent the Deliveries, and the Blue blocks represent the Return to teardown and get the equipment. The teal blocks that appear above each block is the travel time. If the event is darker that represents staffed events; the lighter colors represent drop-off/non-staffed events. The length of time to setup/teardown is represented by the height of the block.
As you drag the events around, you’ll see different colors appear. The pink line or dot indicates the delivery window specified for that event. If you place the block such that the start of it is inside or in line with the pink line or dot, the time text will be black. If the time of the event appears in red, that means the delivery overlaps with the event time. If it appears in yellow, that means you’ll be arriving outside of the expected arrival time (for example, early to the delivery or late for the teardown).
You will also notice as you drag blocks around that the teal travel block will change to accurately depict the amount of travel time between the block you are dragging and the block above it (or your warehouse if there is no block above it). Blocks will also move around the block that you are moving to make room for that block should you drop it in that vehicle.
Cost Estimate
There is also an indicator that shows the total miles to drive, the number of staff hours, and the estimated cost for the schedule you’ve arranged. This is useful to help you pick the most optimal schedule.
The miles are simply the sum of all the travel. It is included in the Cost by using the vehicles miles per gallon, and the gas cost as you set it on the screen.
The Man Hours are calculated by adding the total hours from the first delivery in a vehicle to the end of the last delivery in a vehicle. It does not take into account the number of people. Time between events is counted.
If you hover over the Cost number it will show you the breakdown of gas cost vs Hours cost. The values for gas cost and hourly rate are set via cookies on your computer, so they can be different on other computers within your account. So, setting them on one computer will not change them on any other computer.
Auto Load
You can also use the Auto Load button at the top to have the system automatically assign the unscheduled deliveries and returns. It will fit them in as best as it can around the ones that are already scheduled. This can be useful if you have a few events that must go with a certain vehicle as you can do them manually, then use the Auto Load to fill in the rest.
The software will first assign any non-flexible events (any events that have a delivery/return start time that is the same as the delivery/return end time), then it will route optimize the remaining events. It will attempt to use as few vehicles as possible and will respect the start time of the events.
Saving and Loading
Once done, you can click Save at the top, and the system will save the new schedule by creating shifts for the vehicles on the Schedule tab of each event. If you load the same date later, it will put everything where it was last. If you’ve manually changed a vehicle’s shift on a lead, it will show up as such on the schedule. It is possible to make things overlap when you manually change the vehicles shift on the schedule tab. If that is the case, the deliveries will show overlapped on the delivery schedule when you load that date. You can manually drag the shift around to correct the overlap.
Delivery Crew Scheduling
You can schedule the delivery crew by clicking the calendar next to each vehicle name. These shifts will be created on each lead that is assigned to that vehicle. So if a delivery and a return for the same lead is scheduled on the same vehicle, a shift will be created for both the delivery and the return. These shifts are linked to the vehicle, so that if you make adjustments and save the routing page, they will be adjusted as well.
You’ll be able to see the shifts that are linked to the vehicle on the schedule tab and will still be able to create shifts that are not linked (for event staffing).
Printing the Schedule
Finally, you’ll be able to use the Print button to generate a step-by-step of the schedule, organized by vehicle. The print button will not be available if you’ve made changes and have not saved your changes. You can also print the packing lists and contracts to make it easy for the delivery crew. Additionally, your manager’s will have access to the print page from the worker’s site.