How to plan a route with multiple stops

Why the stop order matters so much

With 5 stops you can eyeball the best order. With 20 stops there are more possible orders than you could check in a lifetime. Most drivers fall back on habit: work outward from the depot, or follow the order on the manifest. That usually works, but it adds backtracking. A few wasted miles per stop adds up to an hour on a long day.

A route optimizer checks the options for you. It looks at real driving times between every pair of stops and picks the order with the least total time. The result often looks a little odd at first, but it saves real minutes.

Getting your addresses ready

Most planning problems start with bad addresses. Before you add anything, check a few things:

• Include city and zip code. “123 Main St” exists in hundreds of towns. “123 Main St, Springfield, IL 62701” exists once.
• Keep unit numbers in the notes if they confuse search. Some apartment formats like “Apt 4B” or “#12” can trip up address lookup. If a stop lands in the wrong place, move the unit to the stop notes.
• Watch for typos in street names. A missing letter can send a pin to the next town. After adding stops, glance at the map for any pin far outside your area.

If your addresses live in a spreadsheet, see our guide on how to import addresses from a spreadsheet. If you have a printed manifest, scan it with the camera in the app and SoloRoute reads the addresses for you.

Start and end points

Your start and end shape the whole route. A route that ends back at home looks different from one that ends at the last drop.

• Use your home or depot as the start if that is where you load up.
• Set the end to home if you drive back, or leave it as the last stop if you finish wherever the route takes you.
• If you pick up mid-day, plan two routes: one before pickup and one after.

Details that change the order

Not every stop is equal. A few details help the optimizer give you a route you can actually drive:

• Time windows. Businesses that close at 5 pm or a customer who is only home before noon. Add the window and the optimizer plans around it.
• First and last. Pin a stop as the first or last of the day, like a perishable pickup or a drop near home.
• Package count and location. Note how many packages go to each stop and where they sit in your vehicle, such as “rear shelf, left”. You spend less time digging in the back at every stop.
• Notes and phone numbers. Gate codes, dog warnings and “leave at side door” save calls later.

You can edit any of these at any time, even after you start driving. The route re-times itself.

Optimizing and checking the result

After you tap Optimize, look over the route before you leave:

• Scan the map for stops that look far out of the way. That is often a bad address, not a bad route.
• Check that time window stops land inside their windows.
• Look at the finish time. If it is too late, consider moving a few stops to tomorrow.

If you know something the app does not, like a road closure or a customer who asked you to come first, drag that stop into place. You do not need to start over.

On the road

Tap Navigate on the next stop and it opens in Google Maps, Waze or Apple Maps, whichever you prefer. You keep the voice guidance and traffic you are used to. When you finish a stop, mark it delivered, or failed with a reason. With Pro you can also take a photo for proof of delivery. SoloRoute moves you on to the next stop.

Things will change during the day. A customer calls to reschedule, or a road is blocked. Edit the stop or reverse the remaining route and keep going.

Common mistakes

• Optimizing before all stops are in. Add every stop first, then optimize once. Adding stops later works, but you get the best result with the full list.
• Ignoring time windows. Without them, the optimizer may send you to a closed business at 6 pm.
• Forgetting the end point. A route that should end at home but does not will look shorter on paper and longer in real life.
• Trusting a pin without looking. One wrong pin can add 20 minutes. A quick map check catches it.

Try it now

Install SoloRoute (free for 20 stops per route) and paste your addresses to see the optimized order. Pro takes up to 100 stops per route.