Route and trip planning for a small fleet: method and mistakes to avoid

The problem with planning on a spreadsheet

With 3 or 4 trucks, a spreadsheet is enough. With 8 or 10, every last-minute change forces you to check by hand which driver is free, which vehicle has capacity and whether the driver will arrive within their hours. Mistakes appear when the trip is already under way.

A five-step method

1. See the week by vehicle and day

A Gantt chart, with one row per vehicle and one column per day, shows gaps and overlaps at a glance. Assigning a trip should be as simple as dragging it to a cell.

2. Check overlaps and capacity

A vehicle can carry several loads at once as long as it does not exceed its capacity on any day. A driver can only carry several loads in the same vehicle. Detecting this at assignment time avoids the drama on loading day.

3. Calculate the real route

Road distance and duration beat an eyeball estimate. With them you can know what time you will arrive, how many kilometres to charge for and what the trip really costs.

4. Respect driving times

A trip that is viable on the map may not be with the 9-hour day, the 45-minute break and the rest periods. Calculate the mandatory stops before committing to a delivery time.

5. Measure the margin before accepting

Revenue minus cost. The cost can be the actual one or, if you do not have it, the distance times the vehicle's cost per kilometre. A trip that fills the truck but leaves no margin is not a good trip.

Common mistakes

• Assigning without checking which driver is free.
• Leaving no slack for loading and unloading.
• Ignoring the empty return.
• Planning by intuition and calculating the margin at invoicing time.

How Fleetaria does it

Fleetaria includes a chart by vehicle and day where each trip is dragged to assign or reassign it, with unassigned trips in a side list. It warns of overlaps (it does not prevent them), finds free vehicles and drivers by dates and zone, and takes into account the remaining capacity in multi-load. The road route is calculated automatically when the trip is assigned and shows distance, duration and path; the margin is calculated per trip and for the period.

A technical note: by default route calculation uses public OpenStreetMap services, suitable only for development and low volume. In production a dedicated or paid provider is configured.

Frequently asked questions

How do you plan a delivery route?

By grouping stops by zone, ordering them according to time windows and calculating the road route with its times. Then capacity and driving times are checked.

What is a Gantt chart in transport?

A table with one row per vehicle and one column per day where each trip appears as a bar. It is used to see gaps and overlaps.

How is a trip's margin calculated?

Revenue minus cost. The cost includes fuel, tolls, driver and wear, or is estimated with a cost per kilometre.

Can a vehicle carry several loads?

Yes, as long as it does not exceed its capacity. The software should warn you if the sum of loads exceeds capacity on any day.