Logistics Sub-Sector Land Transportation

Participant Handbook 
58 
 
How do we differentiate between Route Planning and Route Optimization?
 
As against route planning, route optimization would include all additional factors, such as 
schedules, time constraints, weight capacity, road restrictions and many more. 
Therefore, route optimization can be defined as the action of solving a complex routing problem.
How does one plan routes with all three Processes viz., routing, route scheduling and route 
optimization? 
There is a need to use all these three processes to design the most efficient routes. However, 
manual planning will be time-consuming. 
 
Why? Let us Understand
•
Firstly, it is required to map out every single stop. If one has only a couple of stops that 
need to be visited in a day, it should not be too difficult. However, if one has many more 
stops than that, do not make any plans for later as you will most likely to get stuck on your 
computer. 
•
There is a need to consider the amount of time it takes to visit each stop. Many other 
factors also need consideration such as traffic conditions, distance travelled, possible 
interruption along these routes, etc. How does one account for all that? 
•
Lastly, it is needed to figure out which routes will allow to reach all stops in the shortest 
amount of time possible and distribute each route to your drivers in a clear way that they 
will easily understand. Also to be noted is that the s
hortest route in terms of distance aren’t 
always the best choice, making the process even more confusing.
•
The very thought is enough to make anyone tired by just thinking of how to solve 
this issue.
•
The process is tedious & would lead to a lapse of concentration & error-prone, resulting in 
many hours of wasted productivity.