Postal Letter

Please help me solve a transport planning problem?

Does anyone know of any FREE web-based applications or websites for logistics / transport planning? I need to organise timed deliveries and collections each day for 5 vans travelling to various areas throughout the UK, and would love to find a website where I can just enter all the destinations and times of each delivery or pick up and have the most efficient delivery order calculated for all the vehicles. To clarify, I don't really need to know which routes to take, (drivers use sat-nav for that), it's more about taking say.. 30 timed deliveries/collections + 5 vans, entering all the destinations into the computer and having it split the all the jobs between the 5 vans into some sort of sensible order based on the various destinations. Or, alternatively, just tell me how you'd tackle the problem quickly using only your brainpower. Perhaps your already a great transport manager. I'm NOT, I'm only doing this job to cover someone on holiday. I am a driver and can organise my own runs fine, but can't seem to get my head around organising the whole days work for the entire transport fleet! HELP!!

Public Comments

1. I would try Map quest first for each route individually,comparing pick/up and delivery locations.I assume each van works a different 1/5 section of the UK and do not cross paths.The person you relieved should be able to talk you through it.You could also use a map with push pins and string.The drivers will know the least congested routes based on experience.Then use the map quest to estimate running times or a gps unit.