Planning one route in Google Maps is reasonable with a single vehicle. With four vans and sixty stops, the problem changes nature: you must decide which orders go on which truck and then in what order to visit them — respecting capacity, customer schedules and the driver's shift.
That is VRP (Vehicle Routing Problem) applied to B2B delivery. You do not need to understand the algorithm; it helps to know what data you need and what to expect from software. Related: route optimization guide and route optimization with LogIA.
Two decisions: assign orders and order stops
Assignment: distribute orders across vehicles by capacity (kg, volume, pallets), geographic zone and truck type (cold chain, platform). Sequencing: visit order minimizing km while respecting time windows. Doing sequencing alone with a fixed truck leaves km on the table if the order should have gone on another vehicle.
Constraints an optimizer must respect
- Maximum capacity per vehicle (weight and/or volume)
- Customer delivery time windows
- Service time at stop (unloading)
- Maximum driver shift length
- Common departure warehouse (depot)
- Priority for urgent orders
LogIA solves CVRPTW (capacitated VRP with time windows) using OR-Tools and OSRM road times — not straight-line distance between points.
Manual planning vs multi-vehicle optimizer
| Scenario | Manual (Excel + Maps) | VRP optimizer |
|---|---|---|
| 3 vehicles, 25 stops | Viable with experience | Fast and repeatable |
| 6 vehicles, 60 stops | Hours + errors | Minutes + review |
| Mid-day urgent change | Redo 2–3 routes by hand | Reoptimize affected fleet |
| New dispatcher | Long learning curve | Same process from day 1 |
| Compare scenarios | Nearly impossible | Recalculate with one click |
Common mistakes with 5–15 vehicle fleets
- Fixed "Monday" routes that do not adapt to daily volume.
- One truck doing north and south zones the same day out of habit.
- Ignoring volume and looking only at weight (or vice versa).
- Not replanning when a large order arrives at midday.
- Confusing optimizing one route with optimizing the whole operation.
Practical implementation in your operation
- Centralize orders in one system (email, ERP, manual).
- Keep customer coordinates and time windows updated.
- Define real capacity for each vehicle, not "factory spec".
- Optimize the entire fleet each morning; review and adjust before publishing.
- Measure km and hours one week before and after — with your data.
If you come from Excel, read 5 signs you need to automate. For km cost, how to calculate the real cost of a route. Estimate potential savings with the savings calculator.
Km reductions depend on stop density, zone and data quality. 5–20% scenarios are common ranges in VRP literature vs manual planning; your result may vary.