Dynamic Mid-Route Depot Planning

Use mid-route stops such as landfills, fuel terminals, and warehouses to help OptimoRoute plan routes around vehicle capacity and loading or unloading needs. This article explains how dynamic mid-route depots work and how to set them up.

Who can use this feature
	Custom plans
	Users that have administrator privileges
	All regions

What is Dynamic Mid-Route Depot Planning?

Dynamic Mid-Route Depot Planning helps OptimoRoute choose where drivers should load or unload during a route. Instead of always returning to the main depot, routes can include stops at designated landfills, warehouses, fuel terminals, or other depot locations when needed.

This can help you:

• Plan around vehicle capacity by adding load or unload stops when needed.
• Improve ETA accuracy by including travel to and from mid-route depot stops.
• Simplify depot management by managing depot locations in one place.

Dynamic Mid-Route Depot Planning is available upon request. Contact support to enable this feature..

Adding depots

To add depots for mid-route stop planning: 

1. Go to Administration→Settings
2. Then from the left menu, go to Locations→Depots
3. Click “Add depot” 
4. Give your depot a name
5. Choose depot type
6. Input the depot address, or drag the yellow pin to the depot location on the map. 
7. Optionally, modify the “Time & Access” tab to add the depot duration and access constraints.
8. Click “Confirm”

Setting the main depot 

The first depot in your depot list is always the main depot and is marked with a star. It provides the default start location for drivers and cannot be deleted.

The main depot must be one of these types:

• "Depot" — Supports loading and unloading.
• "Vehicle lot" — Does not support loading or unloading.

Only the main depot can use the "Depot" or "Vehicle lot" type. 

When using dynamic mid-route depots alongside custom start and end locations for drivers, the main depot type also determines how custom start and end locations work:

• If the main depot is a "Depot", the custom start location is used for loading at the start of the routes only, while end locations can be used for unloading at the end of the routes only.
• If the main depot is a "Vehicle lot," the custom start and end locations do not include loading or unloading at the start or end of the route.
• Custom start and end locations cannot be used for mid-route visits. The exception is when the mid-route load/unload option is set to “Return to start depot only.” In that case, the custom start location can also be used for mid-route visits.

Depot types

There are five depot types. The depot type determines whether drivers can start or end routes there and whether they can load or unload.

Main depot types

• Depot - Drivers start or end routes here and load or unload vehicles.
• Vehicle Lot - Drivers start or end routes here but cannot load or unload vehicles.

Mid-route depot types

• Landfill - Drivers can unload here mid-route, but cannot start or end routes here.
• Fuel Terminal - Drivers can load here mid-route, but cannot start or end routes here.
• Load-Unload - Drivers can load or unload here mid-route, but cannot start or end routes here.

Updating time and access constraints

Depots can have their own visit durations and access constraints to help make sure routing is kept efficient and realistic. 

• Visit Duration (min): Set how many minutes a driver is expected to spend at the depot.
• Required Vehicle Features: Select the vehicle features required to use this depot. OptimoRoute will only route vehicles to the depot if they have at least one of the selected features.

Configuring depot planning settings

You can set up how depots are incorporated into your route planning. To configure your depot planning settings:

1. Go to Administration→Settings
2. Then from the left menu, go to Locations→Depots
3. Choose the “Planning Settings” tab
4. Choose your planning options
5. Click “Save” in the top right corner.

Planning Options

There are three options for mid-route depot visits:

• Not enabled: Drivers will not visit depots mid-route to load or unload.
• Return to start depot only: Drivers can return to the depot where they started the route to load or unload.
• Dynamic mid-route depots: OptimoRoute selects the best depots for mid-route loading and unloading when planning routes.

You can also allow dispatchers to override these settings in the app or through the API, if enabled. When overrides are allowed, dispatchers will see "Override Per-Depot Settings" in the planning window.

• When enabled, this setting applies the same visit duration to all depots. 
• When disabled, each depot uses the visit duration set in its individual depot settings.

Planning Results

When you plan your routes, Dynamic Mid-Route Depot planning will be triggered under the following conditions: 

• Vehicles have capacities defined
• Drivers have vehicles assigned to them
• Orders have loads defined
• Dynamic Mid-Route Depots are enabled when planning

When routes are planned, vehicles will be routed to the nearest or most efficient depot for loading and unloading. You can see depot stops along the routes in the orders grid, timeline, live screen, and analytics. 

Timeline

You can see depot stops on the timeline. It is recommended to enable capacity display to visualize the loads throughout the day. 

Live screen

Here you can see depot stops both on the map, and in the orders table. 

Analytics

Here depot stops are registered and labeled in the "Order" column.