Intelligent logistics companies, especially multistop carriers, are paying close attention to routing. They feel improvements in productivity and efficiency with less backtracking that routing brings, as well as the more effective use of drivers — important in a time of driver shortages and stricter hours-of-service regulations — are crucial in today’s challenging environment.

There was a time when carriers would have called in a team of consultants and industrial engineers to help improve routing. They would study all the variables — driver shifting, traffic patterns, existing routes, frequency of pickups and drops at locations — and come up with an “optimum” plan for routing trucks throughout the day, throughout the week, throughout the month.

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