The Ultimate Guide to Truck Route Planning

Only with professional route planning, that also takes into account time factors such as current traffic information or driving and rest times, can a reliable estimated time of arrival (ETA) be calculated. The ETA can be passed on to customers and stakeholders in the supply chain. The result: Service Level Agreements are met, penalties for being late at the ramp are reduced, and customers are happy about an on-time delivery.

The calculation is quite simple: fewer kilometers driven means less fuel consumption. PTV routing technology offers a number of features to reduce mileage:

• When planning a route, traffic data is considered and traffic jams are avoided.
• The calculated routes are feasible. This means less time pressure on drivers, encouraging them to drive more evenly and fuel-efficiently.
• Notification with precise ETA ensures a higher percentage of successful first delivery attempts.

Proper planning also helps to reduce detours and wasteful idling.

A non-optimized route can become expensive. Reliable and precise route planning is of great importance for the preparation of price calculations and offers - especially in such a competitive industry as logistics. If too few kilometers are specified in the offer then transport companies may end up paying for the additional costs.

With PTV Map&Guide truck route planning software you can calculate the expected transport costs for every tour, taking into account the costs for vehicle, personnel, fuel and toll.

Sticking to the designated route is more relevant than one might think. Drivers that don’t travel compliant routes can face potential fines and other unexpected expenses such as toll costs or contractual penalties for arriving late at the ramp. Furthermore, a deviation may result in delivery delays and non-compliance with Service Level Agreements.

Truck fleets represent a large portion of logistical CO₂ emissions. At the same time, customer awareness for sustainability and the desire for more climate-friendly delivery are increasing. More and more clients and governments require logistics companies to create CO₂ emission reports.

Efficient truck routing means unnecessary journeys are avoided and less fuel is consumed. With PTV planning tools you can reduce the emissions of your logistics operations by up to 17% and calculate the exact amount of emissions per trip.

Poorly planned truck routes not only cost time and money, but they can also become a hazard. From trucks crashing into low tunnels to getting stuck on narrow roads, highways, tunnels and bridges have specific ADR codes and restrictions for good reason: to prevent accidents with harmful effects on the drivers themselves, other road users and the environment.

 Professional truck route planning tools ensure that these rules are adhered to and that drivers and vehicles reach their destination safely.

Trucking routes are routes designated for trucks. They take into account factors such as the vehicle's weight and height, low tunnels, bridges with weight restrictions, or environmental zones that should be avoided. A trucking route planning tool will calculate these factors and find the most optimal trucking route.

Google Maps lets you choose whether you want to create a route for a car, a bike, or a pedestrian. Trucks and trucking routes are not available for selection. Why? When calculating a truck route, numerous vehicle attributes and restrictions must be taken into account. Otherwise, the vehicle will end up on a road that is not suitable or approved, will have to turn around or take detours.

Truck route planning is best done using a special truck routing tool. This software creates routes suitable for commercial trucking fleets.

Manual optimization of a truck route is difficult due to the number of parameters that need to be considered. A software solution calculates routes automatically based on vehicle profiles that specify vehicle properties such as length, width, height or weight. Taking into account numerous additional factors (e.g. driving and rest times, delivery time windows, opening hours, permanent road works), the algorithms determine an optimal route tailored to the vehicle.

When it comes to calculating truck routes with PTV solutions, you have a choice: Use our ready-to-install software solution PTV Map&Guide or the integrable and scalable Routing API of PTV Developer.

There are several navigation applications available for truckers on the market. However, to ensure your drivers follow the optimized trucking route, we suggest the use of PTV Navigator. It’s a professional truck navigation system available in 20 languages. It also offers offline maps, traffic updates, and truck parking assistance.