Route Planning Software for Residential Areas

[bimiko939]

Found this thread through Google while looking into some fleet logistics stuff and wanted to chime in. No one is typing 400 addresses into a GPS, that would be a total nightmare.

The way it actually works is pretty seamless. They just sync the city's utility billing data straight into a mapping system, and the dispatcher draws a digital boundary around a whole neighborhood.

The software automatically grabs every active customer inside that shape and sequences them into a continuous loop. I've messed around with some modern waste management platforms like CurbWaste before, and the tech automatically factors in things like keeping the truck's helper arm on the right side of the street and avoiding tight dead-ends. The driver just follows a line on an in-cab tablet and never has to look at an actual address.

 

[kenny91]

You'd think there's some high-tech AI involved, but honestly, some drivers just have a "mental map" and stubbornness to never turn left.

 

[Hall]

the UPS truck

For residential, he is expected to shut the truck off at every single stop, unbuckle, take the key out, grab and drop the package off, buckle back up, key back in, and the electronic device back in it's holder. That's all timed and recorded also.

Some places, like my cul-de-sac-driveway with 14 townhouses, sometimes they'll park on the street and run down the driveway with the packages so they don't have to do a 3-point turn.

I think he said backing up to the right (blind side) was either not allowed or strongly discouraged.

In UPS' case, it's all about safety first, then efficiency, but safety always trumps.

 

[Hall]

I make bets Amazon has the best routing software on the planet.

I'd guess it's a close match between them and UPS. I can say that from what I've seen, Amazon has made drastic improvements in recent years. On more than one occasion, we've had (2) different Amazon drivers literally meet each other in our driveway ! Now, I think some of that comes from the fact that our area seems to have overlapping coverage from (at least) 3 different distribution centers.

When I say they've improved, that's because I've seen a driver come down our street and stop and deliver to us or an immediate neighbor. Unlike UPS, they deliver to houses on both sides of the street too. Anyway, 30+ minutes later, it seems like, they leave. Our neighborhood has 90-100 homes in it and my street is the only way in and out:

Sidenote: I've seen smarter or more-aware drivers grab packages and walk to (4) of our houses instead of making one drop, getting back in, finding the next package(s) and they're for the house immediately next door, and so on !

 

[SC Maintenance]

I'd guess it's a close match between them and UPS. I can say that from what I've seen, Amazon has made drastic improvements in recent years. On more than one occasion, we've had (2) different Amazon drivers literally meet each other in our driveway ! Now, I think some of that comes from the fact that our area seems to have overlapping coverage from (at least) 3 different distribution centers.

When I say they've improved, that's because I've seen a driver come down our street and stop and deliver to us or an immediate neighbor. Unlike UPS, they deliver to houses on both sides of the street too. Anyway, 30+ minutes later, it seems like, they leave. Our neighborhood has 90-100 homes in it and my street is the only way in and out:

View attachment 345521

Sidenote: I've seen smarter or more-aware drivers grab packages and walk to (4) of our houses instead of making one drop, getting back in, finding the next package(s) and they're for the house immediately next door, and so on !

Could be. There are only so many ways to get through a neighborhood . But Amazon does way more residential deliveries than UPS, every day of the week, and much longer hours and multiple times a day to the same neighbourhood. I can get same day delivery here now. There a tech company not a material handling company. So if I had to make a wager that would be it.

However I wouldn't be surprised either way. There both obviously best in class of what they do.

 

[PandaBear]

You'd think there's some high-tech AI involved, but honestly, some drivers just have a "mental map" and stubbornness to never turn left.

Something so simple doesn't need AI. It is a bunch of simple "dynamic programming" or list everything under the sun and calculate then sort the result algorithm. It would be something like a homework project anyone studying Computer Science would need to know how to do. Something deterministic usually has a known "best" solution in math, AI is typically doing something that isn't deterministic or too complex that we don't want to do with brute force and rely on either a human's gut instinct (that's basically what AI is), or run a bunch of statistics and just guess based on the result.

 

[PandaBear]

I'd guess it's a close match between them and UPS. I can say that from what I've seen, Amazon has made drastic improvements in recent years. On more than one occasion, we've had (2) different Amazon drivers literally meet each other in our driveway ! Now, I think some of that comes from the fact that our area seems to have overlapping coverage from (at least) 3 different distribution centers.

When I say they've improved, that's because I've seen a driver come down our street and stop and deliver to us or an immediate neighbor. Unlike UPS, they deliver to houses on both sides of the street too. Anyway, 30+ minutes later, it seems like, they leave. Our neighborhood has 90-100 homes in it and my street is the only way in and out:

View attachment 345521

Sidenote: I've seen smarter or more-aware drivers grab packages and walk to (4) of our houses instead of making one drop, getting back in, finding the next package(s) and they're for the house immediately next door, and so on !

That sounds like Amazon has more volume so they can split the trucks whereas UPS have to use one for both / 3 of them.

 

[SC Maintenance]

Something so simple doesn't need AI. It is a bunch of simple "dynamic programming" or list everything under the sun and calculate then sort the result algorithm. It would be something like a homework project anyone studying Computer Science would need to know how to do. Something deterministic usually has a known "best" solution in math, AI is typically doing something that isn't deterministic or too complex that we don't want to do with brute force and rely on either a human's gut instinct (that's basically what AI is), or run a bunch of statistics and just guess based on the result.

The traffic factor is dynamic, and needs to be factored now and in the future - so its not vectors and nodes. I would think there would be a place for AI - in anticipating traffic using real time data from all the other delivery trucks?

 

[PandaBear]

The traffic factor is dynamic, and needs to be factored now and in the future - so its not vectors and nodes. I would think there would be a place for AI - in anticipating traffic using real time data from all the other delivery trucks?

True, but that is probably solvable with multi mode split or region separation before doing sorting or dynamic programming.

You can also just add weight to the time and sort with another extra weight based on time. It is done way before AI era.