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Help Center › Admin screens, field by field › Route planner: every field and button
Route planner: every field and button
Field-by-field guide to the Route planner: day, crew, start, stops, vehicle and fuel, crew cost, lunch, fixed stop and calendar update.
The Route planner works out the order of one crew’s stops for one day that uses the fewest miles. It can also plan lunch, predict when the tank runs low, and name gas stations.
Where to find it: Contractor Hub → Schedule & Field → Route planner. You can also click Plan this day’s route from a visit on the calendar. It is a tool you can switch on or off in “Show me” settings. Your plan must include it (not verified which plan).
Before you start
- Add your crew teams and working hours in Settings (see settings-crew-list-private-notes-and-working-hours). The Crew choice and the Leave at time come from there.
- Give visits an address. Calendar visits with no address are added but flagged as needing one.
- The server looks up addresses, driving distances and nearby places, so you need an internet connection.
1. The day
| Field (exact label) | What it does for VisionScaper | What to enter and example | Default / notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Day | Picks the day whose calendar jobs are pulled in and the date the plan is for. | Choose a date. | Today, or the day you opened it from. |
| Crew | Plans only that crew’s jobs. Each crew’s route is planned on its own. | Pick a team name. | “Choose a crew” if you have crew teams, otherwise “All jobs”. |
| Leave at | The time the crew starts driving. | A time such as 07:30. | Your working-hours start. |
| Start from | Where the day starts, with address suggestions. Saved for next time. | Your yard or shop address. | The last address you used, or your business address and ZIP. |
| Come back here at the end of the day (checkbox) | Ends the route back at the start address. Untick to type another end. | Leave ticked or untick. | Ticked. |
| Where the day ends | A different end address. Appears only when the box above is unticked. | Another address. | Empty. |
2. Stops
| Field (exact label) | What it does for VisionScaper | What to enter and example | Default / notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pull from my calendar (button) | Adds that day’s calendar visits (not cancelled, not time off) for the crew you chose, in time order. A message tells you how many were added and how many need an address. | Click. | Visits already added are skipped. |
| + Add an address (button) | Adds a blank stop. | Click, then fill in the row. | New stop: 60 minutes. |
| Stop name (placeholder “Name (optional)”) | A label for a typed stop. Visits from the calendar show their title and booked time instead. | “Supplier yard”. | Empty. |
| Address (placeholder “123 Main St, Town, ST”) | Where the stop is. Choose a suggestion if one appears. | Full street address. | Empty. A stop the server cannot find is marked with a message. |
| Minutes on site (shown as a number with “min”) | How long the crew stays. | 0 to 720, in steps of 5. | 60 for typed stops. For calendar visits, the visit’s length is used (not verified in code). |
| Remove stop (X button) | Takes the stop out. | Click. |
3. Make it smarter (optional)
This section opens by itself when you saved a vehicle or crew wage earlier. Your answers (except “Fuel in the tank right now”) are saved in this browser for next time.
| Field (exact label) | What it does for VisionScaper | What to enter and example | Default / notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| What are you driving? | Picks a vehicle so the planner knows its miles per gallon and tank size. The list shows each vehicle with its mpg. | Pick a vehicle, or “Other — I’ll type its MPG and tank size”. | “Choose your vehicle (optional)”. Figures are typical, not exact. |
| Miles per gallon | Your own mpg. Shown only for Other. | 3 to 60, steps of 0.5. | Empty. |
| Tank size (gallons) | Your own tank size. Shown only for Other. | 5 to 100, steps of 0.5. | Empty. |
| Pulling a trailer (checkbox) | Lowers mpg by about 25 percent in the fuel prediction. | Tick if you tow. | Off. |
| Fuel in the tank right now (buttons) | How full the tank is now, so the planner can tell if you will need gas. Choices: ⅛, ¼, ½, ¾, Full. Click again to clear. | Pick one. | None. |
| Crew size | Number of people on the crew. | 1 to 30. | Empty. |
| Total hourly wage of the whole crew ($) | Everyone’s hourly pay added together. Paid driving time is counted as a cost when choosing gas stations. | A number such as 75. | Empty. |
| About what time? (lunch) | When lunch should happen. | A time such as 12:00. | 12:00. |
| How long? (lunch) | Length of lunch. Options: No lunch break, 20 min, 30 min, 45 min, 1 hour. | Pick one. | 30 min. |
| Be close to restaurants at lunch (checkbox) | Plans the lunch break near places to eat. | Tick if wanted. | Off. |
| Be near … at … (checkbox) | Adds a fixed stop such as meeting another crew or picking up a part. Opens the three boxes below. | Tick to use. | Off. |
| Address (fixed stop) | Where the fixed stop is. | Supplier or crew address. | Empty. |
| Be there by | The time the crew should arrive. | A time such as 14:00. | 14:00. |
| Minutes there | How long the crew stays. | 0 to 240. | 15. |
| Plan my route (button) | Finds the best order and shows each leg. If the tank will run low it lists three gas stations by lowest total cost (fuel, extra driving and paid crew time) with the reason for each. | Click once. |
After you plan
| Control | What it does |
|---|---|
| Print route sheet | Prints the day’s sheet. |
| Open as a page (save as PDF / share) | Opens the sheet as a page you can save or share. |
| Open in Google Maps (or Google Maps (part N)) | Opens the route in Google Maps. Long days are split into parts of up to 9 stops in between. |
| Update the calendar times | Opens “Update the calendar”. Shown only when some stops are calendar visits. |
| Tell the customers about their new times (checkbox) | When ticked, customers are notified of the new times. Off by default. |
| Update the times (button) | Moves each calendar visit to its planned start time and length, and reports how many appointments were updated. |
Steps
- Open Route planner. Pick the Day and Crew, and check Leave at and Start from.
- Click Pull from my calendar, or add addresses with + Add an address.
- Fix any stop marked as needing an address, and adjust Minutes on site.
- Optional: open “3. Make it smarter” and answer the vehicle, crew, lunch and fixed-stop questions.
- Click Plan my route.
- Read the order and legs. Print the sheet or open it in Google Maps.
- Optional: click Update the calendar times, decide whether to tick Tell the customers about their new times, and click Update the times.
Tips
- Plan in the evening so the crew has the sheet before they leave.
- Leave customer notification off until you are sure of the times.
If something goes wrong
- No jobs added: the message says “No (new) jobs on the calendar that day”. Check the day and crew.
- A stop shows an error: retype the address and pick a suggestion.
- Your saved answers are missing: they are kept in this browser only; a private window or another computer starts blank.