Create Your First Route

This guide walks you through the full lifecycle of a route — from creation to completion.

Prerequisites

Before creating your first route, make sure you have:

• At least one service zone defined
• At least one service plan created
• At least one customer added with an address and assigned to a zone/plan
• A master route template with approved stops (created automatically when customers are assigned to zones)

Step 1: Generate a Daily Route

Routes can be generated automatically or manually.

Automatic generation (recommended): Enable auto-generation in Settings > Routes & Scheduling. The system generates draft routes daily based on your master route templates, looking ahead by the number of days configured in auto_generate_days.

Manual generation:

1. Go to Daily Routes in the sidebar
2. Click Generate Routes
3. Select a date range
4. Click Generate

The system checks each master route template, filters stops by frequency (weekly, biweekly, monthly, etc.), excludes blackout dates and vacation holds, and creates draft routes with the appropriate stops.

Step 2: Review the Draft Route

Click on a generated route to see its details:

• Route name — auto-generated from the zone name and date
• Stop list — customers scheduled for this date, ordered by sequence
• Driver assignment — inherited from the zone's default driver
• Vehicle assignment — inherited from the zone's default vehicle

Review the stops and make any adjustments:

• Remove stops that should not be serviced
• Add ad-hoc stops for one-time services
• Adjust the stop sequence if needed

Step 3: Optimize the Route

Click the Optimize button to reorder stops for the shortest travel distance. NextRoute supports two optimization methods:

After optimization, you will see:

• Estimated total distance (miles)
• Estimated total duration (minutes)
• Reordered stop sequence on the map

Step 4: Assign a Driver

If a default driver was not inherited from the zone template, assign one now:

1. Click the Driver dropdown on the route
2. Select a driver from your team
3. Optionally assign a vehicle

Step 5: Dispatch the Route

When the route is ready, click Dispatch. This:

1. Changes the route status from draft to dispatched
2. Sends a push notification to the assigned driver's mobile app
3. Makes the route visible in the driver's mobile app

Note: Once dispatched, the route cannot be deleted — only individual stops can be modified.

Step 6: Driver Completes the Route

On the mobile app, the driver:

1. Taps Start Route — status changes to in_progress
2. Navigates to each stop in sequence
3. At each stop:
   • Takes before photos (optional)
   • Completes the service
   • Takes after photos (optional)
   • Marks the stop as completed or skipped (with a category and reason)
4. After the last stop, the route automatically moves to completed

Route Status Lifecycle

draft → optimized → dispatched → in_progress → completed

What Happens After Completion

• Billing: Completed stops are counted toward the customer's monthly invoice
• Missed-service credits: If a stop was skipped, the system may auto-credit the customer based on your missed_service_credit_threshold setting
• Analytics: Route stats (distance, duration, completion rate) are recorded for reports

Next Steps

• Learn about Master Routes and template management
• Configure Skip & Reschedule Policies
• Set up Auto-Billing for monthly invoicing