Time is the most valuable thing in delivery. The captain who plans their route well reaches more places with less effort. Route planning is a practical skill mastered through practice.
Ordering the drop-off points
Order your deliveries so that you move in a logical direction instead of moving around randomly.
A practical example: four orders in two directions. Start by grouping what's in one direction and then move to the other, instead of moving back and forth between them. This clearly reduces the total distance.
Avoiding congestion
Peak times consume your time without you noticing. If you know the busy times and areas in your zone, adjust your ordering to avoid them as much as possible — for example, starting with the congested area early before the traffic builds up.
Using maps intelligently
Map apps are useful, but they don't always know the street details you know from experience (a closed road, an easier entrance, an area that's hard to park in). Combine the app's suggestion with your knowledge of the area to make a more precise decision.
Saving time without rushing
Saving time doesn't mean excess speed on the road, but better organization and smarter decisions. Safety always remains the priority, and that's the subject of "Safety and discipline in delivery".
This article is about the route and the road; for organizing the day as a whole, see "The basics of managing your daily trips", and for overall performance, see "Delivery captain performance metrics".
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