Scan App Route Planning allows you to plan an optimized delivery route with delivery information and estimated times of arrival.
If using containers is new to you, we also recommend reading the article Using Containers in Scan App, since you will need this feature for your route planning.
Important: You must have Live tracking turned on in Scan App and the phone's location services turned on to use route planning.
Learn about:
- Creating a delivery route
- Making deliveries
- Editing and updating the delivery route
- Handling exceptions and errors
Creating a delivery route
- Start by scanning all the barcodes you want to be included in your delivery route. They must be scanned with an event that has the Container required property. Tap Next to continue.
- Set the Container Type to Container name, and select an existing container or create a new one by tapping the New container button.
- Tap Complete to add the items to your container.
- After your container is created, it will be available from the Containers options in the main menu.
- Tap Container in the main menu and select All available. Assign the container to yourself.
- Tap the arrow to see the content of your container.
- If you are happy with the content, tap the truck icon to manage your deliveries.
- You can include up to 23 items on your delivery list. Tap the "select all" icon at the bottom to include all items or tap individual items to select them one by one.
- Once you are satisfied with the list, tap the route planning icon to calculate an optimized delivery route.
- Your delivery route is now ready. The navigation card contains all the necessary information for your first delivery if filled in on the shipment. This includes name, address, phone number, and message to the driver.
- Ready delivery routes can always be accessed from the main menu by tapping Route planning.
Making deliveries
- The first stop on your route is at the top of the list. You may call the receiver by tapping the phone icon or number and informing them about your estimated time of arrival.
- If you need navigation assistance, tap the compass icon and use your preferred navigation app.
- If you need more information about the current delivery, you can tap it to open the shipment viewer.
- Once you have reached your destination, tap the barcode button to add an event for this delivery.
- After tapping Complete on the Delivered event, you will be redirected to your planned route. Your previous delivery is now added to the Delivered list. If you encounter delays along the route, you can tap the Refresh button to re-calculate your estimated times of arrival. If you want to inform the customer about being late, you can send an event like Delayed and the item will not be moved from your current delivery list.
- You are now ready to proceed with your next delivery.
- Once you have completed all your planned deliveries, the navigation card will display the message: No more deliveries!.
Editing and updating the delivery route
You may need to reorder or edit your delivery route. Maybe a receiver has contacted you to reschedule or you have added a wrong delivery to the route.
- Tap the reorder button.
- Rearrange the list by long-tapping and dragging items to a new position. Delete unwanted items by using the delete icon on the right side of the list. Tap the checkmark icon when you are done. Your time and distance values will now be updated.
- In case you want to resume your optimized route, your changes can be reverted by tapping the undo button.
- If you want your toolbar in Scan App to include quick actions for Route Planning and Containers, go to the main menu and select Settings > Preferences > Toolbar Action.
- Replace the icon of your choice by selecting it and picking a new option from the list.
- Your selected items are now available on your toolbar which you can display and hide by tapping the arrow at the bottom of the screen.
Handling exceptions and errors
- In case a delivery is unsuccessful, you can add an Exception event and it will be marked with the exception icon.
- If no route could be found between your current location, the next delivery address, and your final destination, or you are trying to create a route with an invalid address, the following message will be displayed.
- You can add or adjust your final destination by going to Preferences in the main menu and selecting Route options.
- Here you can adjust your service time to improve the accuracy of the ETA (estimated time of arrival) calculation. You can also add a new address or edit an existing one to complete your route.
Notes
- Maximum of 23 items for a delivery due to Google Maps API limitations.
- Changing your current Action Center will cancel your current planned route.
- Driving to your current delivery using a planned route requires Share my position and the device's location services turned on. The user should allow Scan App to always use location services.
- Route planning requires a valid GPS location for your current location to calculate distances and time between deliveries.
- You can use this feature only with packages created from an installation belonging to the same owner as the current Action Center used on the device, and with named containers.
- The events In progress, Info, and Out for delivery will keep the item in your current delivery list.
- The events Closed, Exception, or Carrier Exception will move the item from your current delivery list to the Delivered / Exceptions list.