PortaPottyBossPro Blog — Weekly Service Scheduling

Route Order for the Pump Truck: Closest First, Furthest First and Your Own Order

Order Matters as Much as the List

Assigning Weekly Service Days to Trucks: Building a Service Week That Repeats covered which sites go on which truck and day. Once a truck has its list, the order of the stops decides how much of the day is spent driving, when each customer sees the truck, and whether the pump truck has room in the tank at the right time. Two drivers with the same list can finish an hour apart depending on the order.

The Options on the Dispatch Board

On the PortaPottyBossPro dispatch board, you can set route order three ways:

• Auto-route Closest First from the yard, which starts near the yard and works outward.
• Auto-route Furthest First from the yard, which drives out first and works back toward the yard.
• Drag stops into your own order by hand.

Most dispatchers use auto-routing to get a reasonable order quickly and then adjust a few stops by hand. The driver sees the final order on the phone.

When Closest First Fits

Closest First works well when the day's stops are spread around the yard and you want the truck working right away instead of driving. It also helps when early stops need to be serviced before crews arrive and those stops are near the yard. A truck that starts close can complete several stops before rush hour gets bad.

When Furthest First Fits

Furthest First is often better for pump trucks. The truck makes the long drive while its tank is empty and then services its way back toward the yard, so it is close to home and to disposal when the tank is fullest. It also suits days with rural or far-out sites, where you want the longest drive done early in the day while the driver is fresh.

When to Set Your Own Order

Auto-routing does not know everything you know. Drag stops by hand when:

• A site only allows service at a certain time, such as a restroom trailer at an event or a site that opens at 9am.
• A construction site wants service before the crew arrives.
• The tank will need to be emptied midday and a disposal point is on one side of the route.
• A high-use site should be serviced early so it is clean for the busiest hours.
• Traffic, school zones or a bridge closure make the shortest path slow.

Put time windows and preferences in the site's notes so whoever sets the order sees them. Restroom Trailer Service: Scheduling the Units That Take the Longest covers timing restroom trailer service.

Tank Capacity and Disposal

A pump truck can only hold so much waste. A route of many large stops may need a mid-route trip to a disposal site. Plan the order so the truck reaches the disposal point when it is near full, not after it has passed it. Look at the units listed under each address to estimate how much the truck will pump at each stop.

Changes During the Day

Routes change after the truck leaves. An extra pump-out request comes in, a site is locked, or a stop takes longer than expected. When the office adds or moves a stop on the board, the driver sees the new order on the phone. If a driver skips a stop, it stays due on the Waiting List and can go on tomorrow's route. Skipped Service Stops: Recording Why and Getting Back the Next Day covers what happens with skipped stops.

Customers See the Order Too

Route order is not only for the driver. Customers in the customer app can see where they are on today's route, such as stop 12 of 20 with the crew 5 stops away. Customers who chose the "when you are next" alert get notified when they are next on the route. A sensible order makes those alerts more accurate and keeps customers' expectations right.

Listen to the Driver

The driver runs the route every week and knows things the map does not: the gate that only opens after 7, the left turn that takes ten minutes at rush hour, the site where the crew always parks in front of the units after lunch. Ask drivers which stops are in the wrong place and fix the order on the board. A small change suggested by the person in the cab often saves more time than any setting.

Keep It Simple

Start with auto-routing, fix the few stops that need special timing, and let the driver run it. To see route ordering alongside the Waiting List and the driver app, visit PortaPottyBossPro portable toilet service scheduling software.