The street-level maps available in Optrak mean that the routes and estimated travel times we generate can have a high level of accuracy

Maps are a vital part of any Vehicle Routing system.

• The system uses maps to calculate travel times, distances and the "paths" between locations.
• You use the maps when visualising the data and solution - routes are easier to understand when displayed on a map background.

The more detailed and accurate the map, the better Optrak is able to calculate accurate times and distances.

Optrak uses 2 main suppliers of map data - although other maps can also be used if required

• In the UK our main map provider is the Ordnance Survey.
• Elsewhere we primarily use Navteq mapping.

In both cases maps are available down to street level complete with one-way streets, banned turns and vehicle access restrictions.

London Lorry Ban

The London Borough Transport Committee bans the movements of all goods vehicles over 18 tonnes on most Greater London roads at night and at the weekends..

Our "Brown Routes" optimisation module is aware of these restrictions. It fully routes your London-based operations to minimise drive-time and mileage whilst ensuring that all restrictions are obeyed. It is even sophisticated enough to send vehicles to and from a customer along differing roads, should the delivery be made during the crossover period between limited and non-limited vehicular access.

Direction of Travel Restrictions

Often it is difficult to visit customers on both sides of a busy high street in a single pass. A system that ignores this limitation will sequence customers incorrectly, leading to confusion on the part of the drivers and potentially missed delivery and collection time-windows.

Optrak overcomes this by the use of optional customisable "connections" between the customer and the road network, ensuring that visits are planned according to the prevailing traffic conditions.

Presenting Data

Colour schemes can be added to the map to help you visualise the data. They can be built up so that one layer can show different factors depending on colour, size and shape. For example in the video the orders are being coloured by, the requirement for a vehicle with a tail lift, and then, the size depending on the volume of the order.

Colour schemes using icons can be used to distinguish between different types of data. For example in the video the sites have different icons depending on if they are a forest or a sawmill. The layer is then dragged to the top so it is drawn on the top of the map and so becomes more visible.

Shortest path

The shortest path tool can be used to find routes between different points. Created paths can be dragged to add via points and even reversed which can produce different routes if one way roads are used. Multiple paths with differing start and end points can be visible on the map at the same time and also multiple paths from the same start point.