 Now that the Working Time Directive has become such an fundamental factor for vehicle operators to consider when scheduling drivers and journeys, additional driver time management capabilities have been built into version 3.1 of TruckStops, the popular and widely-used routing and scheduling system from MapMechanics.
The new version also introduces enhanced tools for comparing TruckStops’ optimised schedules with manually prepared schedules, and for fine-tuning its solutions automatically by taking account of selected user data. In addition, version 3.1 has enhanced data analysis and TruckStops Professional 3.1 also has improved map-handling capabilities.
When it comes to driver time management, TruckStops has always been able to take account of factors such as driver availability, hours worked and skill levels, but the new version addresses the demands of the Working Time Directive head on.
In particular, TruckStops 3.1 includes the ability to plan driver breaks on the basis of accumulated driving time. In order to do this, it now takes account of two key factors – maximum continuous work time and continuous work break time. The default values for these are six hours and 45 minutes respectively.
To ensure that these limits are observed, TruckStops automatically maintains a correct relationship between drive breaks and work breaks, allocating the appropriate type and duration of break at the correct place in the route.
In a further enhancement that brings greater precision to the tracking and monitoring of driver time, TruckStops can now calculate and report on specific time periods (travel time or time spent at stops, for instance) in much smaller time increments. Where previously it considered time values in whole minutes, it can now work in decimal points of a minute.
Whilst in practice, such fine gradations of time might not seem significant, they can become very important on multi-stop work, especially where call points are very close together. A driver might take only seconds to drop a package in a letterbox or deliver a bottle of milk, and for optimal performance a scheduling system like TruckStops needs to take account of this.
To simplify the presentation of information, TruckStops continues to display time periods in whole minutes, but behind the scenes, it is now able to plan and report with much more precision.
These fine-tuning enhancements are particularly important for many TruckStops customers who use the system not just for local vehicle-based deliveries, but also for planning the movements of bikes or even pedestrian delivery teams.
The TruckStops Professional edition of the latest release also has enhanced map handling capabilities. The Professional version includes embedded GeoConcept maps, and when users open up a previously saved configuration, the software now backs up the current maps automatically, making it possible to revert to the saved version when necessary.
MapMechanics has supplied and supported TruckStops since the early 1990s, and helped make it one of the most popular routing and scheduling systems on the market. It can deal with a vast range of requirements, including multi-depot, multi-product, multi-compartment vehicle operations, outbased drivers, and deliveries and collections made on the same journeys. Its extensive configurability has made it the market leader in the milk industry, for which it can plan for collections and deliveries by the same vehicle on the same round.
TruckStops can work out schedules on the basis of road network maps or direct crow-fly distances, and can take account of variable traffic speeds at different locations and by different types of vehicles. It is equally suitable for strategic route network planning and day-to-day scheduling of one-off delivery rounds.
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