How to Create a Route

Table of Contents

Please note that even though the screenshots presented below are shown in RouteStarOnline, the steps and selection locations are the same.

  • Before you can create a Route you will need a few things done beforehand. First, you must have already created Routes/Route Users. The article explaining how to do so can be found here. Secondly, you will need Frequencies. The article explaining how to create Frequencies can be found here.

Step 1: Navigate to the Route Schedule Page by clicking on Routes > ScheduleCreateRoute01.PNG

Step 2: Select a Frequency

  • Click on the small gray arrow inside the cell in order to access a drop down menu of available options. This will work the same way for other columns as well.CreateRoute02.PNGCreateRoute03.PNG
  • The Frequency will control how the date moves when advancing the Route Schedule. An article on Advancing the Route Schedule can be found here.

Step 3: Select the Route that you want to this stop to be on.CreateRoute04.PNG

  • When you select a Route, the 'Assigned To' column will automatically be populated.CreateRoute05.PNG
  • The 'Assigned To' column is used for temporarily reassigning stop and is covered in more detail here.
  • Only the Route User that is selected for a stop will be able to access and complete that stop. 

Step 4: Select the Date that you want this Route Stop to be worked.CreateRoute06.PNG

  • When you select a Date, the 'Assigned Date' column and the 'Day' column will automatically be populated.CreateRoute07.PNG
  • The 'Assigned Date' column is used for temporarily reassigning stops to different dates and is covered in more detail here.

Step 5: Select the Customer that you will visit on this stop. CreateRoute08.PNG

  • When you select a Customer, the 'Service Address' column will automatically be populated.CreateRoute09.PNG

NOTE: At this point you have entered the four pieces of information that are REQUIRED for a Route Stop to function (Frequency, Route, Date, & Customer). The remaining columns on the Route Schedule page can be important to the structuring of your particular Route Schedule and are covered below.

 

Stop Column: This dictates the order in which stops appear on the mobile for your drivers.

  • If no value is manually entered before navigating away from the Route Schedule page, upon returning this column will default to a value of 0.
  • You can manually edit the values in the stop column or you can have these values suggested to you using our Route Optimization which is covered here.

 

Suspended: The suspended column dictates whether or not a stop is visible in the mobile application.

  • To enable or disable this feature, simply check or uncheck the box as needed.

 

Actions: The actions column holds several Icons that all perform different actions.

  • When you first select a customer on the Route Schedule page you will not see any icons displayed within the actions column until you click on 'Refresh/Clear Filters' or refresh your browser page.

CreateRoute11.png

  • The yellow 'Geocoding Error' icon alerts you to the fact that the customer selected for that stop does not currently have latitude or longitude coordinates assigned to their profile. To learn how to Geocode a customer, click here.

CreateRoute12.png

  • The purple 'Not Optimized' icon alerts you to the fact that this stop has not yet been optimized using the built-in Route Optimization feature. To learn more about Route Optimization, click here.

CreateRoute13.png

  • The green 'Stop Completed' icon alerts you to the fact that an Invoice/Route Ticket has been marked complete by the assigned Route User in the mobile app.

CreateRoute14.png

  • The blue 'Customer Detail' icon will open the Customer Details page in a new tab within your browser window.

CreateRoute15.png

  • The darker blue 'Create' icon will allow you to create a Invoice/Ticket/Task* for that customer.

CreateRoute16.png

  • The red 'Delete Stop' icon allows you to delete that stop and remove that row from the Route Schedule.

 

Category: The category column allows you to select a category for that particular Route Stop to belong to.

  • By default there are no categories available in the system. Categories are covered in more detail here.

 

Avg Sales: The avg sales column displays a value equal to the total of sales from all invoices divided by the number of invoices for that customer. 

 

Notes: The notes column allows you to enter notes about the Route Stop.

  • The notes column is a great place to put any pertinent stop specific information such as gate codes, location specific directions, etc. 
  • There is a character display limit on the mobile application of 1000 characters. Keep this in mind as your formulate your customer's notes.
  • When you click away from the cell after typing your notes, the system will prompt you to choose whether or not to make this the default note for this customer. If you confirm than this will fill in automatically when placing a stop for that customer on the Route Schedule.

 

Missed Reason: The missed reason column allows you to either see or select a reason that a stop was not completed.

  • By default there are no missed reasons available in the system. To learn more about missed reasons click here.

 

StartTime: The start time column is used to indicate the desired starting time of this stop.

  • This field will also control how this stop appears on the Task Dashboard Calendar.

 

Budget (mins): The budget (mins) column is used to indicate the approximated time to complete that Route Stop.

  • This field will also control how this stop appears on the Task Dashboard Calendar.

 

Balance: The balance column shows a customer's balance according to QuickBooks.

 

Account#: The account# column shows a customer account number according to QuickBooks.

 

Stop Good Thru: The stop good thru column dictates when a Route Stop will no longer be considered active.

  • Stop Good Thru and Restart Dates are covered in more detail here.

Restart Date: The restart date column dictates when a Route Stop will be considered re-active.

  • Stop Good Thru and Restart Dates are covered in more detail here.

 

Zone: Forthcoming.