Capacity and Schedule Utilization Factors for Route Planning

What this means for distribution businesses

A beverage distributor loading kegs and crates knows that theoretical van capacity never matches real-world loading. Cap your vehicles at 90% capacity so there is always room for returns, damaged goods, or last-minute additions from the sales team. Furniture retailers scheduling two-man deliveries for heavy items need buffer time between stops for assembly and packaging removal. Ecommerce fulfilment operations running same-day delivery windows can scale schedule utilization down to 85% to absorb the inevitable late-afternoon surge orders. For wholesale food distributors managing mixed-temperature loads, a capacity factor ensures your frozen compartment is never packed so tight that airflow is compromised.

What this means for field service businesses

HVAC businesses sometimes like to avoid planning up to 100% because emergency boiler breakdowns always come in after lunch. Set utilization caps at 85% so every engineer has slack for urgent callouts without blowing the entire afternoon schedule. Electrical contractors carrying bulky testing equipment in their vans need capacity factors that account for tool storage, not just the job count. Facilities management teams servicing commercial buildings can scale schedules down to leave room for the access delays and sign-in procedures that eat 15 minutes per site. Telecoms engineers installing fibre need buffer time for the permit checks and utility markings that never show up in the job estimate.

How it works

• Set a capacity utilization factor (e.g., 0.9 for 90%) per vehicle or globally
• Set a schedule utilization factor to cap how full each driver's day can be
• The optimizer respects these caps when assigning stops to routes
• Factors can differ by vehicle type, team, or day of the week
• Override factors for specific routes when you need maximum utilization