Field notes
Where Kilometer Waste Hides on Mixed Urban Loads
A stop list ordered by customer priority can still burn kilometers. Mixed retail and residential runs are especially prone to backtracks when a wholesale return is inserted after the residential cluster.
Overlay planned sequence against GPS traces for three sample days. Highlight every segment that revisits a road already driven that afternoon. Those loops are your route efficiency story. Measuring them in kilometers — not in opinions — keeps the conversation concrete with drivers who feel accused of dawdling.
Sometimes the waste is intentional: a preferred client demands a fixed window. Name that constraint in the chart caption so the finding does not read as driver error. Route efficiency studies earn trust when they protect people who are following shipper rules.
Once the backtrack is visible, try one reordered loop for a week. Keep exception codes and on-time rates in view so you do not trade kilometers for a spike in failed first attempts.