Navigating delivery-only zones is always a fine balance. While these roads are vital for final-mile deliveries, they should not serve as shortcuts or transit paths. Over the past few months, we’ve worked closely with our customers to refine how delivery-only zones are handled, aiming to reduce strange detours without compromising compliance. The result? A more nuanced approach that improves logic while keeping the overall system behavior stable.
Addressing strange detours
One of the key issues brought to our attention was the occurrence of strange detours. For example, when a route ends within a delivery-only zone, the system’s high penalty for delivery-only roads could lead to unnecessary deviations. This penalization, designed to prevent misuse for transit, occasionally created illogical routes.
What’s changed?
The updates address specific edge cases while ensuring consistency and reliability across the board:
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Big trucks use big roads
Large trucks now prioritize larger roads stronger than before while avoiding smaller roads with a lot of intersections. This helps to minimize stop-and-go traffic, allowing trucks to maintain a constant flow and now even better aligns the routing behavior with the realities of truck operations.
Using delivery free zone with new profiles -
Smarter use of delivery-only zones
Routes ending in delivery-only segments are now treated more thoughtfully. The system allows access when deliveries must be made, avoiding strange detours while still discouraging transit misuse. -
Refined penalty logic
Delivery-only segments remain penalized to prevent inappropriate use, but the penalty has been adjusted to reduce over-avoidance. This allows for more practical routes without undermining compliance. -
A thoroughly tested solution
To ensure reliability, we tested these updates on over 10,000 international routes. The results confirmed that while edge cases saw significant improvement, the average routing behavior remains consistent, offering stability alongside smarter navigation.
Keep in mind!
While these updates refine the logic, external factors such as incomplete road data or unique local conditions mean perfect results can’t always be guaranteed. However, these changes represent a meaningful step forward, reducing inefficiencies while respecting the complexities of real-world logistics.
Try it out today
These updated profiles are now available, ready to deliver smarter, more reliable route calculation for your vehicle whether you’re managing urban deliveries or cross-country routes. Try it out with our interactive routing app or one of the routing showcases.
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