How to choose truck routing software for a delivery fleet
Updated · Reviewed by Israel Margulies, founder and CEO of High Point GPS
Good truck routing software does two jobs: it picks the order and the driver for each delivery, and it sends the truck down roads the truck is allowed to use. Many products do one of the two. Work out which job you need covered, describe your trucks precisely, and test candidates on last week’s real routes.
Why trucks need different routing than cars
Consumer maps assume a car. Google’s own help page says its driving routes are designed for cars and may use car-only roads. A box truck or a tractor-trailer has limits a car never meets, and many of them vary by state and by road.
Height is the clearest example. FHWA’s size and weight Q&A states there is no federal height limit for commercial vehicles; states set their own, typically between 13 feet 6 inches and 14 feet, and an older overpass can sit lower than that. Width on the National Network is fixed at 102 inches under 23 CFR 658. On the Interstate, gross weight tops out at 80,000 pounds unless the bridge formula sets less. States may also restrict trucks to certain lanes and, with FHWA approval, limit the hours trucks can use some routes.
Navigation and optimization are separate jobs
Truck navigation is the turn-by-turn part. You enter the truck’s height, weight, length and any hazardous load, and the app routes around low bridges, weight-posted bridges and restricted roads. That runs on the driver’s phone or a dash unit.
Delivery route optimization is the planning part. It decides which driver takes which stops and in what order, keeping time windows, vehicle capacity and shift length. That runs in the office. Some suites do both. Plenty of fleets plan in one tool and navigate in another, which works fine as long as the stop order passes cleanly from the planner to the driver’s phone.
Types of route planning software for fleets
Sort the market by who uses it and how many vehicles it plans. Prices and stop limits change often, so compare current plan pages rather than old reviews.
- Single-driver route apps: one person optimizes their own stops on a phone; good for owner-operators and couriers
- Multi-driver delivery platforms: an office planner splits stops across drivers, with a driver app, customer messages and proof of delivery
- Truck GPS apps and devices: truck-safe navigation with a vehicle profile, no multi-driver planning
- Transportation management systems: freight loads, carriers, rates and settlements, with routing as one module
- Routing APIs: engines such as Google’s Route Optimization API that developers build into their own software
What artificial intelligence route planning means in practice
Most products sold as AI route planning combine two things. One is an optimization engine that searches the huge number of possible stop orders and assignments for a good answer, the vehicle routing problem that operations researchers have worked on for decades. The other is travel-time prediction from historical and live traffic data. To learn how a product handles your constraints, such as truck height, time windows and driver hours, you have to test it with them.
Ask the vendor for the inputs. Google’s Route Optimization API documentation lists the kind of constraints a serious engine accepts: time windows, vehicle capacity, driver work hours and breaks, plus objectives such as on-time arrival and balancing work across the fleet. If a vendor can’t say whether its AI respects a delivery window or a truck’s payload, test it before you trust it.
Build a truck profile before you compare tools
Truck routing software is only as good as the vehicle data you give it. Write down each truck type once and enter it the same way in every tool you trial, so the comparison is fair.
- Height with the tallest load you carry, not the empty truck
- Gross weight and axle weights when loaded
- Overall length and trailer type
- Hazardous materials class, if any; FMCSA keeps a national registry of state-designated and restricted hazmat routes
- Permit routes for oversize or overweight loads
- Customer sites with their own limits: low canopies, weight-limited yards, no-turnaround roads
How to test delivery route optimization software
Pick three days from last month: a light one, a normal one and the day everything went wrong. Load each into the trial with real addresses, windows and service times. Compare the planned finish time and miles with what your drivers did, and read through the stop order with a driver who knows the area. A local driver will often know about the left turn across a six-lane road or the site with no truck entrance that the plan missed.
Then test change. Cancel a stop, add a rush delivery and shift a window, and see whether the tool re-plans the rest of the day or makes you start over. Check how it geocodes job sites without a street number. Free route mapping software and free trials are enough for this test, so pay only once a tool has handled your worst day.
How FleetZap plans truck routes for equipment moves
FleetZap’s dispatch module is route optimization for equipment moves: deliveries, pickups, yard transfers and shop runs. It plans with Google Maps road distances and drive times, falling back to straight-line distance times a road factor at your average speed if Google can’t be reached. Optimize orders a driver’s run to finish soonest while keeping time windows, and Auto-plan spreads the unassigned moves across drivers with a preview first. Every move checks the machine’s shipping weight against the truck’s payload, and the board flags overweight loads before the truck leaves.
FleetZap does not hold truck height or hazmat profiles and does not do turn-by-turn navigation. Drivers tap Directions to open Google Maps, so a driver hauling a tall machine should navigate with a truck GPS app. Once a truck heads to a customer, the customer gets an email with a live tracking link, and dispatch reports show on-time rate and time per move by driver. You can open the demo board without signing up.
Key takeaways
- If your tallest load puts the truck over the height your maps assume, keep a written list of the low clearances on your regular routes and give it to new drivers.
- When a trial plan beats your drivers' actual day by a wide margin, check its service times and windows before believing the savings.
- Buy truck navigation for the cab and optimization for the office as two decisions; drop any tool that breaks the hand-off between them.
Sources
- FHWA Freight Management: Questions and answers about vehicle size and weight
- eCFR 23 CFR Part 658: Truck size and weight, route designations
- FMCSA: National Hazardous Materials Route Registry
- Google Maps Platform: What is the Route Optimization API
- Google Maps Help: Get directions and show routes (driving routes designed for cars)
FleetZap Dispatch
Deliveries, pickups, routing and a driver app. Explore FleetZap Dispatch.
Frequently asked questions
What is truck routing software?
Truck routing software plans routes that suit commercial vehicles. Some products focus on navigation, routing around low bridges, weight limits and hazmat restrictions using a vehicle profile. Others focus on planning, deciding which truck takes which stops and in what order. Delivery fleets often need both and may use two tools that pass the stop list between them.
What is the best route planning software for a delivery fleet?
The best fit depends on fleet size and the trucks you run. A single driver can use a phone route app. A fleet with an office planner needs multi-driver optimization with a driver app and proof of delivery. If your trucks are tall, heavy or hazmat-placarded, pair the planner with truck-specific navigation. Test each candidate on your real routes.
Is there free route mapping software for trucks?
Free tools exist for plotting and ordering stops, and most paid planners offer free trials. Free consumer maps are built for cars, so they won’t check bridge heights or truck restrictions. Use free tools to plan and test, and give drivers of tall or heavy trucks a navigation app that accepts a truck profile before they rely on any route.
How does AI route planning work?
AI route planning usually means an optimization engine that searches many possible stop orders and driver assignments, combined with travel-time predictions from traffic data. The engine scores each option against goals such as total drive time and on-time arrival, and against limits such as time windows and vehicle capacity. Ask vendors which limits their engine respects.
Do trucks have a federal height limit?
No. FHWA states there is no federal height limit for commercial motor vehicles. Each state sets its own, typically between 13 feet 6 inches and 14 feet. Bridges and overpasses can be lower than the state limit, so drivers need posted clearances and a truck navigation app that knows the vehicle’s height including its load.