How to Plan Efficient Multi-Stop Routes for Service Businesses

Why job order matters more than you think

Most field workers visit jobs in the order they were booked — not the order that makes geographic sense. A plumber might drive from the northern suburbs to the south, then back north, then west. That's hours of wasted driving every week. Studies show that optimising a 10-stop route can save 30-60 minutes per day compared to visiting stops in booking order.

The cost of bad routing

Wasted driving isn't just about time. It costs real money.

• •Fuel costs: At $2/litre, an extra 50 km per day costs around $3,500 per year
• •Vehicle wear: More kilometres means more servicing, tyres, and depreciation
• •Lost revenue: Every hour driving is an hour you could be billing a client
• •Client frustration: Late arrivals damage trust and cost you repeat business
• •Personal toll: Getting home late every day burns out even the toughest tradie

How to optimise your daily route

You don't need a maths degree to plan better routes. Here's a practical approach that works for any service business.

• •Group jobs by area: Try to cluster morning jobs in one suburb and afternoon jobs in another
• •Start and end near home: Your first and last jobs should be closest to where you start and finish
• •Account for time windows: If a client needs you between 9-10 am, lock that in first and build around it
• •Leave buffer time: Traffic, parking, and jobs running over are inevitable — build in 10-15 minutes between stops
• •Use a route planning app: Tools like DayRoute calculate the optimal order automatically using real distance data

What about same-day changes?

Real life doesn't follow a perfect plan. Clients cancel, emergency callouts come in, and jobs run over time. The best approach is to use a tool that lets you re-optimise mid-day. Add a new job, remove a cancellation, and the route recalculates automatically. This flexibility is what separates professionals who are always on time from those who are always apologising.

How much can you actually save?

Australian field workers who switch from manual planning to route optimisation typically report saving 30-60 minutes of driving per day. Over a 5-day week, that's 2.5-5 hours back. Over a year, that's 130-260 hours — or roughly 6-13 extra working weeks. That time translates directly into either more billable jobs or getting home earlier. Most service businesses find the savings pay for a route planning tool within the first week.