Working with the depot

Load handling time at depot

The loading or unloading time at the depot may depend both on orders and vehicle properties (for example, dimensions or equipment).

To specify the amount of additional time required for loading at the depot, use the vehicle.depot_extra_service_duration_s parameter. The time is set in seconds.

Example

2 vehicles with the same load capacity are delivering 13 large orders. The handling time at the depot depot.service_duration_s is 5 minutes (300 seconds). Additional time is set for loading orders into a vehicle at the depot vehicle.depot_extra_service_duration_s: 30 minutes (1800 seconds). As a result of planning, each vehicle will spend 35 minutes at the depot before starting their routes.

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Start of a loaded vehicle

If a vehicle is loaded in advance and there is no need to spend time loading it at the beginning of the shift, use the starts_loaded = true vehicle property. The handling time before the first run will then be ignored for this vehicle during route planning.

Example

Two vehicles deliver orders: the first one is loaded in advance, and the second one has to be loaded at the start of the shift. The handling time depot.service_duration_s is 10 minutes (600 seconds).

As a result of planning, the first vehicle will immediately start the route, and the second vehicle will spend 10 minutes at the depot before departing.

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Vehicle started not from the depot

By default, vehicles and couriers start from the depot. However, sometimes they need to start the route from another point (for example, from their home or parking spot). That's a usual task in the case of sales representatives, service engineers, and other specialists who don't deliver goods, but provide services.

You can implement this requirement using the property vehicle.start_at. In this case, the courier or vehicle will start their route from the specified point with the type garage, rather than from the depot.

Visiting the depot before the start of the working day

At the beginning of the working day, couriers may need to visit the depot to get their orders there. Use the property vehicle.visit_depot_at_start to enable this. If you specify true, the courier or the vehicle must visit the depot before starting the delivery (this is default behavior). Otherwise, they can immediately start delivering orders. For more information, see Start or end of the route at an arbitrary point.

If couriers start from a garage location, but they need to pick up some orders at the depot, enable the option Can visit the depot at the beginning of the route (can_visit_depot_at_start in the API, false by default). This option only works for couriers that have the parameter visit_depot_at_start = false. For orders that need to be picked up from a depot, specify one of the following parameters:

— depot_id to link the order to a depot.

— depot_ready_time, the time when the order is ready at the depot.

— depot_expiring_time, the deadline for picking up the order from the depot.

You can also implicitly allow couriers to visit the depot at the beginning of the route with the can_visit_depot_at_start option disabled by explicitly specifying the depot in planned_route, fixed part of the route, or during additional planning.

Example 1

Three vehicles deliver orders: The first one starts the delivery from the depot. The second one starts and ends the route without visiting the depot. The starting point for the courier is order 6, which has the garage type. The third one starts the route not from the depot, but from order 4 (the garage type), but must visit the depot before starting the delivery.

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Example 2

Three vehicles deliver orders: The first one starts the delivery from the depot. The second and the third vehicles start and end the route without visiting the depot. Orders 1 and 7 have the pickup type, and the algorithm selects them as the first route points.

Three separate routes are planned in the solution because of the orders priorities.

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Example 3

Two vehicles deliver orders (visit_depot_at_start = false and can_visit_depot_at_start = true). The first one starts from a garage location and visits the depot to pick up order 1 at the beginning of the route. The second vehicle's route doesn't include a visit to the depot, it goes straight to the delivery.

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Making stops at multiple depots

Couriers can stop at multiple depots along their routes. This is helpful when items are stored in different depots or when the route needs to end at a specific depot.

Specify depots using one of these methods:

1. On the Vehicles sheet in the Depots that the courier can visit field (vehicle.depot_id in the API), you can specify the depots that the courier is allowed to visit while following the route. They have a higher priority, so the algorithm can assign them as start, intermediate, or end depots.
2. In the fields:

• Depots to start from (vehicle.starting_depot_id in the API): The depots where the courier starts their route.
• Depots for additional loading (vehicle.middle_depot_id in the API): The intermediate depots to pick up additional orders along the route.
• Depots to end the route at (vehicle.ending_depot_id in the API): The depots where the courier completes the route.

Example 1

There are 9 orders in the planning task. Three depots are specified on the Vehicles sheet in the depot_id field: Depot 1, Depot 2, and Depot 3. The courier is allowed to stop at multiple depots along the route.

As a result of planning, the courier:

• Starts the route from Depot 2, because it is located next to the first order location.
• Ends the route at Depot 3, because the last order location is next to it.

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Example 2

The courier must deliver 9 orders. Planning involves 2 depots:

• Depot 2: a start (starting_depot_id = 2) and end (ending_depot_id = 2) depot.
• Depot 1: an intermediate depot (middle_depot_id = 1).

As a result of planning, the courier starts the route at Depot 2 and delivers 4 orders. Then the courier stops at Depot 1 for reloading, delivers the remaining orders, and ends the route at Depot 2.

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Example 3

The courier must deliver 9 orders. Planning involves 3 depots:

• Depot 1: a start depot (starting_depot_id = 1).
• Depot 2: an intermediate depot (middle_depot_id = 2).
• Depot 3: an end depot (ending_depot_id = 3).

The courier is allowed to visit the intermediate depot for reloading at the beginning of the route only (vehicle.depots_only_at_run_beginning = true). As a result of planning, the courier starts from Depot 1, then stops at Depot 2 for reloading, and starts delivering orders. Ends the route at Depot 3.

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Start from one of several depots

To allow the courier to start from one of multiple depots, list them in the Depots that the courier can visit (vehicle.depot_id in the API) or Depots to start from field (vehicle.starting_depot_id in the API). If there are several depots, the algorithm will choose the optimal depot to start from. If the fields depot_id and starting_depot_id are not entered for a courier, they start from the first depot in the depots list.

If you use the delivery from one of several depots functionality, a courier will be able to pick up orders from any depot they can visit.

For the courier, you can also set the parameters Allowed to visit multiple depots in one route (vehicle.allow_different_depots_in_route in the API) and Maximum number of depots for additional loading in one route (vehicle.max_middle_depots in the API). For more information, see Choosing the optimal depot to start from.

Additional loading at an intermediate depot

For the courier to be able to visit additional depots for reloading along the route, set the Allowed to visit multiple depots in one route (vehicle.allow_different_depots_in_route in the API) parameter to true. Specify depots for reloading in the field Depots that the courier can visit (vehicle.depot_id in the API) or Intermediate depots (vehicle.middle_depot_id in the API). If there are orders in several depots, the algorithm will select the optimal depot for reloading.

If the courier can stop at intermediate depots for additional loading at the beginning of the route only (before completing the first order), set the vehicle.depots_only_at_run_beginning parameter to true (by default, it's set to false).

For the courier, you can also set the Maximum number of depots for additional loading in one route parameter (vehicle.max_middle_depots in the API). For more information, see Visiting an additional depot.

Returning to a depot at the end of the route or run

By default, the courier completes the route at the depot where they started. To allow the courier to stop at multiple depots along the route, set the Allowed to visit multiple depots in one route parameter (vehicle.allow_different_depots_in_route in the API) to true. In this case, the courier can end the route at a depot other than the first one.

Specify the depots where the courier can complete the route in the Depots that the courier can visit (vehicle.depot_id in the API) or Depots to end the route at field (vehicle.ending_depot_id in the API). If there are several depots, the algorithm will choose the optimal depot to complete the route at.

If you want the courier to end the route at the same depot where they started it, set the vehicle.finish_route_in_starting_depot parameter to true (by default, it's set to false). In this case, if the courier's starting location is not a depot (vehicle.visit_depot_at_start = false), they will need to return to the depot where they started the second run of the route.

If you want the courier to end each run at the same depot where it was started, set the vehicle.finish_run_in_starting_depot parameter to true (by default, it's set to false). To allow the courier to change depots between runs, set the vehicle.can_change_depot_between_runs parameter to true. For more information, see Start of a new run from a different depot.

If the courier doesn't have to return to the depot after completing all orders, set Return to depot at the end of the shift (vehicle.return_to_depot in the API) to false.

Example 1.1

Two couriers are to deliver two orders: one is a delivery order that needs to be picked up from Depot 1, and the other one is a pickup order to be delivered to Depot 2. The couriers can only make 1 run each, starting at any depot and ending the route at any depot. Both couriers are allowed to stop at different depots during one run, but they cannot stop at intermediate depots.

The solution uses only one courier: they leave Depot 1 after picking up the delivery order, deliver it, pick up the pickup order, and deliver it to Depot 2, where they end the route.

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Example 1.2

The same as in example 1.1, but the couriers need to end routes at the same depot where they started them (vehicle.finish_route_in_starting_depot = true).

The solution uses both couriers. Courier 1 leaves Depot 1 after picking up the delivery order, delivers it, and returns to Depot 1. The second courier leaves Depot 2, picks up the pickup order, and returns with it to Depot 2.

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Return to any location at the end of the route

If your work scenario needs to take into account the distance of the last order from the courier's parking spot (or home address, for example), you can implement it as follows:

• Create a point with the garage type (the locations.type field). This point will only be used to end the routes.

• For a courier who needs to return home or to the parking spot at the end of their working day, enter the ID of this point in the vehicle.finish_at field.

In the solution, all vehicles or couriers that have the finish_atproperty specified return to the specified point. If the option to return to the depot is enabled (vehicle.return_to_depot = true), the route will first go the depot and then to the parking spot.

Example

The example below uses two vehicles with different load capacities and four orders with different weights. Two vehicles are used for delivery because of the weight restrictions. Vehicle 2 doesn't have to return to the depot after it delivers the last order.

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Start or end of the route as close to the depot as possible

You can plan a route so that the courier starts or finishes on the order that is closest to or furthest from the depot. For example, if you expect to get new orders in the morning, then it would be better to start the route with the orders closest to the depot. That way, it will be easier for the courier to return to the depot to pick them up. On the other hand, by starting the route with the farthest order, the courier would finish closer to the depot in the evening.

If you are not using advanced cost settings, set the following parameters:

• first_edges_penalty_factor: A penalty for the distance from the depot to the first order, the default is 0. If the value is greater than 0, the algorithm minimizes this distance, and if the value is less than 0, it maximizes the distance.

• last_edges_penalty_factor: A penalty for the distance from the depot to the last order, the default is 0. If the value is greater than 0, the algorithm minimizes this distance, and if the value is less than 0, it maximizes the distance.

Penalties are calculated similarly to the duration and length of route segments (see the Travel between route points group under Advanced cost settings).

If penalty values are high, routes may be suboptimal in terms of mileage. If penalty values are low, then the first or last order of a route may be selected in violation of any requirements provided it saves on mileage.

If you use advanced cost settings, use the keywords from the Travel from or to the depot group.

Example

In the example below, there is 1 courier and 10 orders. Two penalties are set: first_edges_penalty_factor = 2 and last_edges_penalty_factor = -2. Planning produces a route that begins with the order closest to the depot and ends with the furthest order.

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