When you have a single item or a small order you need to deliver to a customer, DirectRoute can help you decide whether it is more cost effective to deliver it with your private fleet or ship it via LTL/third party.
To calculate and start to understand the cheapest mode of transport for a given delivery:
Step 1: Create an LTLCost field for your stop files
In order for DirectRoute to decide on the cost effectiveness of using an LTL/third party carrier, you need to provide the algorithm with the cost for a particular order to be shipped in this manner. To do this, a new field titled LTLCost needs to be added to Preferences and to your Stop files.
- Close any open files in DirectRoute.
- Go to File > Preferences > Configuration > Stop User Fields.
- Click the three dots at the end of the row. The StopUserFieldType Collection Editor dialog opens.
- Select Add to add a new custom field.
- In the Name field, enter LTLCost, with no spaces. This feature will not work if spaces are added.
- Set the Data Type field to Numeric.
- Select Close to finish, and select OK to exit the Preferences dialog.
- LTLCost is added among the user fields when you create a new Stop file.
Other Preferences
In Preferences, you must also tell DirectRoute to not Optimize Stops After Loading. (After DirectRoute builds the routes and makes modal decisions, you can manually optimize the private fleet assets, if necessary.)
- Go to File > Preferences > Routing > Algorithm Settings.
- Be sure Optimize Stops After Loading is set to False, which is the default value.
Step 2: Populate LTLCost
Once you have added the LTLCost field to your Stop file, it must be manually populated with values. LTLCost is the flat rate in dollars for delivering an item via an LTL/third-party service.
When DirectRoute builds a route, it compares the LTLCost value to your fleet's cost to deliver that item. Your cost is calculated and based on a number of factors, including the MiCost and HrCost fields in your Stop file.
Step 3: Build a route
Build a route as you normally would but with a Stop file that includes the LTLCost field. After the routes are built, DirectRoute returns an info box that shows the total number of orders loaded out of the total number of orders.
Step 4: View and compare costs in the Route Book
You can view the list of unloaded orders in the Route Book > Unloaded Stops tab. Right click on one of the unloaded orders and select View Reason to see why the order was not loaded on a truck.
If you see LTLCost under the Violations row, it means DirectRoute has determined it is cheaper to ship that order via LTL. Scroll to the right in the Unload Stop Reason dialog if you want to view the LTLCost for that stop.
Notes on LTLCost
LTLCost is currently only viewable in the Unloaded Stops tab of the Route Book. You cannot drag to add it to the Routes tab in the Route Book as you can drag and add other Stop User Fields.