CloudTrucks' Schedule Optimizer is your fleet's new smart dispatch assistant that combs through thousands of loads to create a revenue maximizing combination of loads that meets you or your drivers' preferences, like location, max deadhead, and more. Accept the recommended schedule or search for your own loads - it's completely your choice.
In this article:
- How to use Schedule Optimizer
- Where can I access the Schedule Optimizer?
- Who can access the Schedule Optimizer?
- How long does it take for the Schedule Optimizer to create a schedule of loads? How will I know when it's ready?
- What is the difference between 'Quick Run' and 'Run for Specific Settings'?
- How can I access the CloudTrucks Schedule Optimizer?
- Common Questions about Schedule Optimizer
How to use Schedule Optimizer
Where can I access the Schedule Optimizer?
Right now, Schedule Optimizer is only available on the CloudTrucks mobile app. Soon we will add Schedule Optimizer to web as well.
Who can access the Schedule Optimizer?
Admins and drivers can both access the CloudTrucks Schedule Optimizer.
How long does it take for the Schedule Optimizer to create a schedule of loads? How will I know when it's ready?
Since Schedule Optimizer is combing through thousands of loads at a time to create that schedule for you, it may take a few minutes for your results to populate. We will send you a push notification once your schedule is ready and you can choose to accept any of those loads or search for your own.
What is the difference between 'Quick Run' and 'Run for Specific Settings'?
After you use Schedule Optimizer for the first time, it'll remember the preferences you set up for your first search, like your location, max deadhead, trailer type, and more. A 'Quick Run' search would be for the same settings you used previously, while 'Run for Specific Settings' allows you to run Schedule Optimizer for a new group of preferences.
How can I access the CloudTrucks Schedule Optimizer?
Follow our step by step guide!
1. Open up your CT mobile app and tap on the magnifying glass icon to head to the CT load board
2. Tap on the blue calendar icon on the bottom right corner to open up the Schedule Optimizer
3. Set your preferences, like your home base, how many days you want to spend away from home, where you want to run, and more and tap 'Continue'
4. Next, select a date range within the next 10 days that you would like to run. Then tap 'Continue'
5. Finally, set your start and end locations and tap 'Create Schedule'
6. Schedule Optimizer may take a few minutes to create a schedule for you as it's searching through thousands of loads at once. When a schedule is created, you can find it by tapping into the Schedule Optimizer calendar icon once again
7. Tap into and book each load individually.
Common Questions about Schedule Optimizer
How come Schedule Optimizer is not able to come up with a combination of loads for me?
Right now, Schedule Optimizer works best when your preferences are as flexible as possible. The more specific you get, the harder it is for Schedule Optimizer to generate a revenue-maximizing combination of loads.
For example, Schedule Optimizer may not be able to create a schedule for you if your end location doesn't have any loads that match your preferences or if you have an overlap between preset appointment times.
Why are the last few days of my schedule empty?
Sometimes this can happen, but it's something we're working on fixing. In the meantime here are a few tips from our Data Science team:
- Make sure the first and last days of your schedule are days of the week when appointments are likely to be scheduled. For example, if you request a schedule through Sunday, it's likely Schedule Optimizer will return a schedule with final delivery on Friday or Saturday because very few facilities accept deliveries on Sunday
- Set the end of the date range to one day after you want the schedule to end. For example, if you want the last appointment to be on Monday, select Tuesday as the end of the date range. Selecting Tuesday to Tuesday on the calendar will return a full 7-day schedule that ends on Monday.
- Re-run Schedule Optimizer with slightly different parameters (deadhead, dates, operating states, and locations) or after waiting an hour or two. This should give Schedule Optimizer a slightly different set of loads to work with and allow it to build a different, possibly better schedule.
How come the deadhead to my end location is more than the maximum I specified?
Schedule Optimizer cannot always find a load to the end destination that also delivers near the end of the schedule. For this reason, optimizer cannot guarantee that the final leg of the journey, from final delivery to the end destination, will honor the requested deadhead limit. For these reasons, it is highly recommended that you only run optimizer with end location set to “Anywhere.”
Some more tips from our Data Science team:
- Set end location to “Anywhere.”
- For situations where you want to find a load to a particular destination, we recommend using normal load search.
- Re-run with slightly different parameters or after waiting a couple of hours.
How come my schedule has such high mileage?
Schedule Optimizer currently tries to maximize revenue, so it does not consider the downside of increasing revenue at the expense of higher mileage. We plan to change this in a future version of Schedule Optimizer. If this happens to you, try to re-run Schedule Optimizer with slightly different parameters or after waiting a couple of hours.
If you have any questions about schedule optimizer, please reach out to flex-support@cloudtrucks.com