New user to S&T - J

Can I put in multiple stop's with a known starting point and ending point and
have S&T plan the best and fastest way to do this?Should I use 07 or 08 S&T?
These stop's will change everyday not a large area to drive just many stop's
maybe as many as 75 over a 40mi radius

New user to S&T - Gilles Kohl [MVP]

On Wed, 29 Aug 2007 11:54:02 -0700, JJ <JJ@>


Unless you get a very good price on 07, use 08 - it has a few new
features and updated maps.


You can import e.g. an Excel file with addresses as pushpins - then,
add the pushpins as stops to a route and compute the route. The higher
the number of stops and the distances between them, the longer it will
take though.

Regards,
Gilles [MVP].

(Please reply to the group, not via email.
Find my MVP profile with past articles / downloads here:
http://www.gilleskohl.de/mvpprofile.htm)

New user to S&T - J

Thanx for the quick reply but I'm still not clear on this,let me revise my
question
i.e. I pick up items every day at the same 10 locations after the 10th.
location I may have 75 items that go to 75 different locations (houses with
addresses and zip codes) in a area that is in a40 mi. radius the last one
being my base I was hoping I could put these deliveries in S&T as I picked
them up then at the last pick up put in my base location as a last stop and
have S&T(with GPS) route the best way to from 1st. delivery(closest) to
last(base)

New user to S&T - Gilles Kohl [MVP]

On Wed, 29 Aug 2007 14:02:01 -0700, JJ <JJ@>


You could create an  initial map with the 10+1 locations and always
reload that at the start of the day (several ways to do this). Then,
if the remaining stops change often, just add them interactively, and
optimize the route.

Note that S&T is a consumer grade trip planning software, it does not
offer specialized functionality for e.g. taxi drivers, delivery
businesses etc., just to keep your hopes in a reasonable range. It can
do what you ask, but it won't be fully automatic / optimized for such
a relatively high number of stops and quickly changing destinations.

Regards,
Gilles [MVP].

(Please reply to the group, not via email.
Find my MVP profile with past articles / downloads here:
http://www.gilleskohl.de/mvpprofile.htm)

New user to S&T - Paul Randall

If these 10 pickup locations are somewhat computerized, perhaps they could
provide a .CSV (comma separated variable) text file on a thumb drive in the
format that S&T can import as pushpins.  Or else, you could type the info,
using Notepad for instance, to create a pushpin for each delivery location.
You do this at each of your pickup locations.  Now you have 10 files.
Experiment - maybe you make it all one file.  S&T will let you easily import
the pushpin files, displaying the pushpins on the map.  You can easily add
each group of pushpins to your route - there are a number of ways to do
this.  You can add pushpins for start and end of route.  Route planner gives
you an option to optimize routes containing 4 or more points.

Try it with a small set and then try it with larger sets.

I don't know of any good source of info on how to set up a pushpin file.
When you import the pushpin file, uncheck the box for 'first row contains
column headings', to get a dropdown list of standard names of column
headings.  Things like Name, street 1, city, state, and a bunch of others.
If you use these standard column headings (including spaces), it saves a few
clicks while importing data.

Here is a trivial example that contains two pushpins for which S&T does a
screwy routing at the corner.
Name, Latitude, longitude
Start, 53.49839, -113.46704
End, 53.49983, -113.46312

Just remember that the S&T database is not infallible - it won't find all
addresses, but tells you which ones (that's why I prefer latitude &
longitude, which S&T never screws up on), and it can put some addresses in
the wrong place.  There are a lot of places where S&T gives screwy routes,
but there are millions for which it gives good routes.  Take the time to
examine the route to verify that it is not doing something dumb like
avoiding a bridge or entering a freeway where there is no entrance, for
example.  Your area may contain no mistakes.  Over time you will learn how
to tweak the routes to give you good results.

Post back if you need more help.  We also like success stories.

-Paul Randall

New user to S&T - J

"Gilles Kohl [MVP]" wrote:

New user to S&T - J

Thanx again!!This is a delivery business are there any programs out there
that are better suited for what I need ?

New user to S&T - Gilles Kohl [MVP]

On Wed, 29 Aug 2007 16:48:00 -0700, JJ <JJ@>


I'm not familiar with those, but as they will be specialized apps with
a much smaller market, their pricing will probably be an order of
magnitude higher than S&T.

My recommendation would be to get S&T from a place with a good return
policy, try it (ask here for specific help), and return if not does
not meet expectations. Cost of experiment: about $90 + your time.

Regards,
Gilles [MVP].

(Please reply to the group, not via email.
Find my MVP profile with past articles / downloads here:
http://www.gilleskohl.de/mvpprofile.htm)