# Creating and Managing a Route July 11, 2024 ## In this article, you will learn how to manually create and manage your route on the Dashboard. ### Prerequisites: - At least one [Active Vehicle on the Dashboard](https://support.dispatchit.com/en/articles/8659913-creating-and-managing-vehicles) - At least one [Delivery in Today’s Deliveries on the Dashboard](https://support.dispatchit.com/en/articles/8659921-creating-and-managing-a-delivery) ## Create a New Route A **route** is created when you assign at least one delivery to an active vehicle on the Dashboard. In the **Today’s Deliveries** section, drag your unassigned delivery to one of the vehicles listed to the right. Assigning a vehicle will move the delivery to that vehicle and begin building a **route.** A new section will appear on the vehicle named **Route Details.** It contains the following information: - **Deliveries:** Total number of deliveries assigned to the route - **Total Items:** Total size of the deliveries assigned to the route - **Route Status:** The status of the route, typically in _Preparing_ as you are creating, editing, and reordering your route - **Route Name:** Routes are unnamed by default - **Route Order:** The order of the pickup and delivery stops associated with each delivery assigned to the route - **Pickup Stop:** A pickup stop associated with the delivery added to the route uses a box icon as an indicator - **Drop-off Stop:** A drop-off associated with the delivery added to the route uses a numeric icon as an indicator for route order - **Send to Driver:** Button that will update the route and send that information to the driver to view and execute on via the mobile app - **Completed Routes:** If this vehicle has completed a route today, the completed route will show beneath the active route ## Naming a Route As you are creating a route, you have the option to create a name for that route. Click on the edit icon to the right of **Route Details.** Doing so will open a field where you can type a name for the route. Click **Save** to update the route name, or cancel to exit the edit without saving changes. ## Adding Deliveries to a Route Once you have a route initially created, continue to add more deliveries to the same route via the **Select Vehicle** dropdown. Adding multiple deliveries with the same pickup location and pickup time window will show only one pickup stop on the route. When you add multiple deliveries with different pickup locations to a route, then that route will update to show each pickup stop along the way. ## Removing Deliveries from a Route To remove a delivery from a route before it has been sent to a driver, simply drag the delivery back to Unassigned or click on the three-dot **menu** and select the **Unassign Delivery** action. This will remove the delivery from the assigned route and place it back in the **Today’s Deliveries** section on the **Dashboard.** If that delivery was the only item to be picked up at the associated pickup stop, then the pickup stop will also be removed from the route. To remove all deliveries assigned to a vehicle at once, simply click the **Active/Inactive Vehicle** toggle. When a vehicle is inactivated, all assigned deliveries will be placed back in the **Today’s Deliveries** section on the **Dashboard.** ## Moving Deliveries to a New Route To move a delivery to a different route, drag and drop the delivery to the route you want on the vehicle you want. ## Reordering a Route via Drag and Drop To reorder your route sequence, click any stop to drag and drop it into the position you’d like. Selecting a stop will highlight that stop and its associated drop-off or pickup stop. You can drag and drop the stops freely, but you will not be allowed to move a delivery stop before its pickup stop. Reordering stops also has an impact on what you will see on the map. As soon as you begin reordering your stops, your route on the map will update. Hovering over a stop will show a shadow in the route and magnify the associated stop icon on the map. Changes made to routes in the _Preparing_ state (not yet sent to a driver) are automatically saved as you drag and drop your stops. ## Optimizing a Route This article walked you through how to manually make changes to a route. For more details on the **Optimize Route** button, please read [this article](https://support.dispatchit.com/en/articles/8654434-optimize-my-route). ## Plan My Routes This article walked you through how to manually make changes to a route. For more details on the **Plan My Routes** button, please read [this article](https://support.dispatchit.com/en/articles/8654513-plan-my-routes). ## Send a Delivery to Dispatch If you have a delivery that needs to be fulfilled by the Dispatch Marketplace you can drag that delivery to the **Dispatch Vehicle** section on the **Dashboard**. ## Saving a Route See [this article](https://support.dispatchit.com/en/articles/8654571-saving-a-route) about how to save a route and also how to populate an already saved route. If you have questions, please contact us at [connectsupport@dispatchit.com](mailto:connectsupport@dispatchit.com). A Dispatch team member will reach out to you for support.