Avoidance Zones – Plan Routes With High-Risk And No-Go Areas

Route4Me enables enterprise businesses to create customized Avoidance Zones to exclude high-risk or undesirable areas when planning routes. This feature enhances final mile route efficiency and security, ensuring specific team members, like delivery drivers or field service technicians, bypass these zones. At the same time, our Avoidance Zones feature lets you tailor defined service zones to specific field team members, helping you streamline operations and ensure that only the right team members visit certain areas. Use this guide to create and incorporate Avoidance Zones into your multi-stop route planning.

Route4Me's Avoidance Zones feature enables you to create and customize zones to exclude high-risk areas and optimize multi-stop route planning.

 

 

Create Avoidance Zones – Improve Route Safety And Efficiency

To create an Avoidance Zone, go to “Account” in the Navigation Menu and click “Account Settings“. Under “Admin“, click “Avoidance Zones“. Then, click the “Add Avoidance Zone” button.

Open Avoidance Zones

Create Avoidance Zones by navigating to Account Settings, selecting Avoidance Zones under Admin, and using the map to define a specific area.

 

To draw an Avoidance Zone on the map, right-click the map to access the Shape Menu or select a shape from the panel in the upper-right of the map. NOTE: Use the arrow in the Shape Menu to drag and reposition the map.

Then, click on the specific location where you want to define the Zone’s parameters. To create a free form shape, click on the polygon. Or click on the rectangle and drag it to cover the area you wish to define.

Define an Avoidance Zone by selecting a shape from the Shape Menu, repositioning the map with the arrow tool, and using a polygon or rectangle to mark the desired area.

 

If you make a mistake and want to start over, click “X” in the “New Shape” box to erase your shape. To save your shape, click the Save Icon and give the Avoidance Zone a title as prompted. All Avoidance Zones will appear in the list on the right.

Manage Avoidance Zones by using the 'New Shape' button to erase or save, name the Zone, and view saved Zones in a list beside the map.

 

For even greater efficiency and precision in defining an Avoidance Zone, you can also import KML (Keyhole Markup Language) text. KML text defines geographic data in browsers such as Google Earth or Google Maps. To use this option, simply click the “KML Text Import” button, import your text, and click “OK” to save and add the Avoidance Zone to your list.

Import KML text for precise Avoidance Zone creation by clicking the 'KML Text Import' button, uploading the text, and saving the Zone.

 

You can also adjust map settings. Simple click the Frame Icon in the top left to access a full screen map. Click the Gear Icon below it to open the Map Settings menu where you can change map view modes and enable a map traffic layer.

Adjust map settings by clicking the Frame Icon for full-screen mode and the Gear Icon to modify map views or enable the traffic layer.

 

Manage Avoidance Zones – Adjust No-Go Zones For Vehicles And Field Personnel

To edit an Avoidance Zone, click the Three-dot Icon next to it to access the edit feature. Then, to adjust the shape of the Zone, click on any point in the drawing and drag it to make the alteration. When finished, click “Save“.

Edit an Avoidance Zone by selecting the Three-Dot Icon, adjusting points on the shape, and saving the changes.

 

To delete an Avoidance Zone, click the Three-dot Icon next to the zone to access the delete feature. Alternatively, check the box next to zone and click “Delete“.

Delete an Avoidance Zone by using the Three-Dot Icon or selecting the Zone's checkbox and clicking 'Delete'.

 

Route Avoidance Zones – Steer Clear Of Problematic Or High-Risk Areas

Once created, you can plan routes which take into account your Avoidance Zones. To plan a route, go to “Operations” in the Navigation Menu and click “Plan New Route“. Then, select your preferred route data import method: Copy-and-PasteUpload a FileImport Data, Upload Scans, or the Interactive Map Editor.

Plan A New Route

Plan routes while accounting for Avoidance Zones by navigating to 'Plan New Route' under 'Operations' and choosing a data import method.

 

You can only select Avoidance Zones when you manually adjust optimization settings. To do this, click “Skip” when asked if you’d like to use a pre-existing Optimization Profile.

Then, in the pop-up window, click “Avoidance Zones“. Select one or multiple Avoidance Zones to apply to the route by checking the corresponding boxes. Once chosen, the selected Avoidance Zones will appear on the map. When done, click “Create Route and Proceed to Add Addresses“.

Apply Avoidance Zones to a route by selecting them from the list in the pop-up window, displaying them on the map, and proceeding to create the route.

 

After importing route addresses, you can use the map to identify those which fall within an Avoidance Zone. Just click the Gear Icon in the upper left side of the map. Then, check the “Avoidance Zones” box and select the Zones you’d like to see.

Identify addresses within an Avoidance Zone by using the map's Gear Icon to select and apply the 'Avoidance Zone(s)' filter.

 

You’ll have the option to keep as is or remove any route destinations as you see fit. To remove, click the destination in the Address List or on the map, followed by “Remove Address“.

Remove a route destination by selecting it in the Address List or on the map.

 

 

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About Route4Me

Route4Me has over 40,000 customers globally. Route4Me's Android and iPhone mobile apps have been downloaded over 2 million times since 2009. Extremely easy-to-use, Route4Me's apps create optimized routes, synchronize routes to mobile devices, enable communication with drivers and customers, offer turn-by-turn directions, delivery confirmation, and more. Behind the scenes, Route4Me's operational optimization platform combines high-performance algorithms with data science, machine learning, and big data to plan, optimize, and analyze routes of almost any size in real-time.