Driver Breaks – Insert Hours Of Service Breaks For Drivers Into Routes

Route4Me’s Driver Breaks and Hours of Service (HOS) Add-On enables you to easily insert breaks into your optimized last-mile routes to reduce driver fatigue, add truck stops, comply with local state and HOS regulations, etc. With Route4Me, you can automatically insert breaks after a specific driving time, total on-duty hours of service, or number of stops. For example, truck drivers can have breaks after a certain driving time, field workers can have breaks after servicing a number of locations, etc. In this guide, you can learn how to optimize routes with Driver Breaks and insert Driver Breaks into already planned routes.

Optimize Routes with Driver Breaks – Driver Break Types

First, go to “Routes” and then select “Plan New Route” in the navigation menu. Next, select the preferred route data import method: Interactive Map Editor, Copy-and-Paste, Upload a File, or Import Data.

Next, instead of using an Optimization Profile, click the “Skip” button to manually adjust your optimization settings. Additionally, learn more about creating, managing, and using Route4Me’s Optimization Profiles.

After that, go to the “Optimization” tab, where you can customize your route optimization settings. To use Driver Breaks, enable the “Multiple Drivers” optimization so that the quickest route optimization software can plan multiple routes. Additionally, you can add other route optimization constraints, such as Weight Optimization Constraint, Pieces Optimization Constraint, Cube Optimization Constraint, Revenue Optimization Constraint, etc. Moreover, you can use any other route settings and constraints.

After selecting the “Multiple Drivers” optimization type and specifying the preferred optimization settings, go to the “Driver Breaks” tab. Next, enable the Driver Breaks feature by switching on the “Insert Breaks” toggle. After that, specify the preferred Break Duration in the respective field. Next, select the preferred Break Type in the respective drop-down list. Below, you can find descriptions of the available Driver Break Types.

Depending on the number of added or imported addresses and specified route optimization constraints, the quickest route optimizer can optimize one or multiple routes. When the system optimizes multiple routes, they are automatically opened on Route4Me’s Routes Map. Accordingly, Route4Me automatically inserts one Driver Brake into each planned route based on the specified settings. On the Routes Map, Driver Break stops are displayed with the break or coffee mug icon.

When the quickest route planning software optimizes a single route, this route is automatically opened in Route4Me’s Route Editor. Additionally, you can open any route in Route4Me’s Route Editor, even if the system optimized multiple routes. In detail, Route4Me automatically inserts one Driver Brake into each planned route based on the specified settings. Each Driver Brake is added as an additional route stop and has the same address as the route stop after which it is inserted, enabling hours of service compliance.

Insert Driver Breaks into Planned and Optimized Routes

Furthermore, you can insert new and additional Driver Breaks into already planned and optimized routes with the quickest route dispatch software. To do so, in your Routes List or Routes Map, select one or multiple preferred routes. After that, click “Edit” in the toolbar and then select “Insert Breaks” from the menu to comply with hours of service regulations.

Next, specify the preferred Break Duration, select Break Type, and then add other break settings. To remove all already added Driver Breaks and replace them with new Driver Breaks based on the new settings, check the “Replace all existing breaks” box. If you want to keep the already added Driver Breaks and add additional new Driver Breaks, leave this box unchecked.

Accordingly, if you leave the “Replace all existing breaks” box unchecked, the quickest route software will add additional Driver Breaks to the routes without removing the previously added breaks.

Dispatch Routes to Mobile Route Planner Apps for Drivers

Furthermore, you can easily dispatch routes with Driver Breaks to telematics vehicles and Route4Me’s Mobile Route Planning apps for drivers using the fastest route dispatch software. Accordingly, to dispatch a route to a driver, assign the driver to the route. Similarly, to dispatch a route to a vehicle, assign the vehicle to the route.

Once the route is dispatched to a driver on the easiest route dispatch software, the driver can instantly access the route using Route4Me’s iPhone Route Planning App or Android Route Planning App. Specifically, after assigning a user to the route, this route becomes available on the user’s account in real-time, and the user can start, navigate and complete the route using Route4Me’s Mobile App. Accordingly, Driver Breaks have the “BREAK” alias and are displayed so in the Route Editor and RouteMe’s Mobile Apps.