JunkBossPro Blog — Scheduling & Dispatch

Setting Junk Route Order by Hand When the Map Doesn't Know the Job

A map knows distance. It doesn't know that the couch at stop two is going to fill a third of the truck, or that the customer at stop six works nights and won't answer the door before noon. Junk routing is part geography and part judgment, and the judgment part is yours.

After the First Pass

The two auto-routing directions are covered in Auto-Routing a Junk Truck: Closest First or Furthest First From the Yard. Auto-routing gives you a sensible driving order. This guide is about the stops you move after that.

In JunkBossPro you can set route order by hand on the board. Move a stop up or down, and the crew's phone shows the new order. You don't have to give up the auto-route to make a change. Route first, then nudge.

Customers With a Clock

The most common reason to move a stop is the customer. Some need you early. Some need you late. Write the timing in the job notes when the request comes in so whoever routes the day sees it.

• “Has to leave for work at 9, garage will be open.”
• “Works nights, after 1 p.m. only.”
• “Realtor showing at 2, must be gone by 1:30.”

Then move those stops to the top or the bottom of the route. A realtor job with a showing deadline is not the stop you want at the end of a long day.

Be careful about promising exact times. Junk jobs vary too much for a crew to hit 10:15 sharp after three stops. A first stop can have a firm time. Later stops are better given as a morning or afternoon window, with the on-the-way text telling the customer when the truck is really headed over.

Jobs That Fill the Truck

Load size changes route order more than distance does. Look at the sizes in order after auto-routing. If a 3/4 load sits second in a day of seven stops, the truck is nearly full before most of its stops. You have two choices: plan an unload right after it, or move it to the end so the small stops ride on an emptier truck.

Moving the big job last is often the cleaner day. The truck picks up single items and small loads all morning, then finishes at the big job and heads straight to the dump. Dump timing gets its own guide in Planning Dump Runs Between Junk Removal Jobs.

Extra Hands for Heavy Items

Pianos, hot tubs, safes and anything coming up from a basement may need more than two people. If your third crew member only works mornings, or meets the truck at one stop, the heavy job has to happen while he's there. Put it where it needs to be and note it on the job: “Hot tub, three-person job, third crew member meets the truck here.”

That note shows on the crew's card along with the item count and what's going, so nobody shows up two people short.

Gates, Lots and Office Hours

Some addresses only work at certain times:

• Storage facilities with gate hours.
• Apartment complexes where the office has to let you into the unit or the property manager wants you out before tenants get home.
• Commercial spots where the loading dock is only free in the morning.
• Streets with parking rules where a truck can't sit in front of the house at rush hour.

Put the hours in the access notes on the address so they show every time that address is on a route, then route around them.

The Estimate Visit in the Middle

On-site estimate visits are jobs on the schedule too. If the owner is riding with a truck, an estimate visit can slot between two jobs in the same neighborhood. Auto-routing will place it by distance, but you may want to move it next to the job closest to it so the truck can wait or keep working nearby.

Keep the Changes Few

Hand routing is powerful, but every manual move is something the next person has to understand. A good rule: auto-route, move only the stops that have a reason, and make sure the reason is in the job notes. When someone else routes tomorrow, the notes tell them why stop six goes last.

The next guide is about the jobs that show up after the day is already built. For the rest of the dispatch tools, visit the JunkBossPro junk removal scheduling software page.