Overview

The Journey Planner lays out a quote's trip on a Google map. You choose where the trip starts and ends, add the customer stops in between, and see the pins, the driving route, and the distance and driving time of each leg.

It also shows the empty running on a trip. The legs from the start to the first stop, and from the last stop to the end, are drawn differently from the legs between customer stops, so you can see at a glance which parts of the trip earn revenue.

• Plan a trip on a map while you build the quote
• Start and end the trip at a Depot or a Boarding Point
• Add, remove and reorder customer stops
• See the driving distance and time of every leg, and the trip's total
• Tell revenue legs from empty running at a glance
• Add or edit boarding points without leaving the planner

❕Note: The Journey Planner was previously called the Route Planner.

❕Note: The map, distances and driving times rely on each boarding point having a map location. If a boarding point has none, edit it from the planner (see Adding or editing a boarding point from a stop).

Availability

The Journey Planner button shows below a trip's Routes table while you are creating or editing a quote.

If you do not see the button and would like to use the Journey Planner, email Triple D Support.

Opening the Journey Planner

1. Create a quote, or open one and click the Edit icon ✏️.
2. Below the trip's Routes table, click Journey Planner.

The planner opens as Journey Planner - Trip 1, or the number of the trip you are on. What you see depends on the trip:

• A trip with no routes yet opens with two empty stops, and a depot selected as both the Start and the End. If you have more than one depot, check that it is the one the trip runs from.
• A trip that already has routes opens with those routes listed as stops, and the map showing the pins and the driving route between them. A start and end chosen earlier for the trip are restored.

Choosing where the trip starts and ends

The Start row (marked with an S badge) sits above the stops, and the End row (marked with an E badge) below them.

1. For Start Type (or End Type), choose either:
   • Depot, then pick the depot from Start Depot (or End Depot).
   • Boarding Point, then search for and select it in Start Location (or End Location).
2. Only the field for your choice is active.

Why start or end at a boarding point?

A Depot is the usual start and end. Switch the start or end to a Boarding Point when a vehicle will already be at that location. The customer then does not pay for the empty run out from the depot and back, which makes the quote more competitive.

Example: you are quoting a school for a midday charter. Your school service drops students at that school each morning, so a vehicle and driver are already on site before the charter begins. Setting the trip to start and finish at the school, rather than the depot, lets that vehicle and driver take the charter without the usual run from the depot and back.

❕Note: A boarding point start or end changes only the legs shown in the planner. It is saved with the trip so the planner can show it again, but it is not passed to the jobs when the quote is booked. If you have quoted on the basis of a continuation (a vehicle and driver already at that location), record it in the Operations Notes on the quote so the allocators know to allocate accordingly.

Adding and ordering stops

Each customer stop is a numbered row (1, 2, 3 and so on), matching its pin on the map.

1. Click Add Stop to add a row, then search for the boarding point under Location.
2. Optionally enter Arrive and Depart times for the stop.
3. Use Move up and Move down to reorder the stops, or Remove to delete one.

❕Note: The Start and End rows always show their S and E badges, so they are easy to tell apart from the numbered customer stops.

Adding or editing a boarding point from a stop

You can create or update a boarding point without leaving the Journey Planner. This is also how you give a boarding point a map location, so it appears on the map.

Adding a new boarding point

1. On a stop row, click ➕ (Add Boarding Point).
2. In Create Boarding Point, enter the details and click Create.
3. The new boarding point is selected on that stop, and its pin appears on the map.

Editing an existing boarding point

1. On a stop that has a boarding point, click ✏️ (Edit Boarding Point), beside ➕ and before the eye icon.

   ❕Note: The edit icon appears only once a boarding point is selected on the stop.

2. Edit Boarding Point opens with the current details. Change what you need. To move its map location, click Adjust Pin Location and drag the pin.

3. Click Save. The pin, and the distances and times of the legs, update straight away.

❕Note: Editing a boarding point changes it everywhere. The window reminds you: "Changes apply to this boarding point everywhere it's used, not just this quote." After you save, every place in the trip that uses it, including the start or end, shows the new location.

Fields you do not change keep their values. Cancelling the add or edit window leaves the trip and the boarding point unchanged.

🧠 Learn more about Boarding Points.

Reading the map

• Customer legs, between customer stops, are a solid blue line. The legs from the Start and to the End are a dashed orange line, so revenue legs and empty running are easy to tell apart. The dashed lines never sit on top of the blue ones.
• The map zooms to fit the whole trip, without zooming in too far when the stops are close together.
• When two stops are at the same location, their pins merge into one pin with a combined label (for example, S,1).
• To hide a leg from the map, click the eye icon 👁 on the stop it leaves from (or on the Start row). Click it again to show the leg.

❗ Warning: Google Maps directions are for general road vehicles and do not allow for heavy-vehicle access. A suggested route may not suit a bus: it may include low bridges, height or weight limits, or narrow roads. Always check that a route is suitable for the vehicle before relying on it.

Distance and driving time

Below the map, a table lists each leg of the trip.

A Total row adds the legs together.

• Distances and times come from Google Maps driving directions. The times do not allow for traffic.
• A leg to or from a stop with no map location shows a dash and is left out of the totals. The table then says Totals exclude legs with no location data.
• The planner can route up to 27 located stops in one trip, the Start and End included. Above that, no route is drawn and a message asks you to remove stops or split the trip.

❕Note: The distances and times are a planning aid. They are not copied into the quote: a Kilometers option still needs its Distance (kms) entered, and the Arrive and Depart times are the ones you type.

Route preferences

Expand Route Preferences to change the route the map suggests.

• Avoid Tolls, Avoid Highways and Avoid Ferries: set one to Yes to keep it out of the route. Each starts at No whenever the planner opens.

Applying your changes

When the trip is right:

• Click Apply to Quote to write the stops, with their times, to the trip's Routes, and keep the chosen Start and End with the trip. The quote is saved when you click Submit on the quote.
• Click Cancel to close without changing the quote.

❕Note: Check the Routes table after applying:

• Stops with no Location are not applied, and routes you removed in the planner are removed from the trip.
• Stops new to the trip take the date of the trip's first route, or today's date if the trip had no routes. Set the right date on each, especially on a trip over more than one day.
• A time left empty in the planner keeps the time already on the route in that position.

In This Topic

Related Topics

Creating a Quote

Boarding Points

Quote Pricing Explained