How to Plan Routes?
Instead of handing your driver a scribbled list of stops, Rentablez plans the run for you. Pick the orders that need collecting or delivering, choose where the vehicle sets off from, and the Route Planner works out the shortest sensible order of stops on a live map — complete with distance, drive time and estimated arrival for each one. You can then assign a delivery agent, dispatch the route, and tick off stops as they’re completed.
Why Plan Routes?
- Less driving — the planner sequences your stops and draws the road route, so vehicles take an efficient path rather than doubling back.
- One list for pickups and returns — outbound deliveries and inbound collections that fall in your date range appear together and can share a single run.
- Nothing forgotten — every stop carries the order number, customer, address and phone number, and a printable sheet the driver can take along.
- Live progress — mark each stop Arrived, Delivered or Skipped and watch the route fill up.
Route planning lives inside the Operations Hub, which is part of the Route Planning feature module. If you don’t see it, your plan or org settings may not include it — check with your administrator. Creating and editing routes requires an Orders write permission.
Where Routes Live
There are two connected places:
- The Routes tab inside the Operations Hub — your quick view of today’s routes plus any orders that still need routing.
- The full Route Planning module at
/route-planning— the complete list of every route (past and future), the map planner, and each route’s detail page.
Open the Routes Tab
Click Operations Hub in the sidebar (under Bookings), then click the Routes tab. The tab shows a count of how many routes are already planned for today.
The Routes tab has two parts:
- A banner at the top showing how many of today’s orders still need routing, broken down into pickups and returns.
- A list of today’s routes, each with its status, origin, stop progress, distance and drive time. Click any route to open its detail page.
Use View all routes at the bottom to jump to the full Route Planning list.
A route is optional. An order doesn’t need to be on a route to be processed. Any pickup or return can still be handled directly from the Rentals Out and Rentals In tabs — adding it to a route just helps you organize the day’s driving.
Start a New Route
From the Routes tab you have two ways in:
- Click Plan Route in the banner to open the planner with all of today’s unrouted orders pre-selected for you.
- Click Create Route (or, from the full list at
/route-planning, Create Route Plan) to start from a blank planner and pick orders yourself.
Either opens the map-based Route Planner.
Build the Route on the Map
The planner is a full-screen map with a panel on the left. Work through it top to bottom:
1. Choose the starting point
Under the map panel, pick the origin — the location your vehicle departs from and returns to (your warehouse or store). If you only have one location, it’s selected automatically.
Origins come from your configured asset locations. If the list is empty, add a location in settings first — the planner needs at least one geocoded origin to draw a route.
2. Pick the date range
Set the From and To dates. The planner loads every order ready for pickup or return in that window. The default range is today through the next seven days.
3. Select your stops
Each order appears as a card in the Delivery Stops list, tagged Pickup or Return. Tick the ones you want on this run — or use Select all. Selected orders also light up as pins on the map. Search by order number, customer or address to find a specific one.
Missing an address? If an order has no complete shipping address, its card shows Add Address. Click it to fill in the address there and then — the order is geocoded and becomes selectable. Orders that still can’t be placed on the map are flagged and left out of the optimized route.
4. Optimize the route
Set a Start time for the run, then click Optimize Route. Rentablez calculates the best order of stops, draws the road path on the map, and switches the panel to an itinerary showing each stop in sequence with its distance, drive time and estimated arrival. A summary bar shows the total distance, total time and number of stops.
The planner sequences the stops for you — there’s no manual drag-and-drop reordering. To change what’s on the route, click Edit Stops to go back to the selection list, adjust your picks, and optimize again.
5. Save
Pick the Route Date the run should happen on, then click Save Route. You land on the route’s detail page.
Manage a Route
Open any route (from the Routes tab, the full list, or straight after saving) to see its detail page. Here you can:
- Assign Delivery Agent — choose who runs the route. You can assign one before or after dispatching, and change it later.
- Dispatch — mark the route as on its way. This unlocks per-stop status updates.
- Edit — reopen the planner to change stops (available while the route is still Planned).
- Print — open a printable route sheet with every stop, address and contact for the driver to carry.
- Cancel — call off the route; its orders become available to route again.
A route moves through these statuses:
| Status | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Planned | Saved but not yet sent out — still editable |
| Dispatched | On its way; stop statuses can now be updated |
| In Progress | Some stops completed, run underway |
| Completed | Every stop finished |
| Cancelled | Called off; orders freed up again |
Track Stops Along the Way
Once a route is dispatched, each stop can be updated as the driver progresses. View the stops as a List or on a Map, and click a stop to set its status:
| Stop status | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Pending | Not yet reached |
| Arrived | Driver is at the stop |
| Delivered | Order handed over or collected |
| Skipped | Couldn’t be completed |
Each stop is labelled Collect or Deliver so the driver knows whether they’re picking the asset up or dropping it off, and the detail page tracks overall progress as stops are completed.
Browse and Filter All Routes
The full list at /route-planning shows every route with its code, date, status, stop count, distance and assigned agent. Filter by Status or a Date Range to find past or upcoming runs, and click any row to open it.
You’re All Set!
Your orders are grouped into optimized routes, assigned to your team, and ready to dispatch — with live stop tracking and a printable sheet for the road.