When prospects and customers evaluate IronRouteAI, a common question is: "If my mileage or labor hours go up, how am I actually saving money?"
This case study looks at a real-world 3-driver fleet to show how the tool identifies strategic trade-offs to lower total costs while creating a balanced workday.
The Challenge: Lopsided Manual Routes
Before optimization, this fleet suffered from workload variance. In this example, manual routing resulted in a scenario where certain drivers had much more work to do than others.
- Driver A: 10h 00m (6 tasks) — Heading into overtime.
- Driver B: 11h 00m (9 tasks) — Heavy overtime.
- Driver C: 5h 30m (3 tasks) — Underutilized.
In this manual state, the total cost for the day was $3,225.
The Strategy: Least Cost with Workload Balance
IronRouteAI's main objective is to find the least cost routes while creating routes with workload balance that are operationally viable for your business. The tool evaluates the day's tasks against three primary cost pillars:
- Dump Costs: Disposal rates at any dump site you've entered into your account.
- Labor Costs: Driver wages (at $25.00/hour by default).
- Fleet Costs: Vehicle costs (at $1.50/mile by default).
The tool identified that it could save money on disposal fees by directing trucks to a landfill that was $25/ton cheaper than the original choice. However, reaching that cheaper landfill required extra driving.
The Calculation:
- Cost to get to the cheaper dump: ~$50 in extra fuel and driver time.
- Savings achieved: $60 in disposal fees.
- Net Result: A $10 profit created by driving a few extra miles.
The Result: Optimized Workload Balance with Lower Costs
By applying these trade-offs fleet-wide, the tool transformed the schedule. It didn't just save money; it balanced the work so that every driver started with a consistent workload.
Driver | Manual Route (Before) | Optimized Route (After) |
|---|---|---|
| Driver A | 10h 00m (6 tasks) | 8h 50m (6 tasks) |
| Driver B | 11h 00m (9 tasks) | 8h 45m (6 tasks) |
| Driver C | 5h 30m (3 tasks) | 8h 55m (6 tasks) |
The Outcome: Every driver was assigned six tasks, and all three routes were estimated to take around nine hours to complete.
The Financial Breakdown
Even though the tool added a small increase in mileage and time to the day, the total cost dropped from $3,225 to $3,215.
- Dump Fees: Saved 3% ($60.00) by choosing a more cost-efficient disposal site.
- Fleet Costs: Increased 5% ($35.00) due to the extra mileage.
- Labor Costs: Increased 2% ($15.00) due to longer route durations.
- Overall Result: $10.00 Net Savings.
Summary: Why and How Routes Change through IronRouteAI
Based on direct feedback from our customers, we know that a usable, real-world schedule must be balanced, while being as efficient as possible. IronRouteAI finds the highest quality, lowest cost routes by balancing the work to be done, and looking for opportunities to reduce dump costs, miles driven, and route times.
Do you have feedback on how the tool should prioritize your routes? We are constantly iterating on these objectives based on customer input! If you have any feedback or questions, please contact our support team at support@yourdocket.com.