Heavy Goods Vehicle Routing System

Updates
1

A Utility Fleet Route Planning Tool
A route optimization tool that uses Google OR-Tools traffic data to generate an efficient driving route from a source to multiple destinations for heavy goods vehicles.

This tool implements a Vehicle Routing Problem (VRP) solver using Google OR-Tools. Locations from the uploaded CSV are first converted into a time or distance cost matrix. To build this matrix, the tool queries the OpenRouteService (ORS) API with a truck-specific profile.

If ORS is unavailable or rate-limited, the system falls back to the Google Distance Matrix API, which does not support heavy goods vehicle profiles for now but ensures continuity of service. These APIs only provide the raw travel times and distances between points. After this, the actual optimization and route assignment are computed entirely within OR-Tools. For transparency, the tool logs the data source for each segment (ORS vs Google).

The system is built for utility fleet operations where heavy vehicles face restrictions that standard GPS apps overlook. A supervisor can upload a CSV of service locations and generate optimized routes that minimize distance or response time, while avoiding roads unsuitable for trucks. Routes are automatically distributed across vehicles, and results are delivered as both data files and an interactive map.

Tool Usage Guide

Input Screen – Configuration & Data Upload

  • File Upload Section: Upload your CSV file containing service location data.
    • Format:
      nickname,latitude,longitude
Substation A,41.619549,-93.598022
Customer B,41.655887,-93.599531
Power Line C,41.630000,-93.620000
  • Optimization Parameters:
    • Number of Vehicles: Specify how many crews or vehicles will be deployed
    • Optimization Type: Choose between time-based (recommended for emergency response) or distance-based optimization
    • Round Trip: Enable if crews need to return to a central depot or starting location

Once configured, the system processes your data through the routing algorithm.

Results & Output Data

  • Total Cost: Time or distance for each route (in seconds or meters)
  • Complete Results: Contains the exact routes, total cost, and number of stops for each vehicle
  • Segment Routing: Summary of routing data sources used for each segment
  • Segment Breakdown: Per-vehicle breakdown showing which routing service provided data for each segment

Interactive Map Visualization

  • Color-Coded Routes: Each vehicle route displayed in a different color
  • Location Markers: Clickable points showing each service location
  • Route Lines: Visual representation of the optimized path between stops
  • Zoom & Pan: Navigate the map to examine specific areas in detail

About the Author

Anubhav Gupta is a Computer Science student at the University of South Florida.
During his time at CrossCompute as a Software Engineering Intern, he worked on a vehicle routing optimization tool that integrated Google OR-Tools, OpenRouteService, and Google Maps APIs to improve logistics for heavy-duty vehicles. In his free time, he works with LLM APIs to automate document classification, content extraction, and workflow assistance.