The problem
A mobile valeter's 5 or 6 jobs across town usually get done in the order people booked, not the order that makes sense. Zig-zagging adds about 40 minutes of driving a day. Over 21 working days that's 14 hours a month behind the wheel instead of polishing, plus the fuel.
What the AI does
Spoke Route Planner, formerly Circuit, takes the day's addresses, typed, imported from a spreadsheet, spoken or photographed, and works out the order to drive them, with arrival time windows for customers who need you after 10am or before the school run. The Free plan allows up to 10 stops per route, which covers a valeter's day. Plan the night before, then send each customer a rough arrival time.
A worked example
A mobile valeter in Bristol does 5 or 6 jobs a day across the city from a van with its own water and power. They enter the next day's addresses into Spoke each evening, with time windows for customers who'll be at work.
Before
About 40 extra minutes a day driving in booking order: 14 hours a month, and about 20 extra miles a day
After
Route planned in 5 minutes each evening; extra driving down to about 10 minutes a day
What it's worth
About $452£340€405A$653C$639 a month: 30 minutes less driving a day over 21 days is 10.5 hours, worth about $348£262€312A$503C$493 at an assumed $33£25€30A$48C$47 an hour, plus about 15 fewer miles a day at an assumed 25p a mile in fuel and wear, about $105£79€94A$152C$149. Spoke's Free plan costs nothing for routes of up to 10 stops.
How to set it up
- Install Spoke Route Planner and start on the Free plan.
- Each evening, add the next day's addresses and any time windows customers asked for.
- Let it work out the order, then check it against anything it can't know, such as a car park that closes at 6pm.
- Text each customer their arrival window once the route is set.
- After two weeks, compare your daily mileage with your old log.
What goes wrong
- Spoke plans routes; it doesn't take bookings. Copy addresses across from your booking system or import a spreadsheet.
- The 10-stop limit is per route. A team doing more jobs a day needs Lite at $9.99 (about $9£7€8A$13C$13) or Standard at $19.99 (about $20£15€18A$29C$28) a month, billed through the app store.
- A route that saves miles can clash with what customers asked for. Enter fixed times as time windows rather than moving jobs by hand later.