Tour planning is the process of grouping transport orders into tours and placing them in a specific order. The trip is normally conducted by a single person or vehicle.
Tour planning is essential in locations with a high volume of excursions and orders. Examples include retail delivery, mail pickup, rubbish collection, and passenger transportation.
Tour planning is significantly more involved than route planning. A tour consists of multiple routes, whereas route planning is especially crucial in larger organizations that regularly deliver goods using many cars or schedule field employees.
The following information is necessary for tour planning:
- The allocation of various routes
- The most efficient loading of individual cars
- Traffic data * Employee skill levels
- Other constraints such as vehicle height
