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Riding

Ultimate Guide to Route Optimisation in 2020

When your riders have hundreds, if not thousands, of destinations or clients to visit, planning routes manually is a time-intensive and inefficient solution.

In many industries, driver wages and fuel costs alone make up 59.8% of the total operational cost per mile. So even small improvements to your driver’s routes can not only help you deliver packages or serve your clients faster, but can have a significant impact on your profit margin

With proper route optimisation tools, your business could save up to 20% in mileage and improve your order capacity by as much as 100% without increasing your fleet.

In this guide, we’ll give you a complete breakdown of what route optimization is and how it can benefit your business. We’ll examine real-world examples and provide use-cases for your industry.

We have a lot to cover, so let’s get started.

What is Route Optimisation?

Route optimisation is the process of improving routes and schedules for any type of delivery or service call. It helps businesses maximize completed orders while keeping the number of riders and bikes to a minimum.

Route Optimisation Phone AppRoute optimization is relevant to your company, whether you offer direct-to-consumer deliveries, business-to-business despatching or are in a service industry where your technicians visit client homes or businesses.

Routing your riders and technicians can be a costly and frustrating process, but with the right tool it can be automated — saving you time, money, and improving customer satisfaction.

Let’s get into it!

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Riding

Mid Wales Motorcycle Ride Out – The Abergwesyn Pass

Wales Motorcycle Ride, Powys
Welcome to Wales, Powys

This is a route I rode in May 2019, back then I could not have imagined what is happening now one year on. I find myself now looking back at the freedom we had to ride where ever we liked. Enjoy my reminiscing and stick this route on your to-do list for when lockdown restrictions are eased.

This route offers a short loop taking in some of the best roads Wales can offer, beginning and finishing in Newtown (because I was staying with family in Welshpool, the next town north, and using this as my base). All in its about 130 miles and about 3.5 – 4 hours of riding time, factor in a couple of coffee and food stops and you have a chilled out day on the bike.

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Riding

Scotland West Coast Motorcycle Road Trip with Mapped/FA

Scotland motorcycle tour with Blake, Mapped/FA
Blake, Mapped/FA

I think I’m almost as passionate about Scotland as I am about motorcycles, scotch and good coffee (which means it’s significant). My first Scotland motorcycle tour was back in 2017 for our NC500 Adventure. I fell in love with the scenery, the roads and the people. I knew I would be heading back.

In August 2019 I set off on tour to explore the West Coast of Scotland by motorcycle and, more importantly, the Isle of Mull and the Isle of Skye. I decided to call this adventure the “Western Isles Tour”. Now, I must put my hand up and admit that I have made a mistake. I have been advised by several followers that the Isle of Mull and Skye are not part of the Western Isles. Please accept my apologies for this error! (But to me, Mull and Skye were the Western Isles, for this adventure at least!)

The tour itself took place over five days and was designed to take in key parts of the Scottish Highlands, the West coast as well as the Isles of Mull and Skye. In total, the adventure covered over 1,300 miles, starting and ending in Manchester. AKA Team Mapped Base Camp. Although, the true start point is Loch Lomond.

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Featured Riding

Solo Motorcycle Tour Tips

It’s well-documented that riding a motorbike can bring a huge sense of freedom and when you tour solo for longer distances over many days this feeling is even greater. For a beginner, that first big solo motorcycle trip can be quite daunting, raising many what-if questions – what if I break down? what if I get lost? Some people are just more naturally confident, whilst others are less so, worry more and find the idea of riding out into the unknown uneasy.

If you’ve not travelled long distances by bike solo before and are somewhat nervous about the proposition, but do what to overcome this fear and explore, then read on. This article will hopefully give you some solo motorcycle tour tips to beat those fears and plan for a trouble-free motorcycle adventure.

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Riding Videos

Motorcycle Trip to Yosemite on a Yamaha Super Ténéré

My planned visit to California to rent a Yamaha Super Ténéré from Eagle Rider and head inland to take a motorcycle trip to Yosemite National Park all went to plan without hitch. The weather was perfect, the snow stayed away and the Tiago Pass stayed open. Experiencing Yosemite off season at the end of October and riding the Tiago Pass on a weekday was probably a shrewd move to avoid the crowds and ride the roads at their quietest to enjoy the stunning scenery at it’s best. Below are some video highlights from my trip through Yosemite.

YouTube player

Read about my trip planning shenanigans that went into this mini adventure here. The second half of my mini tour took in Lake Tahoe and a return to San Francisco via Sacramento. Watch this space for highlights on this second leg.

You can download the full route and other top San Francisco motorcycle roads here.

 

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Riding

Adventure Planning: Motorcycle Trip to Yosemite and Lake Tahoe

I was recently assigned a new work project that required a visit to San Francisco to work with a client for a few days in October, and so of course I got to thinking if I could incorporate some motorbike time whilst out there.  Prior visits to the Bay area, where I had the chance to rent a Harley Davidson Dyna 103, a Road King 107 and Triumph Bonneville T100 were all very memorable. However, I have always wanted to visit Yosemite National Park,  being renowned for its natural beauty. At ~200 miles inland, I’ve just never had long enough to get there with time to appreciate it within a weekend bike rental.

Motorcycle Trip to Yosemite

For this upcoming trip, I’ve arranged my outgoing flight 3 days earlier (and actually saving the company money to boot!) to fit in a rough itinerary of:

  • Day 1 – collect bike in San Fran and ride 200 miles to Yosemite
  • Day 2 – explore Yosemite, Tioga Pass and ride up to Lake Tahoe
  • Day 3 – back to San Fran via Sacramento to drop bike off

Motorcycle trip to Yosemite National Park

“We’re in such a hurry most of the time we never get much chance to talk. The result is a kind of endless day-to-day shallowness, a monotony that leaves a person wondering years later where all the time went and sorry that it’s all gone. ”

― Robert M. Pirsig, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry Into Values

“Why travel is the only thing you buy that makes you richer”

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Featured Riding

Adventures Down Under, Motorcycle Rental MT09 in Brisbane, Part 2

Continuing my Brisbane motorcycle rental adventure on a Yamaha MT09, for my second day I followed a route loosely based on this Rent This Bike blog post, an epic loop heading North West of Brisbane around lake Wivenhoe, taking in Mount Glorious, then North West over to Kingaroy, through Bunya Mountain and then back via Cooyar, Crows Nest and Esk. A substantial ride to do in one day at around 535 km, which left me minimal time to stop and explore along the route, before riding back into Brisbane after dark due to the early autumn nights. Definitely get out on the road early or consider stopping the night halfway for a more leisurely cruise.

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Riding

Adventures Down Under, Motorcycle Rental MT09 in Brisbane, Part 1

So when my boss turned around and asked if I could join him on a sales trip to a prospective customer in Brisbane Australia, I of course jumped at the opportunity. Sure, there was quite a lot of technical prep work setting up demo systems for presentations, the arduous sales meeting itself and the long flights (not business class sadly). But it did afford me a chance to grab a couple of free days to rent a motorcycle in Brisbane and explore some of Australia’s beautiful East Coast. Being my first visit to Australia, I was keen to see as much of it as I could cram into my time there.

Rent a motorcycle in Brisbane, AustraliaBrisbane Motorcycle Rental

For motorcycle rental, a quick Google revealed Eagle Rider had a shop in Brisbane, certainly tempting having rented from them previously in Sam Francisco. However, I also found the smaller local firm Rent This Bike, with a good choice of bikes and very competitive pricing. They were also more flexible on return times, affording me two full days of riding. I only had a Friday and Saturday free time and EagleRider close at 3 pm on Saturdays, whereas Rent This Bike was happy to accommodate pick up and drop-offs from 7 am to 7 pm any day.