The benefits of Single-Sided routing using RouteSmart

Optimising routes for waste collection, street cleansing or gritting vehicles can present multiple challenges. There is an array of risk assessments that local authorities must conduct to protect the safety of their drivers and operators. These risk assessments can vary authority by authority. For example, for some vehicles it is imperative that they make as few turns across traffic as possible – in the UK & the Republic of Ireland this would mean limiting right hand turns.

To tackle the challenges, RouteSmart has a range of inbuilt options. Tools which allow for the creation and management of routes that put the health and safety of the crews first. For example, single-sided routing means that any work – whether bin collections, sweeping or salting, will be conducted only on the side of the street that the vehicle is travelling.
Some vehicles are designed with the street side in mind. Some small sweepers, for example, have brushes on the left to attend to kerbs. Gully tankers are often equipped with vacuum hoses on the left. Single-sided servicing is mandatory for such vehicles.

The inbuilt RouteSmart tools ensure improved efficiency even with this single side limitation. When a single-sided route is created, there is no need for operatives to cross busy streets to make collections. The software also reduces the time vehicles remain stationary awaiting a safe distance to turn across traffic. Optimised routes are mapped without requiring the operators to make dangerous or time-consuming manoeuvres such as turning across traffic or making U-turns. Preventing these manoeuvres is both safe and efficient.

Spending time in traffic queues, and being the cause of them, is expected when operating large, limited-speed vehicles with external operatives. This is a frustrating exercise when there is a job that needs to be completed. The single-sided tool in RouteSmart cuts out any extra time spent at signal junctions or in the middle of a minor road awaiting an opportunity to cross oncoming traffic to access residential streets.

Using the single-sided routing tool in RouteSmart is the optimal method to improve efficiency and protect operatives.