Overview
What is the Stacking Engine?
The Stacking Engine is an extension that helps operators increase efficiency by automatically identifying tours that can be merged together into one tour. This enables drivers to complete more stops per hour, with fewer empty kilometers and less manual replanning.
How does the Stacking Engine work?
The Stacking Engine identifies "stackable" tours and determines whether merging them meets operational constraints like drop-off direction, distance, and time feasibility. It always optimizes for shortest distance between the stops.
Tours are stackable if they have:
the same pickup place
the status On Hold, Scheduled, Pickable, or En Route
En Route tours need to have the same pickup and drop-off place
a scheduled_at time that only deviates by 15 minutes (between the incoming tour and the potential stack candidate; this is configurable)
There are two stacking modes: Basic and Actual Routes.
Basic
The default mode if the Stacking Engine is enabled
Used globally for all tours across all service areas
Uses straight lines to calculate the distance and heading between the drop-off stops
One variable influencing the stacking algorithm can be configured per service area in the dashboard, others can be configured by our team
Actual Routes
Can be configured per service area, once the Stacking Engine was enabled
Uses actual routes to calculate the distance and driving time between the drop-off stops
Multiple variables influencing the stacking algorithm can be configured per service-area in the dashboard
When stacking is enabled and a stacked tour is completed, metadata that indicates the tour was auto-merged ( auto_merged: "true") is added to the tour, making stacked tours easier to track in analytics and operations follow-up.
Enable and configure the Stacking Engine
To enable the Stacking Engine, please reach out to our Support Team
To learn more about configuration options continue with the ‘Configure the Stacking Engine on Service Area Level in the Dashboard’ article