Problems and warnings, explained
By Nathan ColeUpdated
A fresh optimization respects your constraints: rather than break a rule, the optimizer leaves an order off the routes (see Why an order went unassigned). Red problem lines therefore almost always come from manual work. When you edit routes by hand, the optimizer applies the change and flags any rule it breaks instead of refusing it. This page lists every problem message, what each one means, and how to clear it.
Problems surface at three levels:
- # PROBLEMS in the top metrics strip: the count across the whole plan. The metric appears only when the count is above zero.
- PROBLEMS on a route card, in red: how many of them are on that route.
- A red line under the affected stop with the specific message.
Every problem message
| Message | What it means | How to fix it |
|---|---|---|
| The vehicle may not visit this location (tags / restrictions) | The order's required or forbidden tags do not match this vehicle | Move the stop to a compatible vehicle, or change the tags. See Tags: vehicle-order compatibility |
| No drivable road connection to this location | The pin sits somewhere the road network cannot reach | Fix the address or drag the pin to the street. See Fix unrecognized or mislocated addresses |
| Overloaded by N | The vehicle carries N units more than its capacity at some point on the route | Move a stop to another route, raise capacity, or add a reload. See Capacity, deliveries, and pickups |
| Misses a delivery time window by X | The vehicle arrives X after the order's window closes | Move the stop earlier in the route or to an earlier vehicle, or widen the window |
| Exceeds the shift duration limit by X | The route runs X longer than the vehicle's maximum duration | Move stops off the route, or raise the limit. See Shifts and working hours |
| Exceeds the distance limit by X km/mi | The route drives X farther than the vehicle's maximum distance | Move stops off the route, or raise the limit |
| Misses the depot's opening hours by X | A depot visit (start, reload, or return) falls X outside the depot's hours | Adjust the depot's hours or the shift, or reorder the route |
| Runs past the vehicle's shift end by X | The route finishes X after the shift ends | Start earlier, move stops off the route, or extend the shift |
| Pickup & delivery order out of sequence | A transfer's pickup and delivery are on different routes or the delivery comes first | Keep both halves on one route, pickup before delivery. See Pickup & delivery transfers |
| Exceeds the driver's remaining driving allowance by X | The route drives X more than the hours left in the driver's period budget | Move stops off the route, or correct Period limit (h) / Already driven (h). See Driver breaks |
| Violates the driver-break rules by X | The break the rule requires cannot be placed in this route as it stands | Reorder or shorten the route, widen the windows around the break, or relax the rule. See Driver breaks |
| Break taken at a stop where breaks are not allowed | The only place the break fits is a stop whose breaks are restricted (Restrict at this stop under Driver breaks) | Allow breaks at that stop, or reorder the route so the break is placed elsewhere |
| Sequence group broken (its orders run on one route, in their given order) | The group's orders are split across routes or run out of rank order | Put every member on one route in rank order. See Order sequences |
| Mixes incompatible product classes on one vehicle (A, B) | Two of the named classes are listed in one of this vehicle's Do not mix load classes groups and share the route | Move one of the classes to another vehicle, or drop the pair from the vehicle's Do not mix load classes groups. See Product segregation |
| Delivered X past its max time in vehicle | The order's ride runs X longer than its Max time in vehicle allows | See Delivered past its max time in vehicle |
The X amounts are the size of the violation, not of the whole constraint. A window missed "by 5 min" may be worth accepting. A window missed "by 2 hrs" probably is not.
Delivered past its max time in vehicle
The ride counts from the vehicle's departure from the depot on a plain order, and from the pickup on a transfer. A driver break taken inside that stretch counts toward the ride.
- Serve the order earlier in the route.
- Raise Max time in vehicle, or Max ride overtime on a transfer.
- Allow breaks at more stops.
- Move the order to a vehicle that reaches it sooner.
See Max time in vehicle.
The blue wait line
The line "Waits 25 min for the window to open" appears in blue rather than red: it is not a problem. The vehicle arrives before the order's window opens and idles until it does. The plan is valid. The wait is part of the route's working time. Long waits on one route indicate that a window or the shift start could move, or that stops with similar windows could share one route. See Time windows, service time, priority, and load.
Exporting and sharing with problems
Problems do not block anything: a plan with problems can still be exported or shared. Deal with a problem in one of four ways, in order of preference:
- Undo the edit that caused it.
- Fix it with another edit, using the table above.
- Run Optimize stop order on the affected route: it reorders the stops and clears any violation that a better order can absorb.
- Accept it knowingly. The export and the driver's mobile view show the plan as it is.
If problems appear without any manual editing, check the inputs first: an impossible combination forced with hand-placed orders, or stale routes marked NOT SYNC after input changes. A fresh optimization rebuilds the plan and drops what does not fit. See Run the optimizer.
The two driver-break problems can appear on a fresh optimization. Re-running does not clear them: the optimizer can drop an order that does not fit, but it cannot drop a mandatory break. A rule requiring a break after 4.5 hours of driving cannot be satisfied on a 6-hour drive between two stops, because a break is taken at a stop and that drive has none. Add a stop along the way, relax the rule, or accept the plan as reported. The same applies to a break placed on a stop whose breaks are restricted when the break fits at no other stop.
When the rules themselves are the problem
The fixes in the table above clear one problem at a time. Sometimes the problem is not one stop but the rule set: the 11:00 window, the 16:30 shift end, the reefer tag, and the 18-pallet capacity are individually reasonable and jointly impossible. The question becomes which rule to relax, and how many problems the change clears at what cost.
The assistant can work on that question because it receives everything on this page as structured data rather than as an image:
- every problem with its type, its route, its stop, and the size of the violation.
- for every hand-placed order, whether it would break a rule anywhere or only in its current position.
- for every unassigned order, its category, its blockers, and the inputs that would let it in.
- the cost, distance, and problem-count difference against the last full optimization.
It reads all of that across the whole plan at once.
Route 2 has four problems and three orders are unassigned. Go through
the plan and tell me which of my constraints are actually in conflict,
which single rule I should relax, and what it would cost me. Do not
change anything yet.
Run it three ways and compare: shift end at 17:30 instead of 16:30,
capacity 20 instead of 18, and the pharmacy window widened to 12:00.
Which one clears the most problems for the least money?
In the second prompt each variant is a real optimization on your data, so the assistant answers a claim like "we need a bigger van" with measured cost and problem counts. Query, edit, and export a plan with AI covers reading and editing a plan this way. Describe constraints in plain language covers expressing the rules in the first place.
Next step
If re-runs are slow on a large plan, read Optimization tips for large datasets.
FAQ
Why does my routing plan show problems at all?
A fresh optimization respects your constraints: rather than break a rule, the optimizer leaves an order off the routes. Red problem lines therefore almost always come from manual work, where the optimizer applies the change and flags any rule it breaks instead of refusing it. The two driver-break problems can appear on a fresh optimization.
Do problems block exporting or sharing?
No. A plan with problems can still be exported or shared, and the export and the driver's mobile view show the plan as it is. Deal with a problem by undoing the edit, fixing it with another edit, running Optimize stop order on the route, or accepting it knowingly.
What does the X in a problem message mean?
The X amounts are the size of the violation, not of the whole constraint. Misses a delivery time window by 12 min means the vehicle arrives 12 minutes after the window closes. A window missed by 5 minutes may be worth accepting; one missed by 2 hours probably is not.
Can the assistant help when constraints conflict?
Yes. The assistant receives every problem with its type, route, stop, and violation size as structured data across the whole plan, so ask it which constraints are actually in conflict, which single rule to relax, and what the change would cost. Each variant it compares is a real optimization on your data.