Vehicle fleet routing system

Abstract

In one embodiment, a system for routing vehicles in a vehicle fleet includes a location assignment module comprising computer hardware and a routing module. The location assignment module can be configured to iteratively: determine whether quotas are met for a plurality of territories based at least on locations assigned to individual territories of the plurality of territories, and in response to determining that the quota is unmet for one or more individual territories, assign one or more additional locations to the one or more individual territories having unmet quotas based at least on a proximity of the one or more additional locations to a different reference location associated with each of the one or more individual territories having unmet quotas. The routing module can be configured to generate routes including the locations assigned to the individual territories for vehicles in a vehicle fleet.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A system for routing vehicles in a vehicle fleet, the system comprising:
 a location assignment module comprising computer hardware, the location assignment module configured to iteratively:
 determine whether quotas are met for a plurality of territories based at least on locations assigned to individual territories of the plurality of territories, and 
 in response to determining that the quota is unmet for one or more individual territories, assign one or more additional locations to the one or more individual territories having unmet quotas based at least on a proximity of the one or more additional locations to a different reference location associated with each of the one or more individual territories having unmet quotas; and 
   a routing module configured to generate routes including the locations assigned to the individual territories for vehicles in a vehicle fleet.   
     
     
         2 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the quota is met for a first territory of the plurality of territories in response to a total revenue for the locations assigned to the first territory meeting or exceeding the quota. 
     
     
         3 . The system of  claim 2 , wherein the quota for the first territory is the same as the quota for a second territory of the plurality of territories. 
     
     
         4 . The system of  claim 3 , wherein the routing module is configured to generate a first route including the locations assigned to the first territory and a second route including the locations assigned to the second territory. 
     
     
         5 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the quota is met for a first territory of the plurality of territories in response to a total time-on-site for the locations assigned to the first territory meeting or exceeding the quota. 
     
     
         6 . The system of  claim 5 , wherein the quota for the first territory is different from the quota for a second territory of the plurality of territories. 
     
     
         7 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the quota is met for a first territory of the plurality of territories in response to a total estimated driving time for a first route including the locations assigned to the first territory meeting or exceeding the quota. 
     
     
         8 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the location assignment module is further configured revise the position of the reference locations associated with the one or more individual territories having unmet quotas before assigning one or more additional locations to the one or more individual territories having unmet quotas. 
     
     
         9 . The system of  claim 8 , wherein the location assignment module is further configured to revise the position of the reference locations associated with the one or more individual territories having unmet quotas based at least on the locations assigned to the one or more individual territories having unmet quotas. 
     
     
         10 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the location assignment module is further configured to:
 assign one or more additional locations to the individual territories based at least on outlier detection; and   reassign one or more of the locations assigned to a first territory of the plurality of territories to a second territory of the plurality of territories to even out one or more criteria for the first territory and the second territory.   
     
     
         11 . The system of  claim 10 , wherein the one or more criteria comprise a total amount of revenue for each of the first territory and the second territory. 
     
     
         12 . The system of  claim 10 , wherein the one or more criteria comprise a total time-on-site for each of the first territory and the second territory. 
     
     
         13 . The system of  claim 1 , further comprising a territory count module configured to determine a number of territories to include in the plurality of territories, the number of territories being a minimum number of territories to use to service a set of stops where each of the individual territories is associated with a different vehicle in the vehicle fleet. 
     
     
         14 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein at least some of the plurality of territories overlap one another. 
     
     
         15 . A method for routing vehicles in a vehicle fleet, the method comprising:
 assigning one or more unassigned locations of a plurality of locations to one of a first territory and a second territory based at least on the proximity of the one or more unassigned locations to a first reference location associated with the first territory and a second reference location associated with a second territory;   in response to assigning the one or more unassigned locations to the first territory, determining with one or more processors whether a first quota for the first territory is met based at least on the one or more locations assigned to the first territory;   in response to determining the first quota is unmet, assign one or more unassigned locations to the first territory based at least on the proximity of the one or more unassigned locations to the first reference location;   in response to assigning the one or more unassigned locations to the second territory, determining with the one or more processors whether a second quota for the second territory is met based at least on the one or more locations assigned to the second territory;   in response to determining the second quota is unmet, assigning one or more unassigned locations to the second territory based at least on the proximity of the one or more unassigned locations to the second reference location; and   generating routes including the locations assigned to the first territory and the second territory for vehicles in a vehicle fleet.   
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 15 , wherein the first quota is met in response to a total revenue for the locations assigned to the first territory meeting or exceeding the first quota. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 16 , wherein the first quota is the same as the second quota. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 15 , further comprising revising the position of the first reference location and second reference location based at least on the one or more locations assigned to the first territory and the second territory before assigning one or more unassigned locations to the first territory or the second territory. 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 15 , further comprising assigning one or more unassigned locations to the first territory or the second territory based at least on outlier detection. 
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 19 , further comprising reassigning one or more of the locations assigned to the first territory to the second territory to even out one or more criteria for the first territory and the second territory.