MapQuest is one of the oldest and most reliable options for personal and commercial navigation needs. In fact, many people continue using it for daily deliveries.
Here’s what you should know about using the MapQuest route planner for your company.
With MapQuest Driving Directions multiple stops are a core feature you can use for your business, even if you’re staying with the free mode. The first step is going straight to MapQuest’s Route Planner Page rather than the site’s home page because the planner has more features.
You can add multiple stops on the left side of the screen. The MapQuest multiple-stop route planner currently has three ways you can plan your route.
The default option is Line by Line, where you can type in up to 26 addresses and add them one by one. As part of this MapQuest multiple addresses feature, you can also configure it to show a round-trip plan, reorder stops, and optimize the route to save drive time or distance.
The second option is Copy/Paste, which allows you to insert addresses in bulk by copying them from another software. Remember that you need to add them once per line. This is a great option if you already know which order you want to visit them in and only need the route for them.
Finally, you can Import a route. The Map Quest route planner allows you to download XLS and CSV templates where you can insert the information it needs, then upload the file to create a map. Notably, this option allows you to use Latitude and Longitude to pick a destination, which can be helpful if the place you’re going doesn’t have a street address.
Most route settings are accessible through the Line-By-Line format, the most customizable option.
In addition to measuring in either Miles or Kilometers, which may be helpful if you have guests from visiting outside the United States, MapQuest allows you to avoid several potential issues on your route.
The first two, which are the most relevant to many businesses, are toll roads and highways. Highways can get congested during certain hours, while avoiding toll roads may help save money on some routes. However, that’s not always the case, so check your options both with and without toll roads.
People in some areas may also need to avoid ferries. This is mainly an issue in coastal areas and places near large rivers or lakes, where ferries can be a slow alternative route to a destination.
Seasonal roads and timed restrictions are other occasional issues for businesses. Some roads are only open in warmer or colder months, while timed restrictions may include things like roads being shut down overnight for work.
Finally, routes may occasionally try to use country borders, and you can tell MapQuest to avoid using those.
Once you have your route, you can share it with people in several ways. MapQuest lets you share directly to some social media sites, as well as mobile devices and email. If none of those are correct for your company’s needs, you can also get a direct link to the route and share it with anyone who needs it.
In our experience, saving the direct link for the route is often the most valuable option. This is particularly true when we’re creating a route different people may need to take regularly. Saving all of our main routes in a central repository makes it easy for anyone to find the correct route themselves, and without compromising our security.
Is MapQuest Map My Route worth using for your business? Like all software, it has advantages and disadvantages, so it’s not the right choice for every situation despite its overall popularity. Even before planning a route, companies can learn a lot from logistics professionals and translate that into commercial success.
The best way to determine whether the MapQuest Route Planner App makes sense for your company is by evaluating your needs. Here are the most common factors companies need to consider when picking a mapping app.
MapQuest has several notable advantages for businesses, including:
MapQuest isn’t as good for businesses that need a lot of advanced features. Its disadvantages include:
While there are several options for route planning, the main alternative to MapQuest that most businesses consider is Google Maps. Overall, we think MapQuest is more helpful for most businesses, but Google Maps has a few things to recommend it over MapQuest.
The primary advantages of Google Maps include:
Google Maps also has some notable limits, including:
MapQuest is good enough for most businesses because it has enough stops and planning flexibility to meet typical needs. However, this GPS navigation can’t compare to professional logistics software, which is what you should look into for advanced features.
For example, advanced software can alert you immediately if a vehicle has a breakdown and a time-sensitive delivery might be jeopardized. If that happens, you can minimize the impact by sending in another transporter to help.
Every company has different needs, so we’re not going to say that one software is universally better than any other. However, it is worth considering both your current and future needs when deciding on the software to use. If you expect to have increasingly-complex route planning needs in the future, consider investing in capable route planning software now.
Otherwise, the MapQuest routeplanner remains an excellent free choice.
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