Priority Zones allow you to reorganize stops by location on the map. Outline areas with stops and order those areas. Stop ordering within the zones is optimized for the most efficient route.

Overview

Priority Zones allow a manager or driver to outline an area on the map and assign it a priority. Stops within Priority Zone 1 will be completed first, followed by zone 2 and zone 3 until all zones have been completed. GroundCloud will optimize the route within and between Priority Zones so that the driver completes them in order and in the most efficient way.

Creating Priority Zones

Priority Zones can be created from either the GroundCloud Portal or the Driver App. They can either be set as permanent zones that will carry over to the following delivery days or as daily zones that will last for the day they are created.

Permanent Priority Zones

Login to GroundCloud.io.
Go to the Routes tab.
Click on the desired Work Area Name.
Click on Priority Zones from the dropdown. Here, Priority Zones can be made that will stay with the route until removed or edited.
Use your cursor to click points onto the map, connecting them to create new Priority Zone(s). By default, created zones will apply to every workday. You can create Priority Zones for specific days by selecting the day of the week at the top of this page.

Created zones will be listed on the right of the map and can be edited and reordered from there.
When set to your liking, click Save.

Note: Created Priority Zones can be edited, deleted or added to this page.

Daily Priority Zones

The Circle Stops function allows you to make adjustments to the route by outlining stops from the map. These adjustments will be effective for the current route day, and will be reverted on the next delivery day.

Login to GroundCloud.io.
Go to the Routes tab.
Click on the desired Work Area Name.
Select the Circle Stops button.
Your cursor will now be able to plot points on the map. Click to make points on the map and connect the dots around the area you would like to select.
Once the area is enclosed, you will be prompted with a pop up window with various actions that can be performed with the circled stops.
Select Create Priority Zones and click Go to confirm.

The route will be reoptimized with the new Priority Zone. You can repeat this process to add as many Priority Zones as you would like.

Note: Creating a Priority Zone in this way only applies to the current route delivery day.

Driver App - Daily Priority Zones

Drivers are able to set daily Priority Zones right from the app!

Log in to the GroundCloud app.
Go to My Drive.
Click the outline icon. This will toggle the stop circling function.
Drivers can use their fingers to outline the stops they would like to select. Use multiple circles to create multiple zones. Zones will be numbered in the order they were created with a yellow number icon. That is, the order in the zones will be prioritized.
Once done, select the checkmark icon to save these areas as Priority Zones.

The route will be reoptimized, and the zones will be visible from the Routes page of the management portal.

Copying Priority Zones to New Work Area

You can also copy Priority Zones from one route to another.

Login to GroundCloud.io.
Go to the Routes page.
Click on the Work Area Name of the route that you want to copy the priority zones from.
In the top right, click on the yellow button with a down arrow.
Then click Priority Zones.
Make sure you have the correct view selected. Either default or a specific day of the week. As well as priority zones selected. The priority zones should be visible on the map to confirm you have the correct view selected.
Click Copy to....
Select which work area you want to copy the zones to and select the default view or specific days you want them to be copied to.
Click Save. You can check the route you copied the priority zones onto to confirm it was successful. Just follow the same steps 1-5 to check the priority zones in the receiving work area.

Troubleshooting Priority Zones

This happens when it takes too long to load active routes + priority zones from the server. The time it takes to load the priority zones is cumulative based on:

Amount of total active routes
Amount of priority zones per route
The complexity of each priority zone
How loaded the servers/databases are

Notes

The priority zones are still in the database.
The server will still use them for routing.
Avoid saving priority zones when this happens; otherwise, the old priority zones can be overwritten.

Workarounds

Deactivate routes and priority zones are loaded from active routes
Routes with many zones are the best candidates to deactivate

Contact Descartes GroundCloud Support at (218) 864-7900, option 2 for further assistance.