Waste Collection Route Planner
Order bin/dumpster stops for collection days — minimize deadhead between clusters, ETA each stop, export driver run sheets; offline-first.
Add collection stops
Paste CSV (name, latitude, longitude — one per line)
Field guide: Waste Collection Route Planner
Commercial waste collection — dumpsters, skips, business bins — is a stop-list problem (unlike residential curbside, which is an every-street problem), and stop lists love optimization: customers cluster by district, and the win is ordering clusters so the truck never crosses its own path. Paste the day's lifts, set the truck's honest average (22 km/h with stops and hydraulics is typical), and the run sheet orders the day with an ETA per lift.
Service minutes carry the hidden time: a front-load dumpster lift is 2–4 minutes when clear, double that when blocked by parked cars (note your chronic offenders). Round-trip default reflects the day's reality — depot, route, tip at the transfer station, return; add the transfer station as your final fixed-position consideration by placing it strategically late in the list. Disposal weights and tickets stay in your system; this keeps the wheels efficient.
Field tips
- Split the list by container type if the truck changes mode (front-load vs roll-off) — mixed-mode 'optimal' orders aren't.
- Log chronic blocked-access stops with double service time; the run sheet then absorbs reality instead of slipping daily.
- Re-run the optimizer when adding a new customer — one address can flip which side of town the afternoon belongs to.
Records are stored only in this browser (localStorage) — export regularly. This tool aids field documentation; it does not replace your agency's official inspection procedures or engineering judgment.
Waste Collection Route Planner — Order bin/dumpster stops for collection days — minimize deadhead between clusters, ETA each stop, export driver run sheets; offline-first. Free, offline-first and GPS-aware: open it on any phone, log in seconds, and hand your GIS team clean GeoJSON.
About Waste Collection Route Planner
Commercial waste collection — dumpsters, skips, business bins — is a stop-list problem (unlike residential curbside, which is an every-street problem), and stop lists love optimization: customers cluster by district, and the win is ordering clusters so the truck never crosses its own path. Paste the day's lifts, set the truck's honest average (22 km/h with stops and hydraulics is typical), and the run sheet orders the day with an ETA per lift.
How to use Waste Collection Route Planner
- 1Add your stops — type addresses/names with coordinates, capture GPS on site, or paste a CSV.
- 2Set your average speed and per-stop service time so ETAs are realistic.
- 3Click Optimize — a nearest-neighbour + 2-opt pass reorders stops to cut total distance.
- 4Review the ordered run sheet with leg distances and ETAs.
- 5Export the optimized route as CSV or GeoJSON for navigation and records.
Why use Waste Collection Route Planner?
- ✓100% free, no sign-up — built for crews, not per-seat licences
- ✓Offline-first: records save to your device instantly and survive dead zones
- ✓One-tap GPS tagging with accuracy capture on every record
- ✓Exports CSV for asset systems, GeoJSON for GIS, and print-ready reports
- ✓Checklist and guidance aligned with SWANA collection operations practice
Frequently asked questions
Does this work for residential curbside routes?+
Curbside is arc routing — every street segment needs a pass, often a specific side — which needs different math (and usually districting software). This planner targets point-collection: commercial containers, bring-sites, missed-pickup recovery runs, bulky-item appointments. For those, stop-order optimization is exactly right.
How do I handle the transfer-station trip mid-day?+
When the truck fills, the tip interrupts whatever order you planned. Practical pattern: optimize the full list, watch fill level, and when a tip is needed, divert and then continue the remaining sheet — or pre-split the day into two lists around an expected tip. Logging average lifts-to-full makes the split predictable.
What's a realistic average speed for a collection truck?+
Lower than anything else on the road: 18–25 km/h door-to-door once lifts, hydraulics, reversing and residential streets are averaged in. Use your telematics' day-average if you have it. Overstating speed is why waste-route ETAs are famously fictional.
Can missed-pickup recovery use this too?+
It's the perfect use: recovery lists are scattered by nature (yesterday's misses across the whole district), so gut-ordering wastes the most there. Paste the misses, optimize, and the makeup run stops eating the morning.
Embed Waste Collection Route Planner on your website
Want Waste Collection Route Planneron your own site? Paste this snippet into any HTML page — it's free, with no API key or sign-up. The tool loads in an iframe and keeps working exactly as it does here.
<iframe src="https://tooljolt.com/tools/waste-collection-route-planner" width="100%" height="640" style="border:1px solid #e5e7eb;border-radius:12px;max-width:680px" title="Waste Collection Route Planner — ToolJolt" loading="lazy"></iframe>Related GIS tools
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