Re:The software routing 260,000 grocery deliveries a week
by michaelt on Wednesday August 16, 2017 @09:12AM
(#15027144)
We take into account long-term trends in weather and traffic conditions like road works, school holidays, and recurring traffic patterns.
The drivers' sat navs also (IIRC) have live traffic, which can send them down different _roads_ in response to things like accidents causing traffic jams.
Of course, there are limits to our ability to respond quickly to changes in traffic conditions for simple logistical reasons - many drivers' vans are loaded once at the start of an 8-hour shift, and we can't predict traffic accidents 8 hours before they happen!
Certain other competing concerns are balanced with a 'cost function' which has been tuned empirically.
The drivers' sat navs also (IIRC) have live traffic, which can send them down different _roads_ in response to things like accidents causing traffic jams.
Of course, there are limits to our ability to respond quickly to changes in traffic conditions for simple logistical reasons - many drivers' vans are loaded once at the start of an 8-hour shift, and we can't predict traffic accidents 8 hours before they happen!
Certain other competing concerns are balanced with a 'cost function' which has been tuned empirically.