SepticBossPro Blog — Route Planning

Using Reports to Review Septic Route and Truck Performance

Route planning gets better when you look back at what happened. Which truck completed the most work? Which days were all driving and no pumping? Which areas pay off and which do not? Reports turn a season of routes into lessons you can use. Continuing from Scheduling Install and Drain Field Crews Around Pump Truck Routes, here is how to review route and truck performance in a way that leads to better planning.

Start With What Got Done

The most basic question is what each truck actually completed. Drivers mark jobs complete in the crew mobile app, so the record of completed work builds up automatically. Reports in SepticBossPro let you look at completed jobs and what they billed. Over a few weeks, patterns emerge: one truck consistently completes more, one day of the week always comes up short.

Do not jump to conclusions about drivers. A truck that completes fewer jobs may be running the rural route with deep lids and long drives. The point is to understand the route, not to blame the person running it.

Look at the mix of job categories as well. A truck that spent the week on inspections and repairs will show a very different pattern from one that ran pure pump-out routes, and comparing them directly can be misleading.

Compare Planned and Actual

The most useful review compares what was planned against what happened. If a route planned for six stops completed four, find out why. Was a stop moved for weather? Did a lid take far longer than expected? Did the dump run take twice as long because of a line? Each answer points to something you can fix: a property record that needs updating, a stop time estimate that was too optimistic, a disposal site to avoid at certain times.

Write down the reasons as you find them. A simple list of why routes fell short, collected over a month, usually points to two or three causes that account for most of the lost time.

Look at Revenue per Truck Day

Completed job counts tell part of the story. What the work billed tells the rest. A truck that completed fewer stops but handled larger tanks, inspections, or grease traps may have produced more revenue. Looking at billing alongside completed work helps you judge which kinds of routes are worth the most, and whether long rural days are pulling their weight.

This is also where distance pricing shows its value. If rural routes consistently produce less per truck day, a trip charge or a wider grouping window may be the fix.

Spot Problem Properties

Some properties cause trouble repeatedly: hard to find, hard to access, always taking longer than planned. Reviewing completed work and driver notes helps you find them. Once you know, update the property record with better tank location notes, add photos, adjust the lid depth, or suggest a riser to the customer. Each fix makes every future route through that property more reliable.

Problem properties are often the ones without photos. A quick photo of the lid location on the next visit often solves the issue permanently.

Use Reviews to Plan Ahead

The real value of reports is what they change going forward. If Mondays are always overloaded because of weekend calls, plan lighter Monday routes. If one area consistently produces long, low-revenue days, consider a trip charge or less frequent route days there. If recurring work is growing in a particular area, it may be time for a regular route day there. Reports give you the evidence to make those decisions with confidence.

Reports also help when deciding whether to add a truck. If every truck is consistently full and the waiting list keeps growing, the numbers make the case far more clearly than a busy feeling in the office.

Make Review a Routine

A short review every week or two is enough. Look at what each truck completed and billed, compare it to the plan, note problem properties, and adjust upcoming routes. The septic route planning software in SepticBossPro keeps routes, completed jobs, and reports in the same place, so the review takes minutes instead of an afternoon with a stack of tickets.

Share what you learn with drivers too. They often know exactly why a route ran long, and including them in the review makes the next plan better.

The best route planners are not the ones who never make mistakes. They are the ones who look back, learn, and plan the next week a little better.