How To Get The Best Driving Directions From One Place To Another

Custom Image Best Directions from One Place to Another

Why are Driving Directions critical to modern and essential businesses?

It’s a no-brainer that drivers, whether employees, contractors, or independent couriers, should have accurate driving directions from one place to another to reach their destinations on time.

However, you cannot guarantee accuracy without leading mapping vendors unless the mapping source and point of interest data are reliable enough.

Who is the most reliable, consistent, authoritative mapping company to generate driver directions?

By far, it’s Google Maps and Waze. It’s not just because they invest billions annually into their technology but also because their data or suggested ways are updated hundreds of thousands of times per hour by the billions of customers using their products on the iTunes and Google Play marketplaces.

People also require driving directions for class 1-8 vehicles, and in our opinion, Here.com is the only company offering a comprehensive solution. Here.com also invests significantly in this sector, and they are great.

But how reliable are each method’s directions from one place to the next? And which method gives the best directions to work for professional drivers?

The analysis below will help understand the differences between all these routing methods.

Unfortunately, we couldn’t find evidence supporting our strong opinion about how great Google Maps is on Capterra.com, a website used to review software.

Using Google Maps as a Route Planner

Google Maps directions is the most used navigation tool globally to get driving directions for businesses and consumers. People trust Google map mostly because of its excellent data.

It provides driving directions from one place to another. It shows you the shortest distance, real-time traffic information, nearby gas stations, distance to destination, estimated time of arrival, and turn-by-turn directions (even during the offline mode because it downloads map data in the vicinity of your route before you go offline). The Google Direction driving system is unparalleled in its quality.

It even offers you the ability to share your real-time location with others. Google Maps also shows you the nearest electric vehicle charging station if you run an electric vehicle fleet (EV fleet).

So, it is a perfect tool for drivers who need multi-stop driving directions and routing from the office, depot, distribution center, and fulfillment center to customers. It’s also an excellent tool for single-destination road trips to determine the driving direction from point A to point B.

Route4Me

Want To See For Yourself How Route4Me Can Provide the Best Driving Directions from One Place to Another?

Whether you want to slash the time it takes you to plan routes for your drivers, increase the number of stops they can make, reduce fuel costs, or keep your customers satisfied knowing that your drivers show up on time… Route4Me helps you achieve that!

START FREE 14 DAY TRIAL

Even though Google Maps can be used for many business purposes related to building delivery or pickup routes, it is primarily used for personal use rather than for commercial routing because it is missing critical functionality like:

  • Dispatching work routes to drivers so they know the direction to drive in
  • GPS drive direction map of where many drivers are located right now
  • Having consistent driving directions synced from app-to-app, web-to-app, and dispatcher-to-driver (aka consistent driver directions in google maps)
  • Tracking a driver’s progress on a route (for example, driving directions from home to a job site)
  • Sharing a driver’s location to end-customers
  • Letting customers rate a driver’s service level
  • Although free, direction-driving Google has zero meaningful customer support
    • So, questions like “Which drive direction Google should I go?” will largely remain unanswered

Custom Image - Route Planning with Google Maps

Why is Google Maps Not Great for Businesses that Need Routing and Dispatch?

Because if your drivers (or salespeople, etc.) need to plan multiple routes for multiple drivers, then Google Maps for route optimization simply doesn’t exist.

Google plans routes and driver directions for 10-20 stops, and you (or your drivers) have to manually sequence the routes in tricky ways to ensure you meet time window requirements, eliminate driver overtime, and dispatch the routes for their work directions directly into their iPhone/Android.

So, while Google Maps has excellent mapping and navigation, it lacks the most crucial features needed to run a delivery, pickup, or field service business. We partner and use Google Maps technology but build on top of it to create value-added services for companies with high volume and/or high complexity routing needs.

For example, Google Maps cannot re-sequence a route based on what traffic conditions will look like the next, the day after, or in the near future in a given area when a team member is getting driving directions from home to the distribution center or a customer location.

You also can’t set service time per stop, and Google Maps cannot even help you identify (or prevent) the left or U-turns that your drivers need to avoid. And when there are hundreds of stops on a route, it’s hard to find the correct direction to drive in.

Most importantly, Google Maps simply guides your drivers to the customers in the same order you entered the addresses, one driver at a time. This means it will not give you the shortest and most optimal path for reaching all those addresses.

In summary, Google Maps is only ideal if you have one or two drivers who need to visit fewer than 10 addresses or destinations daily and only need driving directions to work from one point to another.

Custom Image - Top 15 Google Maps Alternatives

Get Directions to Work by Planning Routes with Waze

Waze is another widespread mapping tool many use to find driving directions from one place to another.

It is a community-driven app that uses users’ data to offer quicker navigation routes. It’s owned by Google, and much of its routing data likely flows into Google Maps.

Users can manually enter the address destinations into the Waze app and contribute data from the road directly into the Waze app. This helps you get all the details about speed traps, traffic jams, accidents, road closures, alternate routes, and so on that could slow down your field reps or drivers.

In fact, even Google Maps will soon roll out the speed trap and accident reporting feature as part of its get directions for driving toolkit, according to 9to5Google

Custom Image - How to Add Multiple Stops on Waze

How Does Waze Get Directions for Driving?

The Waze app constantly collects information and quickly adapts its driving and routing algorithms (e.g., Dijkstra algorithm, contraction hierarchies) to suggest that routes presented have the shortest driving time. Waze supports upcoming turn notifications; if traffic is reported on forthcoming parts of the route, it will automatically reroute you to avoid that traffic.

Just like Alexa and Siri, Waze comes with voice activation support called “Talk to Waze,” where you can ask Waze for the latest update on a traffic jam on your route or for an estimated arrival time. You can even use the feature to change destinations, triggering an automatic re-computation of the directions for driving (or walking or biking).

However, just like Google Maps and the driver directions Google offers, Waze is not a multi-destination, multi-driver tool for businesses that need drivers to visit multiple locations.

Although this sounds like a broken record, it’s ineffective for businesses because Waze doesn’t (a) resequence multi-destination routes and (b) distribute and assign a day’s worth of orders to drivers. That does not mean you cannot use Waze to get driving directions from one place to another; instead, you can plan the best route with a route planner and then navigate that route using Waze.

Not every delivery route planning software integrates with the Waze app like Route4Me. The Route4Me route planner app integrates with Waze for voice-guided turn-by-turn directions.

It also provides written driving directions within the app. So, you can open Waze from within the Route4Me app easily. You can even set Waze as the default navigation app within Route4Me to avoid manually choosing a preferred voice navigation system every time.

Setting up Google maps as default app within Route4Me app

What about Apple Maps?

Who’s better: Apple Maps vs. Google Maps?

It’s an ongoing debate because both companies have likely poured billions of dollars into developing their mapping systems. We think it comes down to taste and your device to run your mobile route planning and navigation app.

Apple Maps route planner for deliveries

Use a real Business Route Planner that Supports Dispatching too

If you want accurate driving directions from one place to another for multi-stop routes for multiple drivers, then look no further than a route planner app.

Such delivery route optimization software can help you plan the fastest route with turn-by-turn directions while factoring in all the constraints, such as weather, traffic, one-ways, avoidance zones, and sunrise/sunset, that can affect your drivers’ routes.

Using the best delivery route planner software, your drivers will reach their destinations on time. Moreover, most routes are planned in just 30 seconds. Imagine how much time you will save, which you can then turn around and invest into growing your business.

But don’t just settle for a free route planner or a basic one like RouteXL, MyRouteOnline, or MapQuest route planner, or non-customer friendly solutions from Graphhopper or Mapbox.

The best free route planners with unlimited stops written on blue background

You should go for an easy-to-use and powerful multi-stop route optimization software that offers many powerful features for seamless field service management and route planning out of the box:

  • Vehicle GPS tracking to track the vehicle’s current location in real-time to ensure drivers follow the routes provided and offer roadside assistance immediately whenever needed.
  • eSignature to enable drivers to capture customer signatures on their mobile devices within the Route4Me app.
  • Reporting and analytics to track and analyze critical route details, including distance traveled, total stops made, fuel costs, etc.
  • Territory optimizer to segment your team into different regions so that each field rep can make a series of relatively close stops and visit more clients in less time.
  • Telematics gateway that provides you with the ability to integrate a GPS tracker with leading telematics vendors so that you can track your existing vehicles on a map in the route planner.
  • Dynamic stop insertion to find the best spot for a new stop on your route so you can get as much value out of your resources as possible.

There are primarily basic features offered by regular route planners. You should always check with a last-mile platform provider to understand each feature offered and how it can benefit your business.

You may want to check out this post on how to choose the best route planner.

Custom Image - 15 Best Route Planning Apps for Multiple Stops

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) about Driving Directions from One Place to Another

What is the best map for driving directions?

Google Maps stands out as the top choice for driving directions for up to 10 stops. Its comprehensive coverage, real-time traffic data, and user-friendly interface ensure reliable route guidance. However, to plan routes with unlimited stops, you need Route4Me.

What app gives driving directions?

Google Maps is a widely used app for driving directions. Simply input your start and end points, and it provides a route, estimated travel time, and voice-guided navigation. However, you need Route4Me’s delivery route planner for advanced features and to plan multiple-stop routes for multiple drivers.

Final Thoughts about Driving Directions from One Place to Another

To sum it up, for delivery drivers, route optimization is essential for efficiency and timely deliveries. Implementing the strategies and techniques detailed in this blog post can streamline navigation on your road trip, save time, maximize productivity, and save money by helping you cope with rising gas prices.

Also, choose a reliable navigation app or advanced route optimization solution like Route4Me that suits your needs, considering factors like real-time traffic data, offline capabilities, and customizable route preferences. And you’ll be well-equipped to navigate delivery routes with precision and confidence.

Route4Me

Want To See For Yourself How Route4Me Can Provide the Best Driving Directions from One Place to Another?

Whether you want to slash the time it takes you to plan routes for your drivers, increase the number of stops they can make, reduce fuel costs, or keep your customers satisfied knowing that your drivers show up on time… Route4Me helps you achieve that!

START FREE 14 DAY TRIAL

About author: Rahul Dasgupta

Rahul Dasgupta is a content writer with over 20 years of work experience. He holds a master’s degree in computer science and has written thousands of blog posts on route planning and scheduling, making it easy for readers to learn about these complex topics. Rahul enjoys playing tennis in his spare time and loves cuddling with his pet labrador Shinu. Rahul is a big fan of Roger Federer, Messi, and Bill Gates - he admires their drive to be the best at what they do and their philanthropic efforts.

Route4Me

About Route4Me

Route4Me has over 40,000 customers globally. Route4Me's Android and iPhone mobile apps have been downloaded over 2 million times since 2009. Extremely easy-to-use, Route4Me's apps create optimized routes, synchronize routes to mobile devices, enable communication with drivers and customers, offer turn-by-turn directions, delivery confirmation, and more. Behind the scenes, Route4Me's operational optimization platform combines high-performance algorithms with data science, machine learning, and big data to plan, optimize, and analyze routes of almost any size in real-time.