What happens when capacity is exceeded
When stops exceed your drivers' vehicle capacity in Upper, the optimizer can't fit everything and leaves the overflow as unscheduled stops for you to review.
Capacity-aware optimization in Upper keeps each driver's load within the limits you've set on their vehicle. When the stops you're routing add up to more than your drivers can carry, the optimizer can't fit everything onto routes — the stops it can't place are left as unscheduled stops for you to review and resolve.
Capacity-aware optimization is available on the Optimize and Enterprise plans.
This guide uses Upper's default delivery labels (driver, stop, vehicle). Your workspace may instead show Technician and Service labels — the wording is configurable, but the behavior is the same.
How capacity works in Upper
Upper measures capacity using dimensions you define yourself, rather than a fixed set of fields. You set up these dimensions once under Settings > Customization > Capacity Fields, where you can create up to five capacity dimensions — for example a "Bin count" — each with its own unit, an option to make it required, and an aggregation method (Total, Count, or Average).
Once your capacity dimensions exist, they appear in two places:
- On each stop — open a stop and use its Capacity tab to record how much that stop carries (for example, its bin count).
- On each vehicle or driver profile — the Vehicle Capacity section sets how much that vehicle can hold.
During optimization, Upper adds up the capacity required by the stops it assigns to a driver and keeps that total within the vehicle's limit.
What "capacity exceeded" means
If the total capacity your stops require is greater than what your available vehicles can hold, the optimizer cannot place every stop on a route. The stops it can't fit are left as unscheduled stops after optimization, and Upper surfaces guidance to help you resolve them.
In other words, exceeding capacity doesn't break your routes — it just means some stops won't be scheduled until you add capacity, add a driver, or remove stops.
Capacity is only enforced when it's filled in. If a stop's Capacity tab is left blank, or a vehicle's capacity is empty, the optimizer has nothing to measure against for that record. If routes seem to ignore capacity, check that both the stops and the vehicles have capacity values saved.
Resolve unscheduled stops
When optimization leaves stops unscheduled because of capacity, work through these options.
Confirm capacity is set correctly
Open a few of the unscheduled stops and check their Capacity tab values, then check the Vehicle Capacity on the driver or vehicle profiles you're routing to. A blank value on either side means capacity can't be measured for that record.
Add capacity or add a driver
If your stops genuinely need more room than your fleet can carry, increase the capacity on existing vehicle profiles or bring another driver into the route plan so there's more total capacity to fit the stops.
Remove or reschedule stops
If you can't add capacity, remove the overflow stops from this route plan and schedule them separately — for example on a later day or a dedicated route.
Re-optimize
After adjusting capacity, drivers, or stops, run Re-optimize Route so Upper recalculates with the new limits.
You can export your unscheduled stops to work on them outside Upper — they can be exported as a PDF or a CSV file.
Troubleshooting
Still stuck after checking your capacity values and plan? Reach out to support@upperinc.com with your route details.
Related
Balance workload across drivers
Distribute stops fairly across your drivers in Upper using one of five workload distribution modes — equal stops, equal time, max efficiency, or fewest drivers.
Create routes for multiple drivers
Add every stop to one route in Upper, select your drivers, and let multi-driver optimization split and sequence the stops across your fleet in a single pass.