Create a new route plan
Create a route in Upper Route Planner: add stops, assign drivers, and optimize the sequence — all from one route builder screen, ready to dispatch.
Upper Route Planner builds routes in the route builder, called Create Route Plan. You add stops, assign drivers, optimize the sequence, and share the route to your drivers — all from one screen. This page walks you through the core path from start to dispatch.
Once you know this flow, everything else in route planning is a variation on it: multi-driver routes, scheduled dispatch, and recurring routes all start the same way.
This guide uses Upper's default driver/delivery labels (for example Assign Drivers and Share to Drivers). Your workspace may instead show Technician and Service labels — the wording is configurable, but the steps are the same.
Before you start
- You'll find route planning in the left sidebar under the Plan group. The landing page is titled My Route Plan.
- Have your stop data ready — addresses to type in, a spreadsheet to import (
.csv,.xls, or.xlsx), or contacts to pull from. - Have at least one driver available to assign, so you can dispatch once the route is built.
Create a route
Open the route builder
On the My Route Plan page, click + Create Route (top-right). The route builder opens with a new, auto-numbered route (for example, Route Plan - 502). You can rename it using the pencil edit icon, and set the Start date with the date picker.
Add your stops
On the Add Stops tab, add stops using whichever method fits your data:
- + Add Stop Manually — type an address one at a time.
- Import with Preview — upload a spreadsheet and validate the data before importing (recommended).
- Import File — drag and drop a
.csvor Excel file.
A Download the Sample link gives you a sample file with the supported columns. You can mix methods on the same route — see the related links below for the full detail on each.
Assign drivers
Open the Assign Drivers tab, then click + Add More Drivers and select one or more drivers for the route. Each driver row shows the vehicle type and shift start/end times.
Optimize the route
Use the floating buttons at the bottom-right of the map:
- Optimize Route sequences the stops — use this for multi-driver routes and whenever you want Upper to order the stops for you.
- Quick Share sends a single-driver route in the order you entered it, without optimizing.
To set optimization preferences such as Optimize For: Time or Distance before you run it, open Advanced Settings (top-right of the builder).
Review the optimized route
After optimizing, the route shows the result. Switch between the Timeline view (a per-driver schedule of stop nodes along a time axis) and the Routes view (a stop list with per-stop ETAs). The first row is the start/depot location.
Share the route to your drivers
When the route is ready, click Share to Drivers (in the optimized view) to push it to your drivers' mobile app. Drivers need the Upper Route Planner driver app (iOS or Android) to receive it. Use Share URL if you want to send a view-only link instead.
You can mix and match stop-add methods on a single route. Import the bulk of your stops from a spreadsheet, then type in a couple of last-minute additions before you optimize.
What the route builder gives you
The route builder surfaces everything you need for one route in two tabs and a map.
| Element | What it does |
|---|---|
| Add Stops tab | Add and review your stops; shows a live count (for example, Add Stops (23)) |
| Assign Drivers tab | Select one or more drivers and see their vehicle type and shift times |
| Advanced Settings | Set optimization options such as Time vs. Distance, units, and workload distribution |
| Map / Satellite toggle | Switch the map view |
| Quick Share | Send a single-driver route in your entered order, without optimizing |
| Optimize Route | Sequence the stops and plan across multiple drivers |
ETAs in the optimized views are calculated using historical traffic data for the route's time of day.
Route statuses
As a route moves from planning to completion, its status changes through five stages:
Draft → Ready for Dispatch → Dispatched → In Transit → Completed.
These appear as badges in the My Route Plan list and as pills on the route summary view. See Route statuses explained for what each one means.
Troubleshooting
If a route still won't build or dispatch as expected, contact support@upperinc.com.
Related
Copy stops from an existing route
Use Duplicate Route in Upper to copy stops from an existing route into a new, independent route — so you never re-enter the same addresses and details twice.
Create recurring routes
Repeat the same run each week in Upper by duplicating a route to a new date, or auto-generate routes on a schedule with a recurring template on Optimize and Enterprise.