A mobile grooming van spends real money and real time driving between stops. A bad route burns both, so the van fits fewer dogs and the groomer’s day runs long. Optimizing the route is how you turn a confirmed schedule into an efficient one.

MoeGo’s Smart Scheduler is a starting point, not the final answer. It proposes an order, but it doesn’t always get drive times or geography right — so you run it, then go through the schedule yourself and move things around by hand where needed: to get clients in sooner and to fix long or illogical drives. Never accept the Smart Scheduler’s output blindly.

## When to optimize

* Every day, once each of the next two days’ schedules is locked (all confirmed, gaps filled).

* Again any time you add, move, or cancel an appointment that changes the stops.

* Any time a client’s address changes.

## How to optimize (click-path)

| **Step** | **What to do**                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   |
| -------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| 1        | Calendar → select the van and the day you’re optimizing.                                                                                                                                                                                         |
| 2        | Open Smart Scheduling / Route Optimization for that van’s day.                                                                                                                                                                                   |
| 3        | Look at the map view to determine if appointments should be in a different order.                                                                                                                                                                |
| 4        | Go through the proposed schedule yourself. Read it stop by stop and picture the actual drive: does it flow geographically, or does it bounce around?                                                                                             |
| 5        | Move appointments by hand where it helps — pull a client into a sooner opening, and reorder stops to cut long or backtracking drives. Respect each client’s agreed time window when you move them. ALWAYS ask clients before making the change.  |
| 6        | Check the legs: aim for under ~20 minutes between consecutive stops. If a leg runs long, reorder or fill to tighten it.                                                                                                                          |
| 7        | Apply the final order.                                                                                                                                                                                                                           |
| 8        | Confirm the groomer can see the updated route and times.                                                                                                                                                                                         |

> **NEVER RELY ON SMART SCHEDULER COMPLETELY:** The Smart Scheduler gives you a draft, not a finished route. Always go through the schedule manually and move things around as needed — to get clients in sooner and to fix long drive times. A route you reviewed and adjusted by hand beats whatever the optimizer spits out untouched.

> **NO GEOGRAPHIC PING-PONGING:** A groomer should never be in one area in the morning, drive to another area, and then drive back to that first area later in the day. Cluster each area together so the van moves through the map once, not back and forth. If the Smart Scheduler produces a bounce like that, fix it by hand.

> **OPTIMIZE ≠ IGNORE TIME WINDOWS:** The shortest route is useless if it moves a client outside the time they agreed to. Optimize within the windows clients confirmed. If you move someone, you must re-confirm that client at the new time.

> **THE 20-MINUTE TARGET:** Aim to keep each leg under 20 minutes. It’s a target, not a hard rule — override it for a rescheduled client you’re fitting in, a recurring standing slot, or a high-value client (see Section 2). Long legs you accept on purpose are fine; long legs you didn’t notice are not.

## What “good” looks like

* You reviewed the Smart Scheduler’s output and adjusted it by hand — it was a draft, not the final route.

* Stops flow geographically with minimal backtracking — each area is clustered, no leaving and returning to the same area later in the day.

* Legs between stops are under ~20 minutes wherever possible, with any exceptions made deliberately.

* Clients are in as early as the route reasonably allows — you pulled people sooner where you could.

* Every client is still within their agreed time window.

* Drive gaps are small enough that the van could take an additional dog if one came off the waitlist — provided the groomer is still within capacity.

* The groomer has the final order and times before the day starts.