How to plan a delivery route from a spreadsheet
Most small shops already have the day's deliveries in a spreadsheet or an order export. Here's how to turn that list into organized routes without retyping a single address.
- Free for up to 50 addresses
- No credit card
- No app to install
The short answer
Updated
The best way to plan a delivery route is to start from your order list: import it, group the stops by area, put each group in the shortest driving order, and send it to the driver's phone. Lite Route Planner does each step from one spreadsheet: it imports Excel or CSV, reorders up to 500 stops in one click, and opens every stop in Google Maps, Apple Maps or Waze. It's free for up to 50 addresses, and Business adds unlimited drivers from $59.99 a month.
Plan a delivery route from your spreadsheet
Six steps from an order export to a driver on the road.
- 1
Export today's orders
Pull the day's deliveries from your shop system or order sheet as Excel or CSV. The delivery address is all you need; the recipient, order number and notes are worth bringing along.
- 2
Import the file
Drop it into Lite. It finds the address columns, pins every delivery, and flags any address it couldn't place so you fix it at your desk, not at the curb.
- 3
Set where the van starts
Save your shop or kitchen as a base (Personal and Business plans) and start each route there. Choose whether it ends at the last drop or comes back for the next load.
- 4
Group the stops by area
Lasso the deliveries on one side of town into a route. With two drivers, draw a second loop around the other side. Each route should be an area one driver can cover in one run.
- 5
Optimize each route
Press Optimize and the stops reorder to cut the miles. Save, and you'll see drive time for every leg and the run's total, including the minutes you allow at each drop.
- 6
Send it and follow along
Assign the route to a driver on Business, or share a link or QR code on any plan. Drivers tap a stop to navigate and mark it Visited or Attempted, and assigned drivers' marks show in your planner within seconds.
What a delivery export looks like
A florist's Saturday orders. Only the address columns are required; the rest can come along as fields you filter by.
| A | B | C | D | E | F | G | |
| 1 | Order | Recipient | Address | City | Zip | Window | Items |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | #4821 | Dana Whitfield | 2214 Fairview Rd | Raleigh | 27608 | AM | Dozen roses |
| 3 | #4822 | Marcus Lee | 507 Wren Hollow Ct | Cary | 27511 | PM | Sympathy spray |
| 4 | #4823 | Priya Raman | 118 Ashby Glen Dr | Cary | 27513 | AM | Birthday bouquet |
| 5 | #4824 | Hollis & Grant LLP | 4400 Briarstone Pkwy Ste 210 | Raleigh | 27609 | AM | Lobby arrangement |
| 6 | #4825 | Evelyn Brooks | 36 Mill Pond Ln | Garner | 27529 | PM | Get-well plant |
Lite doesn't schedule around delivery windows, so a Window column like this one comes in as a text field. Filter to AM and build the morning run, then do the same for PM.
How delivery drivers plan their own routes
Experienced drivers follow a few habits whatever tool they use. Most of them carry straight over to planning on a screen.
Work in areas, not lists
Drivers split the day into neighborhoods first and only then worry about order. Grouping by area does more for the day than any swap of two stops.
Load the van in reverse
The last stop goes in first. When the order is settled before loading, the next package is always nearest the door.
Finish near where you need to be
If the van goes back to the shop, plan a round trip so the last drop is close to home, not across town.
Give timed deliveries their own run
Morning-only and after-five orders go on a separate route. Planners without time windows, Lite included, handle them best that way.
Allow for parking and stairs
Set a few minutes at each stop. An apartment drop takes longer than a porch, and the day's total should say so.
Write door details down once
Gate codes and leave-with-neighbor notes belong on the stop, not in someone's head. A stop's note shows on the driver's screen.
Organizing delivery routes for more than one driver
Decide who covers which area before you think about order. Two drivers working the same neighborhood waste more time than a slightly imperfect sequence could.
Lite doesn't divide stops between drivers for you. With all the pins on the map, the split is usually obvious: a highway, a river, a cluster out of town. Lasso one area into a route, then filter the map to stops that aren't on a route yet and lasso the next. Color the map by route to check that no two routes overlap, then optimize each one and compare their totals. The full method is in how to split stops into routes.
Delivery route planners for a small shop
What a free map app, a planner and a delivery dispatch tool each give you.
| Feature | Lite | Google Maps | Routific |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stops on one route | Up to 500 | 10 places | No published cap |
| Imports your order spreadsheet | Yes | No | Yes |
| Puts stops in the best order | Yes | No | Yes |
| Driver app with nothing to install | Yes | No | No |
| Proof of delivery | Visited or Attempted, with a note | No | Photos, signatures, barcodes |
| Delivery time windows | No | No | Yes |
| Price | Free for up to 50 addresses | Free | Free to 100 orders a month, then $150/mo |
Checked October 19, 2026. Routific's $150 a month covers 101 to 1,000 orders and adds a customer tracking link. If you need photo proof or time windows, it's the better fit. See Routific alternatives.