Retail last-mile

A retail last-mile network blends an in-house fleet with subcontracted vans, delivers to stores before opening hours as well as to end customers, and routes some access-restricted deliveries (lockers, secure sites) only through drivers who hold the right key.

What makes this vertical distinctive

Key-holder-only access windows — a locker or secure site opens early only to drivers who hold the key, with a narrower standard window for everyone else.
Blended subcontractor/in-house costs — subcontractors are paid a flat fee covering their first few drops plus a rate per extra stop delivered, in-house drivers a straight per-kilometre rate — one cost model, two structures.
Pre-opening store drops — store deliveries land in an early window before the shop opens, for chains that need it.
Trusted-keychain deliveries — a set of key-gated stops is kept to a single driver for the day.

Combined example

{
  "tz": "Europe/Paris",
  "resources": [
    {
      "id": "driver-key-holder",
      "vehicleProfile": { "type": "car" },
      "capacities": { "stopsDelivered": 12 },
      "tags": ["driver", "key-holder"],
      "cost": { "km": { "costCoeff": 1.2 } }
    },
    {
      "id": "van-subcontractor-a",
      "vehicleProfile": { "type": "car" },
      "capacities": { "stopsDelivered": 12 },
      "tags": ["driver"],
      "maxDistanceInKm": 25,
      "priority": -1,
      "cost": { "costsByCapacity": { "stopsDelivered": { "constantCost": 80, "costFloor": 3, "costCoeff": 15 } } }
    }
  ],
  "orders": [
    {
      "id": "order-locker-site",
      "stops": [
        {
          "type": "single",
          "id": "stop-locker-site",
          "position": { "lon": 2.318, "lat": 48.861 },
          "kind": "delivery",
          "operationDuration": "PT5M",
          "capacities": { "stopsDelivered": 1 },
          "authorizedTimeWindows": [
            { "begin": "2026-08-03 06:00", "end": "2026-08-03 20:00", "resourceTags": ["key-holder"] },
            { "begin": "2026-08-03 09:00", "end": "2026-08-03 17:00" }
          ]
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "id": "order-store-1",
      "stops": [
        {
          "type": "single",
          "id": "stop-store-1",
          "position": { "lon": 2.335, "lat": 48.897 },
          "kind": "delivery",
          "operationDuration": "PT15M",
          "capacities": { "stopsDelivered": 1 },
          "authorizedTimeWindows": [{ "begin": "2026-08-03 05:00", "end": "2026-08-03 06:45" }]
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "id": "order-keychain-0",
      "stops": [
        {
          "type": "single",
          "id": "stop-keychain-0",
          "position": { "lon": 2.345, "lat": 48.885 },
          "kind": "delivery",
          "operationDuration": "PT5M",
          "capacities": { "stopsDelivered": 1 },
          "tags": ["keychain:trusted-set-1"],
          "authorizedTimeWindows": [{ "begin": "2026-08-03 06:30", "end": "2026-08-03 08:00" }]
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "globalConstraints": [
    {
      "type": "maxCumulatedCost",
      "maximum": 1,
      "costsByResourceTag": {
        "driver": { "costsByStopTag": { "keychain:trusted-set-1": { "costFloor": 0, "costCoeff": 1, "overcostFloor": 1, "overcostCoeff": 0 } } }
      },
      "name": "one-driver-per-key-set"
    }
  ]
}

Early access for key holders

order-locker-site carries two authorizedTimeWindows: an early one (06:00-20:00) tagged resourceTags: ["key-holder"], and a narrower standard one (09:00-17:00) with no tag. Only driver-key-holder can use the early window; every other resource is restricted to the untagged one. See Restricting a window to specific resources.

Blended subcontractor/in-house costs

driver-key-holder.cost.km.costCoeff: 1.2 charges a straight per-kilometre rate. van-subcontractor-a.cost is instead priced per stop delivered, through costsByCapacity on a stopsDelivered capacity that every stop increments by 1: a flat constantCost: 80 that covers the first 3 stops (costFloor: 3), then costCoeff: 15 for each stop delivered beyond that. The two resources are priced on different structures, but both roll up into the same minimizeCosts objective for a single, comparable plan. See The cost object and Piecewise-linear cost functions.

Pre-opening store drops

order-store-1.authorizedTimeWindows is a single hard window (05:00-06:45), ahead of the store’s opening hours at 07:00 — an ordinary authorizedTimeWindows use, no different in kind from Multiple time windows per stop, just with one window instead of several. In the full payload below, van-subcontractor-a starts its day at 04:30, because a vehicle whose day starts when the window closes can only deliver at the last minute. The window ends at 06:45, not at the 07:00 opening, because a time window limits when the vehicle arrives, not when the unloading ends: its end is the opening time minus the 15-minute unloading.

Trusted-keychain deliveries

order-keychain-0 carries the tag keychain:trusted-set-1. A globalConstraints entry of type maxCumulatedCost gives every driver-tagged resource a cost on the stops of that set: costCoeff: 1 counts each keychain stop the resource visits, and overcostFloor: 1 with overcostCoeff: 0 stops the count after the first one. Each driver therefore costs 1 as soon as it takes a keychain stop, and maximum: 1 across the whole fleet leaves room for a single driver on the set. The constraint only counts resources that carry the tag it targets, and a wildcard isn’t accepted, so the subcontractor vans carry driver too: without it, they could take keychain stops freely. If no single driver can reach every stop of the set in time, the extra stops stay unplanned, in unaffectedStopIds, rather than going to a second driver (see Handling infeasibility). See Constraints catalog.

Full payload

Full payload — ready to submit as POST /plans

The preceding example isolates the four mechanisms this vertical needs; this expands it to the scale of a real working day — a full fleet schedule (workingTimeWindow, departure, arrival), the complete objectives list, and enough orders to look like an actual route rather than a minimal illustration. Submit it as-is via POST /plans — the service assigns the plan’s id, so don’t include one of your own. Its datetimes are local times, read in the plan’s tz (Europe/Paris); see Dates and time zones.

{
  "tz": "Europe/Paris",
  "resources": [
    {
      "id": "driver-key-holder",
      "vehicleProfile": { "type": "car" },
      "workingTimeWindow": { "begin": "2026-08-03 07:00", "end": "2026-08-03 17:00" },
      "departure": { "lon": 2.33, "lat": 48.875 },
      "arrival": { "lon": 2.33, "lat": 48.875 },
      "capacities": { "stopsDelivered": 12 },
      "tags": ["driver", "key-holder", "sector:north"],
      "cost": { "km": { "costCoeff": 1.2 } }
    },
    {
      "id": "driver-standard",
      "vehicleProfile": { "type": "car" },
      "workingTimeWindow": { "begin": "2026-08-03 07:00", "end": "2026-08-03 17:00" },
      "departure": { "lon": 2.33, "lat": 48.875 },
      "arrival": { "lon": 2.33, "lat": 48.875 },
      "capacities": { "stopsDelivered": 12 },
      "tags": ["driver", "unfamiliar:sector-north"],
      "cost": { "km": { "costCoeff": 1.2 } }
    },
    {
      "id": "van-subcontractor-a",
      "vehicleProfile": { "type": "car" },
      "workingTimeWindow": { "begin": "2026-08-03 04:30", "end": "2026-08-03 14:30" },
      "departure": { "lon": 2.335, "lat": 48.897 },
      "arrival": { "lon": 2.335, "lat": 48.897 },
      "capacities": { "stopsDelivered": 12 },
      "tags": ["driver"],
      "maxDistanceInKm": 25,
      "priority": -1,
      "cost": { "costsByCapacity": { "stopsDelivered": { "constantCost": 80, "costFloor": 3, "costCoeff": 15 } } }
    },
    {
      "id": "van-subcontractor-b",
      "vehicleProfile": { "type": "car" },
      "workingTimeWindow": { "begin": "2026-08-03 07:00", "end": "2026-08-03 17:00" },
      "departure": { "lon": 2.322, "lat": 48.849 },
      "arrival": { "lon": 2.322, "lat": 48.849 },
      "capacities": { "stopsDelivered": 12 },
      "tags": ["driver"],
      "maxDistanceInKm": 25,
      "priority": -2,
      "cost": { "costsByCapacity": { "stopsDelivered": { "constantCost": 80, "costFloor": 3, "costCoeff": 15 } } }
    }
  ],
  "orders": [
    {
      "id": "order-keychain-0",
      "stops": [
        {
          "type": "single",
          "id": "stop-keychain-0",
          "position": { "lon": 2.345, "lat": 48.885 },
          "kind": "delivery",
          "operationDuration": "PT5M",
          "capacities": { "stopsDelivered": 1 },
          "tags": ["keychain:trusted-set-1"],
          "authorizedTimeWindows": [{ "begin": "2026-08-03 06:30", "end": "2026-08-03 08:00" }]
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "id": "order-keychain-1",
      "stops": [
        {
          "type": "single",
          "id": "stop-keychain-1",
          "position": { "lon": 2.31, "lat": 48.883 },
          "kind": "delivery",
          "operationDuration": "PT5M",
          "capacities": { "stopsDelivered": 1 },
          "tags": ["keychain:trusted-set-1"],
          "authorizedTimeWindows": [{ "begin": "2026-08-03 06:30", "end": "2026-08-03 08:00" }]
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "id": "order-keychain-2",
      "stops": [
        {
          "type": "single",
          "id": "stop-keychain-2",
          "position": { "lon": 2.34, "lat": 48.857 },
          "kind": "delivery",
          "operationDuration": "PT5M",
          "capacities": { "stopsDelivered": 1 },
          "tags": ["keychain:trusted-set-1"],
          "authorizedTimeWindows": [{ "begin": "2026-08-03 06:30", "end": "2026-08-03 08:00" }]
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "id": "order-locker-site",
      "stops": [
        {
          "type": "single",
          "id": "stop-locker-site",
          "position": { "lon": 2.318, "lat": 48.861 },
          "kind": "delivery",
          "operationDuration": "PT5M",
          "capacities": { "stopsDelivered": 1 },
          "authorizedTimeWindows": [
            { "begin": "2026-08-03 06:00", "end": "2026-08-03 20:00", "resourceTags": ["key-holder"] },
            { "begin": "2026-08-03 09:00", "end": "2026-08-03 17:00" }
          ]
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "id": "order-job-0",
      "stops": [{ "type": "single", "id": "stop-job-0", "position": { "lon": 2.355, "lat": 48.87 }, "kind": "delivery", "operationDuration": "PT10M", "capacities": { "stopsDelivered": 1 }, "tags": ["sector:north"] }]
    },
    {
      "id": "order-job-1",
      "stops": [{ "type": "single", "id": "stop-job-1", "position": { "lon": 2.3, "lat": 48.89 }, "kind": "delivery", "operationDuration": "PT10M", "capacities": { "stopsDelivered": 1 }, "tags": ["sector:north"] }]
    },
    {
      "id": "order-store-1",
      "stops": [
        { "type": "single", "id": "stop-store-1", "position": { "lon": 2.335, "lat": 48.897 }, "kind": "delivery", "operationDuration": "PT15M", "capacities": { "stopsDelivered": 1 }, "authorizedTimeWindows": [{ "begin": "2026-08-03 05:00", "end": "2026-08-03 06:45" }] }
      ]
    },
    {
      "id": "order-store-2",
      "stops": [
        { "type": "single", "id": "stop-store-2", "position": { "lon": 2.322, "lat": 48.849 }, "kind": "delivery", "operationDuration": "PT15M", "capacities": { "stopsDelivered": 1 }, "authorizedTimeWindows": [{ "begin": "2026-08-03 06:00", "end": "2026-08-03 08:00" }] }
      ]
    },
    {
      "id": "order-overflow-0",
      "stops": [{ "type": "single", "id": "stop-overflow-0", "position": { "lon": 2.345, "lat": 48.885 }, "kind": "delivery", "operationDuration": "PT1H", "capacities": { "stopsDelivered": 1 } }]
    },
    {
      "id": "order-overflow-1",
      "stops": [{ "type": "single", "id": "stop-overflow-1", "position": { "lon": 2.31, "lat": 48.883 }, "kind": "delivery", "operationDuration": "PT1H", "capacities": { "stopsDelivered": 1 } }]
    },
    {
      "id": "order-overflow-2",
      "stops": [{ "type": "single", "id": "stop-overflow-2", "position": { "lon": 2.34, "lat": 48.857 }, "kind": "delivery", "operationDuration": "PT1H", "capacities": { "stopsDelivered": 1 } }]
    },
    {
      "id": "order-overflow-3",
      "stops": [{ "type": "single", "id": "stop-overflow-3", "position": { "lon": 2.318, "lat": 48.861 }, "kind": "delivery", "operationDuration": "PT1H", "capacities": { "stopsDelivered": 1 } }]
    }
  ],
  "objectives": ["maximizeMandatoryStops", "minimizeResources", "minimizeLargestTourDuration", "minimizeCosts", "minimizeDistance", "minimizeWorkingDuration"],
  "globalConstraints": [
    {
      "type": "maxCumulatedCost",
      "maximum": 1,
      "costsByResourceTag": { "driver": { "costsByStopTag": { "keychain:trusted-set-1": { "costFloor": 0, "costCoeff": 1, "overcostFloor": 1, "overcostCoeff": 0 } } } },
      "name": "one-driver-per-key-set"
    }
  ],
  "additionalOperationDurations": [
    { "resourceTag": "unfamiliar:sector-north", "stopTag": "sector:north", "additionalOperationDuration": "PT6M" }
  ]
}

By industry

What makes this vertical distinctive

Combined example

Early access for key holders

Blended subcontractor/in-house costs

Pre-opening store drops

Trusted-keychain deliveries

Full payload

See also

​What makes this vertical distinctive

​Combined example

​Early access for key holders

​Blended subcontractor/in-house costs

​Pre-opening store drops

​Trusted-keychain deliveries

​Full payload

​See also

What makes this vertical distinctive

Combined example

Early access for key holders

Blended subcontractor/in-house costs

Pre-opening store drops

Trusted-keychain deliveries

Full payload

See also