Garbage Truck Route Optimization: Cut Time, Trucks & Fuel
Garbage truck route optimizationcomes down to one thing: laying out the route to waste the least time — the fewest dead miles, left turns, and backups. A few seconds saved on every stop adds up to fewer trucks and fewer crews over a year. Here are the proven waste collection route planning rules, plus the classic free manual that started it all.
Summary — the short version
- • Goal: waste the least time on the route — cut dead miles, left turns, U-turns, backing, and rush-hour delays.
- • Biggest levers: loop clockwise to kill left turns, never re-drive a collected street, and start near the yard.
- • You don’t need software — one person can route by hand on a map using these rules.
- • The payoff: the EPA’s example cut a crew from 6 to 2 and labor cost ~28%.
- • Go deeper: the free EPA manual below covers the full step-by-step method.
The payoff
When the EPA reworked the routes in Huntington Woods, MI, the crew went from six men to two and labor cost dropped about 28%— and the rerouting took under three man-days. Routing is the cheapest efficiency lever you have.
The rules that save you money
- Keep each route compact — no fragmented or overlapping coverage.
- Balance workloads so every route is a fair day’s work.
- Start the route as close to the yard/garage as possible.
- Don’t collect heavily-traveled streets during rush hour.
- Minimize left turns — loop clockwise. Right turns are faster and safer.
- Kill dead miles — never re-drive a street you’ve already collected.
- Service dead-end streets as you pass the intersecting segment.
- On hills, collect both sides going downhill (safer, easier on the truck).
- Start at the higher elevations and work down.
- Use repeating block patterns (4-block, 3-block) to plan the path.
The free EPA routing manual
Heuristic Routing for Solid Waste Collection Vehicles(EPA SW-113) is the classic, plain-English manual on laying out collection routes by hand. It walks through the rules above, the block patterns, the step-by-step procedure, and a full real-world example. It’s a U.S. government publication — free to use.
Download the routing manual (PDF)Routing — common questions
What is garbage truck route optimization (micro-routing)?+
Micro-routing is laying out the exact path a collection truck drives so it wastes the least time — minimizing dead miles, backing, U-turns, left turns, and rush-hour delays. Small savings on every stop add up to fewer trucks and crews.
Why do left turns matter on a collection route?+
Left turns are slower and more dangerous than right turns, especially for a heavy right-hand-drive truck. Laying the route out as a series of clockwise loops minimizes left turns and speeds up the run.
Do you need software to route a garbage truck?+
No. The EPA’s heuristic ("common-sense") method lets one person lay out efficient routes on a map using simple rules — no computer model required. Software helps at scale, but the rules below get most of the savings.
How much can better routing actually save?+
In the EPA’s Huntington Woods, MI example, rerouting cut the crew from six men to two and reduced labor cost about 28%. The rerouting itself took under three man-days.
How long is a garbage truck route?+
Routes are usually sized to a fair day’s work — a set number of stops the crew can finish in the shift. The EPA balanced routes to about 500 residential services per day. Waste collection route planning means balancing every route to a similar workload, not a fixed length.
How do you optimize a garbage collection route by hand?+
Mark every street segment with its services on a map, then link them into one continuous path that loops clockwise, avoids re-driving streets, and starts near the yard. That’s the EPA heuristic method — solid waste collection route optimization without any software.
Tighter routes need fewer, better drivers
Once your routes are dialed in, the next lever is your crew. Browse CDL driver and hauling jobs, or see what a hire really costs you.
Source: K. A. Shuster & D. A. Schur, Heuristic Routing for Solid Waste Collection Vehicles, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, SW-113 (1974). A U.S. government work, in the public domain.