In delivery terms: If 40% of your lunch orders come from the same business park between 12:00–1:00 PM, you don’t send drivers from base at 11:55 AM. You pre-position them at the nearest coffee shop parking lot at 11:30 AM. Old-school dispatch (static routing) assumes demand is random. It’s not.
Pull last week’s dispatch log. Find one repeating location + time window. Test a single pre‑positioned driver there tomorrow. Measure the difference. hotspot despatch
It sounds like tech jargon, but it’s actually a simple, powerful shift in strategy. Instead of sending drivers from a central depot every time, you position them . What is Hotspot Dispatching? In plain English: Hotspot dispatching means identifying geographic areas with high order density (a "hotspot") and proactively routing idle drivers into those zones before demand spikes. In delivery terms: If 40% of your lunch
Stop managing where orders are . Start managing where orders will be . It’s not
Drivers refuse to move without a guaranteed order. Fix: Build a “reposition bonus” ($2–$3) or guarantee a minimum hourly during repositioning windows.
| Static Dispatch | Hotspot Dispatch | |----------------|------------------| | Driver starts at depot every time | Driver starts near predicted demand | | Responds to order after it’s placed | Anticipates order before it’s placed | | High deadhead miles | Low empty running time | | Driver waits at warehouse | Driver waits in hotspot zone |
Have you tried dynamic repositioning? Drop your biggest dispatch headache in the comments.