Routes (window)
Last updated: 9 October 2026
Order > Routes
In this article
In this window, you define the routes, which together with the terminals make up your route network. For example, if you have a Stockholm–Malmö route with terminals in Jönköping and Helsingborg, orders between Jönköping–Malmö and Helsingborg–Malmö can also be handled using auto dispatching for that route.
If you have many routes, it may be easier to export them to Excel, and work with them there instead of in Opter, and then import them back into Opter. For more information, see Exporting and importing routes to/from Excel.
General
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Function |
Description |
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Name |
The name of the route. Example:
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Line haul: The route runs between two or more Terminals. Distribution: The route has a pick-up area and/or a drop-off area. In between, there may be one or more terminals. Distribution routes can also allow direct transports between senders and receivers without stopping at intermediate Terminals. It is set on the device. |
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Date |
The route’s start date. |
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Points for money sharing |
The score is a measure of how ‘expensive’ the route is and is used to allocate revenue across the shipments in an order. For more information, see Split the revenue between the shipments on an order. |
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Maximum number of stops on same day |
The maximum number of shipments that can be placed on the route in a single day. This is to ensure that a route does not become congested if, for example, many shipments are scanned at a Terminal at the same time and are to be dispatched the next day. If the maximum quantity is reached, the route can no longer be selected on the customer web or Track & Trace when creating an order, and order reception will display a warning message the order is saved. Instead, the shipments are matched with the next departure on the route, or other routes. Routes set via EDI do not take into account the maximum number of shipments allowed. |
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Region |
The region is automatically selected for the shipment when the route is chosen. This means that you can filter by region in dispatch and specify the account and economic unit for the shipment’s revenue and costs based on the region. |
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Description |
Free text field for internal notes. The description is not displayed anywhere else but here. |
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Sorting Code |
Used for machine sorting of packages at terminals. |
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Only allow assigned resource to departure scan shipments |
See also Prevent shipments from being taken over by scanning in Opter Driver. |
With ‘plus days’, you can arrange for delivery to take place one or more days after the date of dispatch from the terminal.
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Pickup Delivery Direct transport Line haul |
Assigns a resource (driver/vehicle/subcontractor) to the shipments that match the route. Together with the status setting (see below), you can automatically allocate shipments that match the route. |
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Exceptions |
When an order is matched with a route, and new shipments are created, the status of the new shipments is set in accordance with these settings. [Default]: The first status in the life cycle of the service specified in the shipment (usually Created). This function is linked to the automatic allocation of a resource to shipments (see above). In that case, you can also set the status to Assigned as soon as the order is matched with a route. Another example is if you have a number of distribution routes that deliver goods to a terminal, but you do not use auto dispatching to allocate the goods to the routes until all the goods have arrived at the terminal. In that case, you can set the status of the collections to Delivered, as those shipments have already been completed. You can make exceptions to the settings depending on which terminal is the first one on the order. For example, if you have a terminal where senders can drop off goods, you can set the status of those shipments to Delivered (in column Line haul), to match the shipments that have arrived at the terminal via a distribution route. |
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Schedule |
Here you can set the days on which the route departs. For more information, see Schedule, routes (window). |
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Scheduled route |
Info text only. All routes are always scheduled. |
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Connections to route groups |
The route groups to which the route belongs. You can create route groups in Order > Route Groups. |
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Show inactive |
You can set which route groups are active and inactive in Order > Route Groups. |
: A driver cannot take over a shipment by scanning it in at the terminal.
: The person who scans the shipment out on the terminal takes it over from the person who was previously assigned to it.Line haul (scheduled routes only)
Here you enter the terminals on the route and the departure and arrival times. This creates a timetable with stops. The first terminal under From terminals and the last terminal under To terminals are the start and end points of the route. The intermediate terminals are stops where goods can be loaded and unloaded. Some freight can therefore use this route to be transported over part of the journey.
From terminals
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Function |
Description |
|---|---|
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Terminal |
The first terminal on the list is the starting point of the route. Also include all other terminals along the route where goods can be collected (usually all of them except the final terminal). This will give you a list of entry points that can be matched with orders. |
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Deadline |
The time and any ‘minus days’ by which the goods must have arrived at the terminal at the latest in order for the transhipment to be carried out in time. The deadline function allows you to ensure that there is always enough time to handle the goods at the terminal. If you enter “18:00” in column Time - Latest, and if the terminal needs 25 hours to reload, set “17:00 -1d” as the deadline. This means that the goods must have arrived at the terminal by 17:00 on the day before the next leg of the journey departs. If the goods arrive after the deadline, the shipment will be scheduled for the next departure. |
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Time - Earliest Time - Latest |
Time slot for departure from the terminal. You do not need to specify an earliest time. In practice, the ‘recently’ time refers to the departure time from the terminal. These times may be affected by the terminal’s opening hours (see Terminals (window)). Set the departure time so that any collection routes have time to reach the terminal before the departing regular bus leaves. |
To terminals
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Function |
Description |
|---|---|
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Terminal |
The last terminal on the list is the end point of the route. Also include all other terminals along the route where goods can be delivered (usually all of them apart from the first terminal). This will give you a list of end points that can be matched with orders. |
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Time - Earliest Time - Latest |
Time window within which the goods must arrive at the terminal. You do not need to specify an earliest time. These times may be affected by the terminal’s opening hours (see Terminals (window)). If the route involves several terminals, it is important that the latest arrival time at one terminal allows sufficient time before the departure time for the next leg of the journey. For example, if you have the Copenhagen–Stockholm route with a stop in Malmö, where the departure time from Malmö is 20:00 (under From terminals), you might want the latest arrival time in Malmö to be 19:00 (under To terminals). |
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Plus days |
By selecting ‘plus days’, you are indicating that the arrival time is one or more days after the departure date at the first terminal. That is, if the clock strikes 00:00 before arrival at the terminal. 0 = arrival on the same day as departure. |
Pickup (distribution routes only)
Here you enter a collection area and the terminal to which the goods are to be transported, along with the departure times. The collection routes can then be coordinated with connecting bus routes, depending on where the goods are to be taken.
From postcodes
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Function |
Description |
|---|---|
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Country Postcode City Street Street no. |
You can be as specific as you like when entering the area. It is enough to enter a country, but you can specify it right down to an exact address, including the house number. Opter selects distribution routes based on how specific the address details are. For more information, see How Opter prioritises routes.
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Monday–Sunday |
Tick the day or days on which the collection area is to be served. If the column is grey, this means that the route does not operate on that day of the week according to the timetable (which you can open from the tab General). It therefore does not matter whether the check box is selected or not if the column is grey. Examples and images can be found in Examples of routes. If you have many rows with different postcode areas, and you want to easily see which postcode areas are served on Wednesdays, for example, you can sort the column Wednesday by clicking on the column header. For more information, see Creating and setting up routes. |
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Time - Earliest Time - Latest |
Time slot for collection. You do not need to specify an earliest time. Adjust the time window to suit the size of the collection area. |
To terminals
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Function |
Description |
|---|---|
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Terminal |
The terminals at which the goods can be delivered following collection from the senders. From the terminal, there are other routes that the freight can be matched with, either scheduled routes or delivery routes. |
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Time - Earliest Time - Latest |
Time window within which the goods must arrive at the terminal. You do not need to specify an earliest time. These times may be affected by the terminal’s opening hours (see Terminals (window)). If the goods are to be transported via other routes from the terminal, it is important that the latest arrival time allows sufficient time before the departure time for the next leg of the journey. For example, if you have a collection route from Copenhagen city centre to the Copenhagen terminal, and the earliest scheduled service departs at 18:00 from the terminal, you might want the latest arrival time to be 17:00 so that there is time to reload the goods. |
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Plus days |
By selecting ‘plus days’, you are indicating that the arrival time at the terminal will be one or more days after the collection date. That is, if the clock strikes 00:00 before arrival at the terminal. 0 = arrival at the terminal on the same day as collection. |
Delivery (distribution routes only)
Here you enter a delivery area and the terminal from which the goods are collected and dispatched.
From terminals
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Function |
Description |
|---|---|
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Terminal |
The terminals from which the goods can be collected for delivery to the recipient. |
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Deadline |
The time and any ‘minus days’ by which the goods must have arrived at the terminal at the latest in order to be delivered to the recipients according to the timetable. The deadline function allows you to ensure that there is always enough time to handle the goods at the terminal. Examples can be found in Creating and setting up routes. If you enter ‘16:00’ in column Time - Latest, and if the terminal needs 25 hours to reload, set ‘15:00 -1d’ as the deadline. This means that the goods must have arrived at the terminal by 15:00 on the day before delivery to the recipient. If the goods arrive after the deadline, the shipment will be scheduled for the next departure. |
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Time - Earliest Time - Latest |
Time slots for when the goods are dispatched from the terminal to the recipients. |
To postcodes
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Function |
Description |
|---|---|
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Country Postcode City Street Street no. |
You can be as specific as you like when entering the area. It is enough to enter a country, but you can specify it right down to an exact address, including the house number. Opter selects distribution routes based on how specific the address details are. For more information, see How Opter prioritises routes.
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Monday–Sunday |
Tick the day or days on which the delivery area is to be served. If the column for a day is grey, it means that the route is not operating on that day of the week according to the timetable (which you can open from the General tab). It therefore does not matter whether the check box is selected or not if the column is grey. Examples can be found in Examples of routes. If you have many rows with different postcode areas, and you want to easily see which postcode areas are served on Wednesdays, for example, you can sort the column Wednesday by clicking on the column header. For more information, see Creating and setting up routes. |
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Time - Earliest Time - Latest |
Delivery time window. You do not need to specify an earliest time. Adjust the time window according to the size of the delivery area. |
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By using ‘plus days’, you are indicating that the delivery time is one or more days after the dispatch date. That is to say, if the clock strikes 00:00 before the goods are delivered to the recipient. 0 = delivery to the recipient on the same day as dispatch from the terminal. |
Options
Here, you can narrow down the selection of routes that can be matched to an order by ticking Only combine with selected options and adding the options under Included. For more information, see Auto dispatch.
Account coding
In Opter, the VAT rate on the order determines the income and cost account to which a certain amount is booked. On this tab you can make exceptions to the regular account coding. The tabs you make changes to are marked with 
.
Click on 
to display the VAT rates held in the system. Then select the account to which amounts with the different VAT rates should be posted. More information on the individual drop-down lists can be found at The Account coding tab. The settings in this tab apply if you reach item 4 in the list in How Opter selects accounts for income and expenses. If [Default] is selected for any of the options here, the account coding is taken from the VAT rate.
For more information on how Opter selects the VAT rate on orders (column Sales) and supplier bills (column Cost), see How Opter chooses the VAT rate for customer invoices and How Opter chooses the VAT rate on credits.
