{"id":696,"date":"2026-08-21T17:40:42","date_gmt":"2026-08-21T15:40:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/milta.pro\/2026\/08\/21\/the-hidden-cost-of-a-route-planned-in-excel\/"},"modified":"2026-09-12T17:39:22","modified_gmt":"2026-09-12T15:39:22","slug":"the-hidden-cost-of-a-route-planned-in-excel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/milta.pro\/en\/the-hidden-cost-of-a-route-planned-in-excel\/","title":{"rendered":"The Hidden Cost of a Route Planned in Excel"},"content":{"rendered":"

A spreadsheet filled in every morning. A printed route sheet. A driver you call mid-day just to check where things stand. At the time, this setup looks free: no subscription, no training, no change of habit. <\/p>\n

It isn’t. It’s a real cost \u2014 it simply never shows up as a line on an invoice.<\/p>\n<\/div>

The last mile, the most expensive step in the chain<\/h2><\/div>

According to La Poste<\/a>, the last mile can account for up to 50% of the total cost of a delivery<\/strong>. The ADEME<\/a>, France’s public agency for ecological transition, confirms this order of magnitude: urban logistics reportedly account for between 20 and 50% of total transport cost. It’s the most expensive step in the entire logistics chain \u2014 and, paradoxically, the one small operations most often handle manually, without a dedicated tool. <\/p>\n

This is no accident. The last mile is also the hardest step to plan: multiple stops, customer time windows to respect, daily surprises (an absent customer, a wrong address, a blocked road). A complexity that neither a spreadsheet nor a printed sheet was ever designed to handle.<\/p>\n<\/div>

What a hand-planned route actually loses<\/h2><\/div>

A study by the ADEME (e-LogUrba project) found that a route optimization algorithm can cut distance traveled by up to 13%<\/strong> and the number of vehicles a carrier needs by up to 16%<\/strong>. This is public data, with no commercial stake \u2014 unlike most figures on the subject, which are usually published by route-planning software vendors. <\/p>\n

These same vendors (Geotab in particular, a well-known player in telematics) claim even higher gains, on the order of 10 to 25%<\/strong> in distance saved \u2014 a figure to take with the caution warranted for parties selling the solution in question, but which points in the same direction as the ADEME’s independent measurement.<\/p>\n

What these figures mean, very concretely, for a route planned in Excel:<\/p>\n<\/div>

  • <\/i><\/span>
    Wasted miles<\/strong>, because the stop order was never recalculated, just carried over out of habit<\/div><\/li>
  • <\/i><\/span>
    Manager’s time<\/strong>, every evening, spent manually redoing the next day’s route<\/div><\/li>
  • <\/i><\/span>
    Repeated calls to the driver<\/strong> during the day, just to check on progress \u2014 time that shows up on no dashboard, but is very real<\/div><\/li>
  • <\/i><\/span>
    Last-minute errors<\/strong>, when an address has changed and no one updated the file before the driver left<\/div><\/li><\/ul>

    An invisible but real cost<\/h2><\/div>

    None of this shows up on a bank statement. There’s no line reading “Excel: -\u20ac400 this month.” That’s exactly what makes this cost so hard to notice \u2014 and so easy to underestimate. <\/p>\n

    Add up the time lost every evening, the fuel burned on unoptimized routes, and the stress from endless phone calls: the free spreadsheet ends up, in practice, being one of the most expensive options. Not because Excel is a bad tool \u2014 it isn’t. But because it was never designed to manage delivery routes in real time.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    A spreadsheet filled in every morning. A printed route sheet. A driver you call mid-day just to check where things stand. At the time, this setup looks free: no subscription, no training, no change of habit.
    It isn’t. It’s a real cost \u2014 it simply never shows up as a line on an invoice. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":697,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[38],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-696","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Hidden Cost of a Route Planned in Excel<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A route sheet, calls to the driver: this setup looks free. Yet it hides a real cost, invisible on your invoices.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/milta.pro\/en\/the-hidden-cost-of-a-route-planned-in-excel\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Hidden Cost of a Route Planned in Excel\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A route sheet, calls to the driver: this setup looks free. Yet it hides a real cost, invisible on your invoices.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/milta.pro\/en\/the-hidden-cost-of-a-route-planned-in-excel\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Milta\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-08-21T15:40:42+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-09-12T15:39:22+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/milta.pro\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/web-hero-art2-cout-cache-excel.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"900\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Mike Grenier\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Mike Grenier\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/milta.pro\\\/en\\\/the-hidden-cost-of-a-route-planned-in-excel\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/milta.pro\\\/en\\\/the-hidden-cost-of-a-route-planned-in-excel\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Mike Grenier\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/milta.pro\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/bc11bf5b6d8ba021dccb5a8670cc144e\"},\"headline\":\"The Hidden Cost of a Route Planned in Excel\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-08-21T15:40:42+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-09-12T15:39:22+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/milta.pro\\\/en\\\/the-hidden-cost-of-a-route-planned-in-excel\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":985,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/milta.pro\\\/en\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/milta.pro\\\/en\\\/the-hidden-cost-of-a-route-planned-in-excel\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/milta.pro\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/web-hero-art2-cout-cache-excel.jpg\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/milta.pro\\\/en\\\/the-hidden-cost-of-a-route-planned-in-excel\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/milta.pro\\\/en\\\/the-hidden-cost-of-a-route-planned-in-excel\\\/\",\"name\":\"The Hidden Cost of a Route Planned in Excel\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/milta.pro\\\/en\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/milta.pro\\\/en\\\/the-hidden-cost-of-a-route-planned-in-excel\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/milta.pro\\\/en\\\/the-hidden-cost-of-a-route-planned-in-excel\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/milta.pro\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/web-hero-art2-cout-cache-excel.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-08-21T15:40:42+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-09-12T15:39:22+00:00\",\"description\":\"A route sheet, calls to the driver: this setup looks free. Yet it hides a real cost, invisible on your invoices.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/milta.pro\\\/en\\\/the-hidden-cost-of-a-route-planned-in-excel\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/milta.pro\\\/en\\\/the-hidden-cost-of-a-route-planned-in-excel\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/milta.pro\\\/en\\\/the-hidden-cost-of-a-route-planned-in-excel\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/milta.pro\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/web-hero-art2-cout-cache-excel.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/milta.pro\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/web-hero-art2-cout-cache-excel.jpg\",\"width\":1600,\"height\":900,\"caption\":\"Delivery route organized on an Excel spreadsheet, with hidden costs in time and money\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/milta.pro\\\/en\\\/the-hidden-cost-of-a-route-planned-in-excel\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Accueil\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/milta.pro\\\/en\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"The Hidden Cost of a Route Planned in Excel\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/milta.pro\\\/en\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/milta.pro\\\/en\\\/\",\"name\":\"Milta\",\"description\":\"Votre assistant de transport Intelligent\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/milta.pro\\\/en\\\/#organization\"},\"alternateName\":\"Milta Solutions\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/milta.pro\\\/en\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/milta.pro\\\/en\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Milta\",\"alternateName\":\"Milta Solutions srl\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/milta.pro\\\/en\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/milta.pro\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/milta.pro\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/09\\\/Milta-Logo-Square-320.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/milta.pro\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/09\\\/Milta-Logo-Square-320.png\",\"width\":320,\"height\":320,\"caption\":\"Milta\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/milta.pro\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.linkedin.com\\\/company\\\/miltasolutions\\\/\"],\"address\":{\"@type\":\"PostalAddress\",\"streetAddress\":\"Rue d'Angoussart 173\",\"postalCode\":\"1301\",\"addressLocality\":\"Wavre\",\"addressCountry\":\"BE\"},\"vatID\":\"BE1034896661\",\"taxID\":\"BE1034896661\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/milta.pro\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/bc11bf5b6d8ba021dccb5a8670cc144e\",\"name\":\"Mike Grenier\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/e164e17234b9b1872d7d01f12296e1b9eaff55fdfcf569a90652a594b2df6178?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/e164e17234b9b1872d7d01f12296e1b9eaff55fdfcf569a90652a594b2df6178?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/e164e17234b9b1872d7d01f12296e1b9eaff55fdfcf569a90652a594b2df6178?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Mike Grenier\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/milta.pro\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/milta.pro\\\/en\\\/author\\\/mike\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The Hidden Cost of a Route Planned in Excel","description":"A route sheet, calls to the driver: this setup looks free. Yet it hides a real cost, invisible on your invoices.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/milta.pro\/en\/the-hidden-cost-of-a-route-planned-in-excel\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"The Hidden Cost of a Route Planned in Excel","og_description":"A route sheet, calls to the driver: this setup looks free. Yet it hides a real cost, invisible on your invoices.","og_url":"https:\/\/milta.pro\/en\/the-hidden-cost-of-a-route-planned-in-excel\/","og_site_name":"Milta","article_published_time":"2026-08-21T15:40:42+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-09-12T15:39:22+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1600,"height":900,"url":"https:\/\/milta.pro\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/web-hero-art2-cout-cache-excel.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Mike Grenier","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Mike Grenier","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/milta.pro\/en\/the-hidden-cost-of-a-route-planned-in-excel\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/milta.pro\/en\/the-hidden-cost-of-a-route-planned-in-excel\/"},"author":{"name":"Mike Grenier","@id":"https:\/\/milta.pro\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/bc11bf5b6d8ba021dccb5a8670cc144e"},"headline":"The Hidden Cost of a Route Planned in Excel","datePublished":"2026-08-21T15:40:42+00:00","dateModified":"2026-09-12T15:39:22+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/milta.pro\/en\/the-hidden-cost-of-a-route-planned-in-excel\/"},"wordCount":985,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/milta.pro\/en\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/milta.pro\/en\/the-hidden-cost-of-a-route-planned-in-excel\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/milta.pro\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/web-hero-art2-cout-cache-excel.jpg","inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/milta.pro\/en\/the-hidden-cost-of-a-route-planned-in-excel\/","url":"https:\/\/milta.pro\/en\/the-hidden-cost-of-a-route-planned-in-excel\/","name":"The Hidden Cost of a Route Planned in Excel","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/milta.pro\/en\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/milta.pro\/en\/the-hidden-cost-of-a-route-planned-in-excel\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/milta.pro\/en\/the-hidden-cost-of-a-route-planned-in-excel\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/milta.pro\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/web-hero-art2-cout-cache-excel.jpg","datePublished":"2026-08-21T15:40:42+00:00","dateModified":"2026-09-12T15:39:22+00:00","description":"A route sheet, calls to the driver: this setup looks free. Yet it hides a real cost, invisible on your invoices.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/milta.pro\/en\/the-hidden-cost-of-a-route-planned-in-excel\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/milta.pro\/en\/the-hidden-cost-of-a-route-planned-in-excel\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/milta.pro\/en\/the-hidden-cost-of-a-route-planned-in-excel\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/milta.pro\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/web-hero-art2-cout-cache-excel.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/milta.pro\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/web-hero-art2-cout-cache-excel.jpg","width":1600,"height":900,"caption":"Delivery route organized on an Excel spreadsheet, with hidden costs in time and money"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/milta.pro\/en\/the-hidden-cost-of-a-route-planned-in-excel\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Accueil","item":"https:\/\/milta.pro\/en\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The Hidden Cost of a Route Planned in Excel"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/milta.pro\/en\/#website","url":"https:\/\/milta.pro\/en\/","name":"Milta","description":"Votre assistant de transport Intelligent","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/milta.pro\/en\/#organization"},"alternateName":"Milta Solutions","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/milta.pro\/en\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/milta.pro\/en\/#organization","name":"Milta","alternateName":"Milta Solutions srl","url":"https:\/\/milta.pro\/en\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/milta.pro\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/milta.pro\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Milta-Logo-Square-320.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/milta.pro\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Milta-Logo-Square-320.png","width":320,"height":320,"caption":"Milta"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/milta.pro\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/miltasolutions\/"],"address":{"@type":"PostalAddress","streetAddress":"Rue d'Angoussart 173","postalCode":"1301","addressLocality":"Wavre","addressCountry":"BE"},"vatID":"BE1034896661","taxID":"BE1034896661"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/milta.pro\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/bc11bf5b6d8ba021dccb5a8670cc144e","name":"Mike Grenier","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e164e17234b9b1872d7d01f12296e1b9eaff55fdfcf569a90652a594b2df6178?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e164e17234b9b1872d7d01f12296e1b9eaff55fdfcf569a90652a594b2df6178?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e164e17234b9b1872d7d01f12296e1b9eaff55fdfcf569a90652a594b2df6178?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Mike Grenier"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/milta.pro"],"url":"https:\/\/milta.pro\/en\/author\/mike\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/milta.pro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/696","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/milta.pro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/milta.pro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/milta.pro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/milta.pro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=696"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/milta.pro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/696\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":985,"href":"https:\/\/milta.pro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/696\/revisions\/985"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/milta.pro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/697"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/milta.pro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=696"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/milta.pro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=696"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/milta.pro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=696"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}