A route manager is employed by a company that regularly travels, such as a transportation or delivery company. The role of the route manager is to coordinate vehicles, personnel, and cargo for a specific location. This location can be a small area, like a postal delivery zone, or it can span continents, like airline routes. Route managers are sometimes part of a network of them, each focusing on a different location or service. The term route manager can also refer to a driver or delivery person who covers a specific geographic area.
Modern transportation and delivery companies are global enterprises that must be able to deliver cargo or passengers to any of the world’s millions of potential destinations. Other organizations, such as postal and waste management services, must travel to every address within a given area on a daily or weekly basis. A route is the travel agenda for such a service, and many organizations will establish permanent routes as part of official policy for the sake of efficiency. An airline route, for example, may consist of regular trips between two distant cities such as New York and Los Angeles, whereas a postal route may consist of all addresses within a single postal code.
The route manager is responsible for organizing travel on one or more routes. This necessitates a thorough understanding of a variety of factors, such as available vehicles and personnel, local and national regulations, and company policy. For example, an airline route manager must ensure that the crew for an international flight includes some bilingual personnel and that crew members are not overworked as a result of frequent long flights. Such requirements are governed by aviation law as well as company policy, and they can differ depending on the route.
A route manager for a local transportation company, such as taxicabs or package delivery, will be responsible for a variety of tasks. He or she may need to be aware of delivery deadlines, ongoing road construction projects, and which vehicles are out of service for maintenance. Local and national laws can regulate not only delivery vehicles and drivers, but also delivery hours and the types of materials that can be transported.
Drivers on such local routes are sometimes given the title of route manager. These drivers are in charge of all deliveries and pick-ups within a specific geographical area. They may use their own knowledge of the area to determine the best travel routes, or they may collaborate with supervisors or dispatchers. Unlike some delivery jobs, which are notoriously low-paying and menial, this type of route manager’s pay and benefits can be competitive and serve as the foundation for a long-term career.