Descartes Machine Learning

[TIME WINDOW] How to add a customer/POS time window?

You can insert a time window through the Additional fields section when importing routes. (How to import routes)

  1. Add two columns to your import file: Time Window Start and Time Window End.

  2. Enter the time values in [HH:MM] format.

  3. Map those columns to the corresponding fields when uploading the route.


  4. Please avoid using time windows shorter than 4 hours unless they are required for specific customers, because shorter windows reduce the algorithm's flexibility to suggest the best sequence.

  5. We also recommend uploading time windows for private customers instead of assigning schedules for the entire route. You can leave the time window blank for most customers. The system learns preferred delivery times and continues exploring new windows unless repeated delivery attempts show that a different schedule is needed.


What if my customer has more than one time window?

Your file must include separate columns for each time window. For example, if a customer has two service windows, your file must contain four columns:

  • Window Start 1

  • Window End 1

  • Window Start 2

  • Window End 2


When mapping fields during import, assign the corresponding start and end columns for each time window. It should look like this:


Back to Top