Alternate Destination — AlternateDestinationExample

This advanced example shows how to terminate a resource route at an alternate destination instead of the resource’s home/start location.

In operational terms: the driver/technician starts at a home base, performs work during WorkingHours, and ends the working day at a different location (e.g., a hotel, a secondary depot, a handover location). The resource then “returns home” outside WorkingHours and starts the next day at home again.

Clickable links

• Example source (GitHub):
  AlternateDestinationExample.java
• Core modeling background (nodes/resources/properties):
  Basic elements tutorial

What this example demonstrates

The key feature: alternate destination on the resource

The example configures a single CapacityResource (“Jack”) with:

• a normal home/start location (Aachen: 50.775346, 6.083887)
• and an alternate end destination (Essen: 51.45, 7.01667)

The implementation is explicit and easy to reuse:

• rep1.setDestinationLatitude(51.45);
• rep1.setDestinationLongitude(7.01667);
• rep1.setAlternateDestination(true);

The code comment clarifies the intended semantics:

• The resource route terminates at the alternate destination at the end of the day.
• The resource is then assumed to travel back to its home location outside WorkingHours and starts working there again the next morning.

This is a strong pattern for realistic field operations where “end of day” is not necessarily “back at the depot”.

Modeling details (what the solver sees)

Working hours

Two working days (Europe/Berlin):

• May 6, 2020: 08:00–17:00
• May 7, 2020: 08:00–17:00

Resource constraints

• max working time: 13 hours
• max distance (per working day): 1200 km

Nodes (visits)

This example uses TimeWindowGeoNode and a shared opening-hours schedule for all nodes (May 6–7, 08:00–17:00), with:

• visit duration: 20 minutes
• importance: 1

Nodes added:

• Koeln
• Oberhausen
• Essen
• Heilbronn
• Stuttgart
• Wuppertal
• Aachen

Execution and output

Run

The optimization is started via:

• CompletableFuture<IOptimizationResult> resultFuture = this.startRunAsync();
• resultFuture.get(); (important: keeps the JVM alive until completion)

Result print

The callback:

• onAsynchronousOptimizationResult(IOptimizationResult rapoptResult)

prints the result and exports a KML file:

• ./AlternateDestinationExample.kml

This is convenient for visually inspecting how the last stop and termination are handled.

Why alternate destinations are useful

Typical field-service and logistics scenarios:

• Multi-day tours: end near the last customer to reduce deadhead time.
• Hotel/overnight logic: terminate at a hotel location while still modeling a “home base” for the next day.
• Shift handover: terminate at a hub where another resource continues (advanced multi-resource patterns).
• Regional depots: start at one depot and end at another.

The key benefit is that the plan reflects operations as they happen, without forcing an artificial “return home within shift hours” pattern.

Practical considerations

1) Validate your KPI interpretation

When you change termination behavior, route totals can be interpreted differently:

• distance/time within WorkingHours,
• termination distance/time,
• “outside WorkingHours” repositioning.

Ensure your reporting aligns with your business interpretation of:

• paid shift time,
• repositioning time,
• overnight travel policy.

2) Combine with external distances when accuracy matters

If you rely on fallback distance models, ensure they match your business. For road-based distances/times consider external connections or a customized fallback connector.

3) Consider multi-day consistency

This example demonstrates a conceptually “daily” alternate end point but assumes start is still home each morning.
For true multi-day routing where day N ends at a place and day N+1 starts there, you typically need an extended modeling strategy (advanced/expert patterns).

How to run

Run main(String[] args) in AlternateDestinationExample.

After completion, check the working directory for:

• AlternateDestinationExample.kml