Trip Standards: I'm thinking about purchasing MapPoint but want to be sure it handles a basic need. My company makes deliveries from our terminal(origin or hub) to the customer (destination) and then returns to the terminal to reload. We have trip standards based on this out and back pattern. I want to vaildate these existing trip standards (hours & miles) with MP. I plan to import the customer list from Excel. Can MP generate it's own standard? If so can these be exported from MP? Also, does MP have the ability to determine routes for trucks as opposed to autos? Thanks

1. Can MP generate its own standard? If by this you are looking for MapPoint to generate a route from which you can get time and distance estimates, subject to route preferences and speed targets, then Yes. If you mean whether MP can store that result for some future comparison to actuals then not really. You can extract the optimized route data from MP and store it in a database for subsequent use through MapPoint's VB programming interface.


2. Can routes be exported from MP? Yes, using VB programming techniques the route information is accessible. From the product interface, only a cut and paste of the route directions is supported.


3. Does MP have the ability to determine routes for trucks as opposed to autos? I am assuming you want to avoid routes that are restricted for use by trucks. There is no direct mechanism to do this. There is no check box to say that you specifically want a truck route. You can use the drawing tools in MP to show areas you want to avoid.


- Walt Cygan