Optimize your USPS route in 3 steps
Simplicity is at the heart of the Straightaway app experience. Step 1 - Create a route by taking a picture of the list of delivery stops or scanning parcels one by one. Step 2 - Once all the stops are loaded, tap the “:” button and select “Optimize Order”. Step 3 - Tap “Get Directions” to get turn-by-turn navigation to your stops.
Add stops with the snap of a photo
Optimize for the fastest route
Navigate without switching apps
Dynamic route optimization & navigation app for USPS drivers
Join thousands of USPS delivery drivers optimizing their routes with Straightaway. Automatically add your delivery stops by taking a picture of your daily delivery manifest or scanning parcels one by one. Our advanced dynamic route optimization software will sort through thousands of possible combinations to find the fastest route for the day. Once on the road, the app will find better routes on-the-fly if unexpected events such as road accidents or traffic jams occur. The best part is, there is no need to switch apps to navigate to your stops. We built turn-by-turn navigation right into the app to get you to your stops with ease. No more relying on the USPS DRO, or manually adding stops on Google Maps to get to your delivery stops. We built the Straightaway route planner and optimization app for USPS delivery drivers to take the most optimal route, minimize drive-time, and get home earlier. Don’t go the extra mile. Go Straightaway.
Additional features USPS drivers love
All your USPS stops, from a birds-eye view
Delivering mail and parcels in dense areas can get overwhelming. Add all your USPS stops for the day and visualize it on a map. With birds-eye overview feature, you are able to see exactly where you are, and all the upcoming stops in the area. Keep an eye on your progress and what needs to get done with our innovative at-a-glance overview.
Simple in-app experience
Beautiful design and simple user interface are the core of our product experience. While other USPS optimization software overwhelm you with multitudes of features, settings, and choices, we obsess over taking away the complexity and delivering a seamless user experience. Simply take a picture of your stops and get going.
Efficient ways to add stops
Straightaway app features advanced image recognition technologies that detect addresses from any source. Take a picture of your delivery manifest, USPS SCAN form, shipping label, postal mail, or your Zebra TC77 scanner with addresses to add stops to your route. Take a picture of anything and get going.
What delivery drivers say
Purple Promise
"I absolutely love this app!! I drive for FedEx Express and run routes literally in the middle of no where. Straightaway is always spot on with address location even in the sticks. Way better than road warrior! Easier to navigate too! I love returning to the hub empty! Lol :))"
Great app
“I’ll never forget the first day I tried out his new route planner app. I finished my route two hours faster than usual, and I went home to play with my daughter. It was the greatest feeling. Now I use Straightaway every day. Over the last six months, I’ve saved over 140 hours of driving.”
Like magic
”Ok so this is like magic - works super well. I usually snap a photo of my route and it just organizes it all. The navigation and route tracking works great, SO much better than doing this the manual way like I used to."
Frequently asked questions
The top 10 answers every USPS delivery driver needs to know
How do postal routes work?
The dimensions and characteristics of each postal route are determined using software and feedback from USPS workers.
The timing of the route is usually the first starting point for calculating a delivery driver’s route. After the timing of the route is calculated, the postal manager then has to take into account the variables that can affect the timing of the route predetermined by the software, such as traffic, weather-related issues, construction, and accidents.
Additionally, drivers can provide insights for the most effective strategies for local route planning. They might take note of which businesses use personal handoffs versus a drop-off location, or when to avoid Main Street because the local high school is having an event. All this user feedback is factored in to fine-tune a postal route.
How long do USPS routes take?
The USPS aims to keep routes as close as possible to eight hours without going over. And there’s failsafe if couriers start venturing into overtime. If a driver’s day is projected to take an extra hour, the postal manager will reassign the rest of that driver’s route to other drivers in the fleet who are ahead of schedule. This redistribution ensures everyone works the expected amount of hours per route.
Do delivery drivers need to use GPS to follow their routes?
Most delivery drivers who work with USPS use a mobile delivery device, known as an MDD, to help them quickly scan and transmit tracking data from their parcels to local managers. The mobile delivery device uses GPS technology to provide customers and the local managers precise delivery tracking and location timing. This data is sent in real-time so everyone can follow along with packages’ and drivers’ routes. Without GPS, none of this helpful data would be available!
Does the USPS track the mail carriers with GPS technology?
Yes, the United States Postal Service began tracking mail carriers with GPS technology nearly 10 years ago. The USPS included GPS-tracked cell phones to see the status of employees on their routes, determine if they are taking too long at a specific stop, and decipher if they have strayed from their daily route.
Do USPS drivers use Google Maps?
USPS simplifies and streamlines its routes from complicated multi-route stops to quick, easy-to-follow pathways by using route optimization software. Currently, USPS drivers use popular route-tracking software and apps, such as Google Maps, Apple Maps, or Waze, to help quickly calculate their routes between various drop-off points.
Despite Google Maps being popular around the world for single-route planning (point A to point B), those who are in the delivery business feel that Google Maps leaves much to be desired for planning multiple stops in one route. Some of the top drivers for the USPS use more sophisticated software to calculate the best path between dozens of destinations with ease––something that Google Maps cannot do.
What is a “USPS route?”
A USPS route is the official postal carrier route in your geographical location. It can be described as a group of mailing addresses, such as your own and your neighbors, that have an identical USPS code to help deliver mail quickly, efficiently, and with ease. By keeping all the local addresses within the same delivery area, the lives of the USPS drivers can be simplified.
How do I find the different USPS routes?
If you want to view and mail to your carrier route in your local area, you can use online mapping tools to help determine the local USPS routes in your neighborhood, town, or city.
An example of an online carrier route mapping tool is EveryDoorDirectMail, a software that helps you view demographic information of people who live in your area and the locations along your USPS route.
How many routes does USPS have?
The USPS has approximately 231,579 delivery routes in the entire United States. With less than one quarter million routes, USPS is able to reach every single address and person who lives within the country. Pretty impressive!
Can USPS workers use Straightaway?
While the USPS has its own guidelines and system for planning routes, scanning package data throughout the day to get insights from the management team and their software isn’t always the fastest.
If you want to be a pro and skip some of the headaches of the in-house software, you can use route planning apps from other developers, such as Straightaway. Instead of stopping to scan throughout the day, Straightaway users only need to upload their destinations once. With Straightaway, USPS drivers’ routes update on the fly as a reaction to traffic patterns and 130 other data sources. Plus, managers can still assess and adjust routes like they would with their traditional software. Straightaway does it all in fewer steps.