Optimize delivery routes for carriers from Google Sheets using Google Maps

This workflow automates the process of converting delivery addresses into geographic coordinates and optimizes delivery routes for each carrier using Google Maps.

Finally, the workflow outputs an optimized circular route that starts and ends at the base location.

This workflow is particularly useful for:

• Logistics companies
• Courier services
• Delivery businesses
• Field service operations
• Fleet management teams

It enables faster route planning, improves delivery efficiency, and provides a low-code automation solution that integrates directly with existing operational spreadsheets.

Key Advantages

1. ✅ Automated Address Geocoding

The workflow automatically converts delivery addresses into precise GPS coordinates using Google Maps APIs, eliminating manual data entry and reducing human errors.

2. ✅ Delivery Route Optimization

By calculating the most efficient delivery order, the workflow helps drivers reduce travel time, fuel consumption, and operational costs.

3. ✅ Seamless Google Sheets Integration

All delivery data is managed directly inside Google Sheets, making the system easy to use for logistics teams without requiring additional software.

4. ✅ Carrier-Based Delivery Grouping

Deliveries are automatically grouped by carrier, allowing each driver or logistics operator to receive a dedicated optimized route.

5. ✅ Real-Time Data Processing

The workflow dynamically processes only the deliveries scheduled for the current day, ensuring routes are always updated and relevant.

6. ✅ Scalable and Flexible

The solution can easily scale to handle larger delivery volumes and can be adapted for different logistics operations, territories, or business models.

7. ✅ Reduced Operational Costs

Optimized routes reduce unnecessary mileage, helping companies lower fuel expenses, vehicle wear, and delivery times.

8. ✅ Intelligent Distance Calculation

The workflow uses Google Routes API for accurate driving distances and includes fallback logic to ensure continuity even if API responses fail.

9. ✅ Fully Automated Workflow

Once configured, the entire process runs automatically with minimal manual intervention, improving productivity and operational reliability.

10. ✅ Easy Customization

The workflow can be customized to support:

• Multiple warehouses
• Dynamic starting points
• Additional delivery constraints
• Traffic-aware routing
• Advanced optimization strategies

How it works

1. Manual trigger
   The workflow starts manually by clicking "Execute workflow".

2. Fetch today’s deliveries

   • Reads from a Google Sheet.
   • Filters rows where DATE DELIVERY equals today’s date.

3. Geocode each delivery address

   • Loops through each delivery row.
   • Calls the Google Maps Places API (textsearch) to get latitude and longitude.
   • Updates the sheet’s LANG and LONG columns.
   • Marks DONE = "x" to avoid reprocessing.

4. Get start address location

   • A fixed start address (e.g., warehouse) is geocoded once.
   • Stores START ADDRESS, START LAT, START LNG.

5. Filter already processed deliveries

   • Reads the sheet again, filtering for today’s date and DONE = "x".
   • These are fully geocoded deliveries ready for routing.

6. Group deliveries by carrier

   • Groups all delivery rows by NAME CARRIER.

7. Optimize route for each carrier

   • Runs a custom JavaScript routing algorithm:
     • Uses Google Routes API for real driving distances.
     • Implements a nearest neighbor heuristic + 2-opt optimization.
     • Computes a circular route starting/ending at the warehouse.
   • Outputs an ordered list of stops including the warehouse as start and end.

8. Return optimized route

   • The final route is returned as structured JSON.
   • Can be further used for writing back to Sheets or displaying.

Set up steps

1. Google Sheets setup

   • Create a Google Sheet with columns:
     row_number, NAME CARRIER, DATE DELIVERY, ADDRESS, LANG, LONG, DONE.
   • Clone the example sheet.
   • Note the documentId from the sheet’s URL.

2. Google Sheets OAuth2 credentials

   • In n8n, add a Google Sheets OAuth2 API credential.
   • Use the same email that owns/edits the sheet.

3. Google Maps API credentials

   • Enable Places API and Routes API in Google Cloud Console.
   • Create an API key with no restrictions or restrict it to the required APIs.
   • In n8n, add an HTTP Query Auth credential:
     • Key: key
     • Value: your Google Maps API key.

4. Update workflow configuration

   • In the Google Sheets nodes (Get date delivery, Update Lat and Lng, Get addresses), replace the documentId with your own sheet ID.
   • Ensure the sheet name (Foglio1 or gid=0) matches.

5. Set start address

   • In the Start address node (n8n-nodes-base.set), edit the START ADDRESS assignment to your warehouse/starting location.

6. Adjust wait time

   • The Wait node is set to 10 seconds to respect Google Maps API rate limits. Adjust if needed.

7. Run the workflow

   • Click "When clicking ‘Execute workflow’" button in n8n.
   • The workflow geocodes new addresses, updates the sheet, and outputs an optimized route per carrier.

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