Optimization parameters reference

This is the dictionary of settings you configure in Nash that shape how the optimizer groups and sequences orders into routes. Each one lives on one of five things you already set up — an optimization strategy, a contract, a vehicle, a shift, or a store location — and this page collects the optimization-relevant ones in a single place. You set each on its own screen; the section headings say where.

Most operators never need this. For how routing works day to day, start with optimization strategies and optimize orders into routes. This reference is for power users tuning how routes are built.

The Nash field column gives the name Nash uses for each setting in its API and configuration, so it lines up with what you'd send through the API. For the request payloads and endpoints behind these fields, see the Nash API documentation.

Note

Optimization strategies are available depending on your Nash setup — availability varies by organization. Reach out to Nash about anything you want to use that you don't see. The optimizer also has many internal parameters Nash tunes for you that aren't settings here (see What Nash tunes for you at the end). Nash optimizes and dispatches; the provider or your own fleet performs the delivery.

Optimization strategy

Set on a strategy at Orchestrate ▸ Optimization Strategies. Walkthrough: set up an optimization strategy. A strategy decides when optimization runs and which orders, contracts, and locations a run draws from.

When it runs

Setting	Nash field	What it does
Schedule(s)	optimization_schedules	One or more schedules — days of week, a cadence (a set clock time, or every so many hours/minutes), and a timezone, with an optional active-date range.
Smart Frequency	dynamic_cadence_config	Tighten the cadence as the delivery cutoff nears: ordered tiers of "within max_hours of cutoff, optimize every interval_minutes," with an optional head start (start_optimizing_minutes_before).

Which orders a run pulls

Setting	Nash field	What it does
Pickup-time window	pickup_time_from_in_minutes / pickup_time_to_in_minutes	Only optimize orders whose pickup falls inside this window (minutes from now).

Which contracts and vehicles it uses

Setting	Nash field	What it does
Allowed contracts	contract_ids	The contracts (providers and fleets) a run may plan against. At least one.
Shift contract	shift_contract_id	The contract whose shifts supply the vehicles, for shift-based fleets. Availability varies by setup.
Per-contract overrides	contract_optimization_override_parameters	For a single strategy, override a contract's vehicle count (vehicle_count), use-all-vehicles (use_all_vehicles), fixed cost (fixed_cost), max/min orders per route (max_orders_per_route / min_orders_per_route), eligibility lead time (lead_time_minutes), and fallback dispatch strategy (dispatch_strategy_id).

Where it runs

Setting	Nash field	What it does
Store locations	store_locations	Restrict the strategy to routes and shifts at chosen store locations; these also act as depots.
Zones	zones	The zones assigned to the strategy.
Route restrictions	route_restriction_ids	Attach saved geographic areas the optimizer must route around.

After optimization

Setting	Nash field	What it does
Auto-dispatch after optimization	enable_auto_dispatch	Dispatch the optimized routes automatically as soon as they're built, instead of leaving them as drafts to review.
Unassigned-orders fallback	unassigned_orders_options_group_id	A dispatch strategy to apply to any orders the optimizer couldn't route.

Service & route settings

Setting	Nash field	What it does
Service times	pickup_service_time_seconds / dropoff_service_time_seconds / incremental_service_time_seconds	On-site time to budget at a pickup, at a dropoff, and per extra package at the same stop.
Traffic source	default_traffic_source	The traffic data source Nash plans travel times against.
Traffic time offset	traffic_time_offset_weeks	Look up traffic history from N weeks earlier to model a typical day.
Avoid ferries	avoid_ferries	Route around ferry crossings.
Balance routes	balance_routes	How evenly to spread work across routes — None, Same Provider, or All Providers.
Search level	search_level	Solver effort, 0–3: higher searches harder for a better plan at the cost of solve time.
Clustering level	clustering_level	How aggressively nearby stops group into one route, 0–2.
Soft cluster label	soft_cluster_label	Treat a cluster label as a preference rather than a hard partition.
Save optimized routes	save_optimized_routes	Save the result as draft routes automatically.

Contract optimization parameters

Set on a contract. Some can be overridden per strategy (above). Cost fields may not appear depending on your role.

Setting	Nash field	What it does
Vehicle profile	vehicle_profile	car, truck, bicycle, or flying_distance (straight-line). Drives speeds, road restrictions, and truck routing.
Vehicle count	vehicle_count	How many vehicles of this contract are available to a run.
Use all vehicles	use_all_vehicles	Use every available vehicle rather than the fewest the plan needs.
Multi dispatch	multi_dispatch	Allow a vehicle to run more than one trip per shift — return to the depot, reload, and go out again — rather than a single run.
Capabilities	capabilities	Skills or equipment this contract's vehicles provide, matched to what an order requires.
Max orders per route	max_orders_per_route	Cap the stops on one route.
Min orders per route	min_orders_per_route	Minimum orders before a vehicle is used — avoids sending out near-empty routes.
Max driving time	max_driving_time_hours	Cap a route's driving time.
Max driving distance	max_driving_distance_miles	Cap a route's distance.
Breaks	breaks	Driver rest breaks for this driver group — each a duration, optionally triggered after a set working time or confined to a time window — placed into the route. (A shift can set its own planned_breaks; see below.)
Fixed cost	fixed_cost	Cost of putting a vehicle on the road; drives how many are used.
Cost per order	cost_per_order	Cost added for each order a route serves — a per-stop cost lever alongside fixed, time, and distance.
Cost per time	cost_per_unit_time	Cost weight on route time.
Cost per distance	cost_per_unit_distance	Cost weight on distance.
Overtime threshold + cost	overtime_start_hours + cost_per_unit_overtime	Time past the threshold is penalized.
Over-distance threshold + cost	overdistance_start_miles + cost_per_unit_overdistance	Distance past the threshold is penalized.
Avoid tolls	avoid_tolls	Route around toll roads.
Start depot	start_depot_store_location_id	The store location this driver group's routes start from. Set the depot's own open hours on that store location (see Store location parameters below).
End depot	end_depot_store_location_id	The store location this driver group's routes return to; can differ from the start depot.

A contract's eligibility rules — order weight, volume, and value limits, supported vehicle types, package requirements, and coverage areas — decide which contracts can serve each order, which is itself an input to every optimization. Set those on the contract; see override provider contract eligibility.

Vehicle configuration

Set on each of your own-fleet vehicles (Fleet ▸ Vehicles). See add and edit a vehicle.

Setting	Nash field	What it does
Vehicle profile	vehicle_profile	car, truck, bicycle, or flying_distance (straight-line).
Capabilities	capabilities	Skills or equipment this vehicle provides.
Dimensions	weight / height / length / width / axle_count / trailer_count	Capacity and the measurements used for truck routing and access feasibility.
Max stops	max_stops	Cap the stops on one route.
Max distance	max_distance	Cap a route's distance.
Max duration	max_duration	Cap a route's on-road time.
Speed factor	speed_factor	Scale modeled travel speed (below 1 slower, above 1 faster).
Parking time	parking_time	Access/parking time to budget at each stop.
Cost	fixed_cost / cost_per_unit_distance / cost_per_unit_time	Per-vehicle cost structure.

Shift optimization parameters

Set on a shift (Fleet ▸ Shifts). See manage shifts. A shift can also carry its own vehicle_config overriding any vehicle field above for that shift.

Setting	Nash field	What it does
Service-time efficiency	service_time_relative_efficiency	How fast this crew works relative to baseline; scales the service time at their stops.
Planned breaks	planned_breaks	Driver breaks — each a duration and an optional time window — placed in the route.
Departure delay	departure_delay	Delay before leaving the start depot (load-out time).
Shift-end service time	shift_end_service_time_minutes	Time after the final dropoff, e.g. to refuel or return the vehicle.

Store location parameters

A store location can shape optimization in two ways, through two different "hours" settings — and both are set on the store location. See manage locations.

When the store is a depot. A driver group can start and/or end its routes here (you pick the depot on the contract — see Start depot / End depot under Contract optimization parameters above). The depot's own hours are then a hard routing constraint:

Setting	Nash field	What it does
Depot open windows	start_depot_time_window / end_depot_time_window	When a route may depart from and return to this depot — enforced as a hard constraint in the solve.

When the store is a pickup location. Its regular operating hours shape optimization indirectly: when an order is created for pickup here, the order's pickup/delivery time window is generated from these hours, and the optimizer then schedules the visit inside that window. This is an order time-window input, so it applies whether or not the store is also used as a depot.

Setting	Nash field	What it does
Operating hours	operating_hours	The store's open hours. Used to generate the pickup/delivery time window on orders created for this store — which the optimizer then respects.

What Nash tunes for you

The optimizer solves against far more than the settings above — advanced cost curves, map and truck-routing details, search internals, and reoptimization behavior. Nash sets and tunes those for you; they aren't operator settings. If you have a specialized routing need you can't express with the fields on this page, reach out to Nash.

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For how strategies are built and scheduled, see optimization strategies; for running one against a set of orders, see optimize orders into routes; for how the optimizer decides, see how optimization works.