2026 Team Driver Trip Planning Spreadsheet for Excel — Free Template

Set the Trip and Driver Assumptions

Begin on Settings and update the yellow Settings cells in B3 through B13. Enter the Trip ID, trip start date and time, target delivery date and time, and the two driver names. Then set the default planning speed in mph, fuel economy in mpg, fuel price per gallon, internal daily driving target, preferred minimum assignment gap, and default stop or handoff time.

The supplied values—including 55 mph, 7.2 mpg, $3.89 per gallon, a 10-hour daily target, a 4-hour gap, and a 0.25-hour stop—are sample assumptions. Date and numeric validations apply to the corresponding cells. The target delivery must be later than the trip start. Driver names flow to the two-item assignment list used on Trip Plan.

Replace the Sample Route Legs

On Trip Plan, rows 7 through 16 contain the populated sample route. Replace the user-entered values in A, B, C, D, E, R, and S: Leg Number, Origin, Destination, Assigned Driver, Leg Miles, Status, and Notes. Use F and I only when a leg needs a speed or stop and handoff override.

Keep leg numbers and physical rows in ascending route order because timing follows the row sequence. Leg numbers are validated from 1 to 200, miles must be greater than zero and no more than 1,500, speed overrides allow 20 to 80 mph, and stop or handoff overrides allow 0 to 24 hours. Rows 17 through 206 provide additional blank operating input areas while retaining prepared calculations and validations.

Read the Calculated Leg Outputs

Leave the calculated columns G, H, J, K, L, M, N, O, P, Q, and T intact. Planned Speed uses the override when entered or the Settings default when blank. Planned Drive Hours divides miles by planned speed. Planned Stop or Handoff Hours similarly uses the row override or default assumption.

The first leg departs at the trip start time. Each later departure follows the preceding row’s arrival plus the planned stop or handoff time for that leg. Other formulas return arrival time, departure date, the gap since that driver’s prior assignment, cumulative miles, estimated gallons, estimated fuel cost, and a planning check.

Update Status and Review the Dashboard

Select Planned, In Progress, Completed, or On Hold in each populated leg’s Status cell. These entries drive the completed-leg count, open-leg miles, and current trip status on Dashboard.

Review the Plan Check column before relying on the summary. It can identify missing origins or destinations, unassigned drivers, miles or speed problems, duplicate leg numbers, and sequence issues. Dashboard then consolidates trip totals, projected timing, driver summaries, and the count of populated legs whose result is not OK.

Treat each Trip Plan row as one route leg between an origin and destination. Assign one of the two Settings drivers, enter the leg miles, and add notes such as shipper instructions or a planned handoff. Optional speed and stop overrides let a specific leg differ from the trip defaults without changing every other row.

Row order matters. Departure and arrival calculations follow the physical sequence, not a separate sort field. If a stop, transfer point, or driver change creates a new operating segment, place that segment on its own row and maintain consecutive leg numbers.

The Dashboard Driver Summary reports planned miles, planned drive hours, and assignment counts for each of the two named drivers. It also calculates each driver’s maximum daily hours and minimum assignment gap, then compares those figures with the internal targets entered on Settings.

Daily hours are assigned to the calendar date when a leg departs; the formulas do not divide a leg at midnight. Assignment-gap results compare a driver’s next planned departure with that same driver’s prior planned arrival. These driver totals and checks are planning aids only, not records of actual driving, duty, sleeper-berth, or rest activity.

Cumulative Miles provides a running distance total as route legs are added. Estimated Gallons divides each leg’s miles by the fuel economy entered on Settings. Estimated Fuel Cost multiplies those gallons by the entered U.S. dollar price per gallon.

Dashboard sums the leg calculations into Total Miles, Estimated Gallons, and Estimated Fuel Cost. These are planning estimates based on entered miles, mpg, and fuel price. The file does not include separate fields for tolls, wages, lodging, maintenance, or actual fuel receipts.

The trip overview displays Trip ID, Planned Start, Target Delivery, Total Miles, Planned Drive Hours, Planned Elapsed Hours, Planned Arrival, completed and total legs, open-leg miles, open alerts, and current status. Hours Before Target compares the latest planned arrival with the target delivery time.

A departure-date planning area supports the driver daily summaries and a single chart of planned drive hours by departure date. Because its daily allocation is an approximation, review legs that cross dates separately. An alert count means at least one populated Trip Plan row has a Plan Check result other than OK; it does not prove that every operational or regulatory concern has been evaluated.