Incoming loads have to reach the new distribution hub, and outgoing shipments have to reach the destinations your operation serves. Those movements may favor different sites, especially when a few locations account for a large share of the freight.
You may be adding capacity to an existing network or trying to reach destinations it serves poorly today. In either case, you're considering how the real loads would move through each site address. Freight service, building capacity, and the cost of running the site all depend on the operation you expect that property to support.
| Candidate dimension | Maptive evidence | External evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Inbound and outbound reach | Shipment locations, weighted area totals, distance exports | Actual freight movements and lane requirements |
| Freight service | Candidate position relative to suppliers and destinations | Carrier rates, cutoffs, restrictions, service commitments |
| Throughput | Volume assigned to the candidate's reach | Dock, yard, storage, and handling capacity |
| Property and labor cost | Site location and regional context | Lease terms, workforce availability, operating costs |
Prepare the real freight network
Separate suppliers and destinations
Create a workfile with stable location IDs, names, usable addresses, and a Location Type column. Keep suppliers distinct from customers or delivery destinations. Mark current hubs and possible sites as separate types too. Keep the shipment period with the records. A supplier's billing address is less useful than the origin where the freight actually starts.
Include the existing hubs even when your main question concerns a new one. The new property may take over current loads, add capacity, or reach a part of the network you serve poorly today. Decide which purpose you are testing. Otherwise, a site can appear attractive simply because it duplicates a hub that already handles the same destinations.
Once the file is mapped, open Map Tools and Grouping Tool / Colored Pins Tool. Choose Location Type as the Primary Group. Give suppliers, destinations, current hubs, and sites distinct marker styles through the group controls. Keep this grouping separate from the volume fields so reviewers can tell what a point represents before judging its weight.
Weight the shipment demand
Choose the quantity that fits your operation. Shipment count can represent trip frequency. Pallets, units, or cargo weight can represent load volume. Retain more than one measure if they answer different questions, but use the same definition and period for each site. Don't add pallet counts to shipment counts or compare an annual inbound file with a monthly outbound file.
Aggregate the chosen amounts by location for the first map. Keep the underlying shipment records available for lane and service checks. Check the location totals against the shipment file before importing them. If you mix location types in one table, keep separate inbound and outbound numeric fields and prevent hub or site rows from contributing demand.
Keep missing amounts separate from confirmed zeros. Get a missing volume from the shipment source before it enters a weighted review. If part of the network is still incomplete, state which locations and period are missing and keep that uncertainty with the shortlist. A site near an unmeasured supplier should not gain or lose favor because its load was silently entered as zero.
For a first look at volume, open Heat Mapping Tool in Map Tools. Choose Represents Numerical Data, select the numeric volume column and the relevant sample, then Add Heat Map. Use Specific Group if you need to restrict the sample to one location category. The selected column must contain only numbers. This view helps you inspect where the supplied volume is concentrated; you still need to check a site's reach, freight service, and capacity.
Map feasible sites
Choose Create New Map, enter a name that identifies the network and review date, and click Continue. Upload the Excel workfile with its header row or paste the data with its headers, then click Map Now. Inspect Data and Categorize Data if location columns need correction. Check misplaced suppliers and destinations before their volumes enter the review.
Use real property addresses for the sites you're considering. Confirm the entrance that freight vehicles would use. A point at the center of a parcel can suggest access from a road that trucks can't enter. Keep the candidate ID, property address, and entrance notes together so the site team can confirm the mapped location.
Remove sites that already fail a basic need, or mark them clearly as pending. A theoretical central point is useful for identifying a search area, but you need an available property with practical road access and room for the operation. Add the feasible addresses to the site set before comparing their reach.
Compare site reach and distances
Open Drive Time Polygon Tool from Map Tools. Enter the first site address, or use its marker, choose the hours and minutes, and click Add Drive Time Polygon. Repeat for the other sites with the same threshold. Name each polygon for its site through the three-dot menu and Edit Proximity, then Save.
These polygons use perfect driving conditions without current or historical traffic. Treat them as a consistent first screening measure. Check congestion and known freight travel conditions separately, especially where a site depends on a busy road or a short window for trips.
Use Distance Radius Circles when your question is straight-line reach or when you need its location export with distance columns. Enter the site in Starting Location, set Proximity Within in miles or kilometers, and click Add Proximity Radius. Repeat the same radius for each property.
A circle selects locations by straight-line distance. Adding driving time and distance to the export doesn't change which locations qualified for that circle. Choose an export scope that includes the required suppliers and destinations, and check the resulting IDs. If you need comparisons for distant locations too, use a broad enough selection or retrieve the outside records for separate review. Keep the selection rule with the output.
Check the site reach against current hubs using the same thresholds. Count the destination IDs newly included by the site, then inspect the supplied volume those destinations represent. Keep transferred work distinct from added reach. Moving an already served destination to the new hub may help capacity or travel, but it should not be reported as new network coverage.
Review inbound and outbound reach separately. An address that serves destinations well may be farther from a high-volume supplier. Inspect the locations with strict service needs as well as the totals across locations. Use the same site origins and volume period each time you compare the results.
Export comparable inbound and outbound loads
Click a site's circle or drive-time polygon and open Customize Metrics. Under Spreadsheet Data, add the relevant numeric volume measure using Sum. Use separate inbound and outbound measures to keep the load directions clear. The popup can then show how much of each supplied quantity falls inside that area. Check that facility rows and repeated location records haven't inflated those totals.
For one area, use its three-dot menu and Export Locations. For all areas, use Export File. Radius export can include straight-line distance or driving time and distance. Choose XLSX, TSV, CSV, or the clipboard as needed, set the required location scope, and click Export Now. Keep the site identity attached to each result.
For a head-to-head property review, preserve the result for every site. Don't choose a closest-circle-only output when you need to know how the same destination compares across all properties. That option would keep the destination's nearest circle result and discard the other site relationships you meant to inspect.
Use the nearest-circle choice when the separate task is counting unique network coverage, and state that assignment rule. Overlapping site reaches are alternative plans, so their volumes should be compared rather than added as though all the properties will open. For an existing-plus-new-hub plan, deduplicate locations by ID before claiming how much unique demand the network covers.
In the spreadsheet used to compare the sites, calculate any weighted travel measure from the exported distances and the volumes you supplied. Multiplying a location's distance by its shipment count can help compare travel exposure across sites when those shipments are comparable. It doesn't produce a carrier quote. Keep inbound and outbound calculations separate, and verify the direction and service assumptions for real freight lanes. Compare the outside destinations too, since a large reachable total can conceal a costly distant load.
Verify the operating site outside the map
Check freight access and service commitments
Ask carriers for quotes based on the real origin, destination, shipment size, and service needs. Check collection and delivery cutoffs for each site. A property can be near a destination and still miss the carrier's departure time. Keep each quote's assumptions and date with the site review.
Confirm truck clearance and road rules with the relevant road authority, carrier, and site team. Inspect the route into the property, including the final turns, entrance, and yard. Use Maptive's general driving measures to compare the sites' geography. Then check whether trucks can make the planned trips under these rules.
Check supplier receiving and shipping hours, customer commitments, and any access to ports or other freight facilities that your operation needs. Review known route conditions with the people running those lanes. Record unresolved access or service questions against the site they affect, with someone assigned to get the answer.
Check capacity and property economics
Compare the expected inbound and outbound loads with the property's dock, yard, storage, and handling capacity. Check peak periods as well as the total volume in the mapping file. A monthly total alone won't tell you whether the yard can handle the busiest arrival hour or whether enough doors are available for overlapping loads.
Confirm zoning and the permitted operation. Review the lease terms, usable building layout, expansion room, and any required improvements with the property team. Satellite imagery can help orient a site review, but you still need current property information and a physical inspection to confirm the site can do what you need.
Use comparable costs from finance, property advisers, and workforce research. Include workforce availability and the labor needed to run the site, rather than treating rent as the full cost. Mark any amount you don't yet know as an estimate. Recheck the preferred property if a carrier quote, capacity finding, or lease term changes the case for it.
Present the shortlist with its assumptions
Give finance and real estate a dated comparison that includes the shipment period, volume units, site addresses, reach rule, and distance basis. Attach the location exports and explain how you handled overlap with existing hubs. Show freight quotes alongside the property and capacity evidence, with unresolved checks listed by site. Name the people responsible for those checks and when they must be done before the preferred site can be approved.
