Waze Multi-Stop Routing Without App-Switching

Waze is a favorite among delivery drivers, couriers, and field service technicians for good reason. Its real-time traffic updates, hazard alerts, and crowd-sourced road reports are hard to beat.
Where it falls short is the multi-stop day. Waze lets you add one stop to a drive on top of your final destination. If you try to add a second one, Waze tells you that you can only add one stop to a route. There is no bulk address upload, no automatic stop sequencing, and no way to manage a full day’s route inside the app.

If you have 15, 50, or 200 stops, you don’t have to give up Waze. The planning (deciding the order of your stops) needs to happen in a route planner, and each stop then needs to reach Waze one at a time as you drive. This guide shows how that works with MyRouteOnline and the MyRoute app.

What Waze Can and Can’t Do with Multiple Stops

Waze is built for getting from point A to point B with live traffic. Here is where its multi-stop support ends:

1. One added stop per route: You can add a single stop before or during a drive, plus your final destination. You can’t add a stop when scheduling a planned drive.
2. No file import: Waze can’t read an Excel or CSV list of addresses.
3. No stop optimization: Waze doesn’t reorder stops to reduce driving time or distance.
4. No truck profile: Waze’s vehicle types are Private, Taxi, and Motorcycle. It doesn’t route around height or weight restrictions.

For a quick gas or coffee stop, one added stop is plenty. For a delivery or service route, you need a planner to build the sequence first.

Why the Usual Waze Workaround Slows Drivers Down

Many route planners hand stops off to Waze, but in practice drivers end up in a manual loop:

1. Finish a stop with Waze open.
2. Leave Waze and reopen the route planner app.
3. Scroll the stop list to find where you left off.
4. Tap “Open in Waze” for the next leg.
5. Repeat at every stop, all day.

Doing this dozens of times per shift adds extra taps, breaks your focus, and creates chances to skip or repeat a stop by mistake.

How Arrival Notifications Remove the Manual Step

With MyRouteOnline and the MyRoute mobile app for iOS and Android, the work is split into two parts. MyRouteOnline plans and optimizes the route on the web. The MyRoute app keeps the stop list on the driver’s phone and passes each stop to Waze. MyRoute is not a navigation app itself, so Waze still gives you every turn-by-turn direction.

Here is what that looks like on the road:

1. Arrival notifications: When you reach a stop, MyRoute shows a notification with the next stop in line. The Arrival Distance setting controls how close to the stop the notification appears.
2. One-tap handoff to Waze: When Arrival Notification Behavior is set to navigate to the next stop, tapping the notification opens Waze with the next address already loaded. You can also set the tap to open MyRoute instead, which is handy if you log every delivery before moving on.
3. Hands-free mode: With Hands-Free Navigate to Next Stop turned on, you don’t need to touch the notification at all. Say “Hey Google, open MyRoute” on Android or “Siri, open MyRoute” on iPhone, and after a short countdown MyRoute opens Waze (or whichever navigation app you selected in settings) with your next stop loaded.
4. Proof of delivery: Drivers can capture a photo and a customer signature, update the stop’s status, and add notes in the MyRoute app before moving on.
5. Tracking for the office: With Report Arrival and Tracking turned on, dispatchers can follow the route’s progress. Afterward, the tracking report compares planned and actual time, distance, and completed orders.

Step-by-Step: How to Plan and Drive a Multi-Stop Route in Waze

Step 1: Import and Optimize your Stops on the Web

Log into the MyRouteOnline route planner and add your addresses from Excel, CSV, Google Drive, Dropbox, copy-paste, or manual entry.

1. Plan up to 1,000 addresses per run.
2. Choose an optimization goal: minimize time, minimize distance, or a balanced option.
3. Set a default service time or a different one for each stop, plus time windows where needed.
4. Split the work across several drivers by territory, maximum stops, or maximum route duration.

Tip: Put gate codes and entrance notes in the Comments column of your import file so the driver sees them at each stop.

Step 2: Send the Route to the MyRoute App

Email the optimized route to one or more drivers so they can open it in the MyRoute app. Then check these settings in the app:

1. Navigation app: Select Waze.
2. Location permissions: Choose Full (Always) so MyRoute can detect arrivals while Waze is on screen.
3. Arrival Distance: Set how far from each stop the notification should appear.
4. Arrival Notification Behavior: Choose whether a tap navigates to the next stop or opens MyRoute.
5. Hands-Free Navigate to Next Stop: Turn it on if you want to move to the next stop by voice instead of tapping.
6. Report Arrival & Tracking: Turn it on if the office needs live tracking.

The MyRoute app settings guide explains each option.

Step 3: Drive Each Leg in Waze and Move to the Next Stop by Tap or Voice

Start your first leg in Waze. When you reach Stop 1, the MyRoute notification appears. Complete the stop and capture proof of delivery if needed, then move on in one of two ways:

1. Tap: Tap the notification, and Waze starts routing you to Stop 2.
2. Voice: With hands-free mode on, leave the notification alone and say “Hey Google, open MyRoute” or “Siri, open MyRoute.” After a short countdown, Waze opens with Stop 2 loaded.

This continues until your final stop. If plans change during the day, you can skip a stop or add and delete destinations in the app. The hands-free navigation guide and the proof of delivery guide walk through both features step by step.

Pro Tips for Multi-Stop Days with Waze

1. Base service times on your own data: Estimated arrival times are only as accurate as the time you allow at each stop. Use how long your stops actually take rather than a guess.
2. Know what Waze does with trucks: MyRouteOnline’s truck mode considers vehicle height and weight restrictions when planning, but on each leg the turn-by-turn route comes from your navigation app. Since Waze has no truck profile, drivers of tall or heavy vehicles should pick a truck-capable navigation app in MyRoute’s settings.
3. Use hands-free mode to keep your hands on the wheel: Moving to the next stop by voice means fewer touches on the phone. Use a phone mount and follow local laws on phone use while driving.
4. Pick the right proof for each stop: A photo works well for unattended drop-offs, while a signature confirms that a specific person received the order.
5. Adjust Arrival Distance if needed: If notifications appear too early or too late for the kinds of stops you visit, change the distance in the app settings.
6. Same features on every plan: Every MyRouteOnline plan includes the MyRoute app, tracking, proof of delivery, and unlimited users, so solo drivers and fleets work the same way.

Pair Waze with Route Optimization

Waze handles the driving, MyRouteOnline handles the order of stops, and the MyRoute app moves you from one stop to the next by tap or by voice. To try it, plan your next route in the MyRouteOnline route planner, where new accounts get 20 free credits with every feature included. Then install the MyRoute app on iOS or Android.

FAQ about Waze Multi-Stop Routing

Can Waze optimize multiple stops on its own?

No. Waze supports one final destination and one added stop, and it doesn’t reorder stops for efficiency. To optimize a multi-stop route, sequence your addresses in a route planner like MyRouteOnline first, then navigate each leg in Waze.

How many stops can you add in Waze?

One. You can add a single stop before or during a drive, in addition to your destination. If you try to add a second stop, Waze shows a message that only one stop is allowed per route.

Can I import an Excel or CSV file directly into Waze?

No. Waze doesn’t support bulk file imports. In MyRouteOnline, you can import Excel or CSV files or pull files from Google Drive and Dropbox, optimize the stop order, and send the route to the driver’s phone.

Do I have to switch back to the planner app after every stop?

No. When you navigate with the MyRoute app and Waze, MyRoute shows a notification when you arrive at each stop. With the notification set to navigate, tapping it opens the next stop directly in Waze.

Can I move to the next stop without touching my phone?

Yes. Turn on Hands-Free Navigate to Next Stop in the MyRoute app settings. When you arrive, say “Hey Google, open MyRoute” on Android or “Siri, open MyRoute” on iPhone, and after a short countdown MyRoute opens your selected navigation app, such as Waze, with the next stop loaded.

Can drivers capture a photo or signature as proof of delivery?

Yes. The MyRoute app captures both a photo and a signature at the point of delivery, along with the stop’s status and notes.

How many stops can I navigate using MyRouteOnline and Waze?

You can plan and optimize up to 1,000 addresses per run in MyRouteOnline. The MyRoute app then sends them to Waze one leg at a time.

Does Waze have a truck mode?

No. Waze offers Private, Taxi, and Motorcycle vehicle types, so it doesn’t route around height or weight restrictions. Truck drivers can still optimize the stop order in MyRouteOnline and pick a truck-capable navigation app in the MyRoute app.

Does this work on both iPhone and Android?

Yes. The MyRoute app is available for iOS and Android and works with Waze, Google Maps, Apple Maps, and other navigation apps installed on the phone.