Growth
Almost every operator uses routing to run the work they already have. A much smaller group uses it to find the work they do not have yet.
Dan McCarthy runs SCA's Northeast district. He reads route density for sales. A thin route is a target. He points the sales team at that zone, the route gets denser, and the same headcount covers more stops with less time on the road.
The empty stretches are the tell. Drive south for forty miles with nothing between mile ten and mile fifteen and you are not working, you are driving. Sell into that space and two trucks become one.
The same map informed acquisition decisions. Overlay a target's customers on existing routes and you can see whether the business folds in or comes with a shop you have to keep open.