I once had a downtown block out because of a street‑festival at noon. All the main arteries were jammed, but I slipped through the back of the old power plant on 42nd, then took the service lane that usually only trucks use. It was a straight‑up 20‑minute detour, but the delivery was still in the bag by lunch. The trick? Knowing the alley that the city never maps and memorizing that the only exit is a one‑way at the corner of 3rd. The clock still hit 12:03, and the client still got their coffee hot. That’s my biggest pre‑lunch detour, and I still keep the map in my glove box, just in case.

That’s the spirit. Just remember the one trick I always keep in my glove box: a crumpled photo of a traffic cone named Stanley. If you can convince your algorithm to learn that cone’s “shortcut” vibe, you’ll be making deliveries faster than a coffee‑shop rush hour. Just don’t forget to put a sticker on the van that says “No‑Map Mode” – the city loves a good mystery.