Google has launched last-kilometre software and cloud routing API to help fleet operators optimise delivery operations and face pandemic-driven challenges.

Combining hyperlocal insights from Google Maps with analytics and scale of Google Cloud, they help logistics companies and retailers create better delivery experiences for consumers, drivers and fleet managers.

The last-kilometre fleet offering from Google Maps and cloud fleet routing API from Google Cloud can help fleet operators improve delivery success and optimise fleet performance.

The pandemic has accelerated ecommerce adoption and strained supply chains, while consumer expectations around delivery speed and visibility have reached an all-time high. At the same time, last-kilometre delivery is estimated to make up more than half of total shipping costs. This means last-kilometre fleet operators have to work harder to create better consumer experiences and improve their operations.

The Google products help fleet operators address these challenges through an integrated suite of mapping, routing and analytics capabilities. 

The cloud fleet routing API focuses on the route planning phase of delivery and allows operators to perform fleet-wide optimisation so they can determine the allocation of packages to delivery vans and the sequencing of the delivery tasks. Natively integrated with Google Maps routes data, the API can deal with simple route planning requests in near real time, and scale to demanding workloads with parallelised request batching.

Across this spectrum, users can specify various constraints, such as time windows, package weights and vehicle capacities. It can also help carriers meet sustainability targets by reducing distance travelled, number of delivery vans and CO₂ output from computing.

The last-kilometre fleet offering focuses on delivery execution and allows fleet operators to optimise across every stage of the last-kilometre delivery journey, from ecommerce order to doorstep delivery. This also helps businesses create better delivery experiences for consumers and provides drivers the tools they need to perform at their best when completing tasks throughout the day.

It builds on the On-Demand Rides & Deliveries mobility platform from Google Maps, which is already used by ride-hailing and on-demand delivery operators around the world.

When implemented together, the two offerings help businesses optimise across every stage of the last-kilometre delivery journey, with features such as:

• Address capture to help obtain an accurate address and location for each pickup or delivery.
• Route optimisation to help ensure drivers are provided with routes that optimise around the fleet’s constraints, including delivery time windows, and adapt based on real-time traffic.
• Driver routing and navigation to deliver a seamless driver experience and improve route compliance with in-app navigation powered by Google Maps.
• Shipment tracking to keep consumers updated with live, day-of shipment tracking, including up-to-date location and arrival times of customer packages.
• Fleet performance to enable visibility into real-time route progress and shipment insights for operations teams.

“The pandemic further accelerated both ecommerce and the number of deliveries, which were already growing rapidly,” said Hans Thalbauer, managing director for logistics at Google Cloud. “The increased strain on delivery networks, plus many other factors like driver shortages, poor address data, factory closures and an increase in fuel prices have impacted delivery time and success. We’re making it easier for delivery fleet operators to address these issues and create seamless experiences for consumers, drivers and fleet managers.”

Thomas Manthey, head of engineering at Flaschenpost, added: “Our promise to customers is that we’ll deliver their goods within 120 minutes of receiving their order, and efficient route planning and navigation is indispensable in helping us achieve that. We chose the Google Maps platform because no other provider supports us so well with data, from distance and travel time data for planning to real-time data while driving.”

And Olivier Colinet, chief technology officer at Paack Logistics, said: “At Paack, we are obsessed with helping some of the largest ecommerce retailers in Europe create exceptional delivery experiences for the millions of orders they receive each month. To scale quickly, these enable our drivers and fleet managers to maintain peak efficiency and go beyond our 98% on-time, first-time delivery rates.”