The challenge
Every option on the table was either too expensive or too rigid
Location is at the core of Route's business. When setting out to build package tracking, Route's engineering team knew that accurate geocoding would be essential for their success, and conducted a thorough evaluation of potential solutions.
To build this in-house, Route estimated it would require a team of at least five full-time engineers and over $1M annually to maintain, excluding the cost of data licenses. Providers like Google Maps and Mapbox were similarly expensive and too inflexible for Route's use cases. Route needed an accurate, cost-effective, and extensible solution that could easily integrate with their architecture, which made Radar the best fit.
The solution
Accurate ETAs and precise travel distances
Radar's Geocoding API helps Route convert text-based package location descriptions from delivery service providers (DSPs) into precise geographic coordinates. One application is Route's estimated delivery feature: by geocoding tens of millions of historical DSP data points, Route built an ML model to reliably predict when packages will arrive at their final destinations, giving customers unparalleled insight into delivery dates. Radar also powers Route's carbon-neutral shipping: when customers add Green Package Protection, Route calculates the carbon emissions from their shipment and neutralizes them with investments in carbon removal projects. A critical input is travel distance — and using Radar's Distance API, Route calculates precise travel distances based on mode of transport and current road networks to make accurate carbon-offset investments.
The results
Accuracy Route can trust, at a fraction of the cost of building it
Radar's enterprise-grade, developer-first platform provided the accuracy, reliability, and flexibility Route was looking for in a location infrastructure provider. Real-time shipping estimates help Route merchants reduce support queries by 75%, and carbon-neutral shipping has increased checkout conversion rates by 20%.
Radar saves Route thousands of engineering hours and over $1M annually to power these features. With 99.99% uptime, Radar is a partner Route can trust with some of its most critical infrastructure.
