Editor’s note: Today's article comes from Jack Underwood, Co-Founder and CEO, Circuit and Megan Murphy, VP of Product, Circuit for Teams. They share how Circuit has built a comprehensive last-mile solution to benefit couriers, drivers, and recipients alike.
Being a delivery driver can be challenging. Routes are long, roads congested, and customer expectations high. And because most drivers are paid per delivery, they receive the same pay however long their route takes. To speed things up, many drivers use route-planning technology, but this can be clunky and outdated, with drivers forced to switch between a patchwork of apps. This can slow drivers down, meaning they get paid less for the hours they work.
That’s the challenge Circuit set out to solve in 2018 with our first product, Circuit Route Planner. In 2020 we followed up with Circuit for Teams, our last-mile delivery solution for modern courier companies. In 2024 alone, we supported over a billion deliveries worldwide.
When developing Circuit, we knew we needed to identify delivery locations with pinpoint accuracy. Drivers need to know the exact location of each property, and we need accuracy to create optimized routes. As we searched for a map provider, the stark difference in data quality between Google Maps Platform and the alternatives made our decision for us. Only Google Maps Platform could provide the rooftop-level data we needed. We implemented Google Maps Platform Mobility services into our route planner from the outset. Today, the platform’s global reach has helped Circuit gain users in more than 180 countries worldwide.
Saving delivery drivers an hour per day with the Navigation SDK
With Circuit, delivery drivers can now use the familiar Google Maps interface, with its 100 million daily mapping updates, to understand precisely where they are and where they’re going. Thanks to the Navigation SDK, drivers can navigate to each stop on their route without having to leave the Circuit app, with turn-by-turn directions, lane guidance, and real-time traffic updates.
With Google Maps Platform Mobility services, Circuit Route Planner is saving delivery drivers an average of an hour per day on their rounds, earning them more money per hour. Drivers have saved up to 40 miles on a single route. Whether it’s distance, time, or both, the value for drivers is clear.
Managing routes at scale with a ready-made last-mile management solution
Next, we set out to solve the challenges faced by modern courier firms, with Circuit for Teams. For these companies, the delivery system is more complex than ever, with more buyers, sellers, and drivers, but very little infrastructure growth to support the growing demands on the roads. Couriers need the right technology to operate effectively.
With Google Maps Platform Mobility services, Circuit for Teams allows couriers to plan, optimize, and assign delivery routes efficiently at scale. Previously, without an all-in-one solution, courier companies would try to integrate Mobility services themselves and build systems in house. However, they often lacked developer know-how, leading to patchwork, inefficient solutions. With Circuit for Teams, courier companies get a ready-made solution, with the best of Google Maps Platform, without having to integrate the SDKs themselves. This frees them to focus on what they do best: managing deliveries.
Saving courier companies three hours per day with efficient route management
One challenge Circuit solves for courier companies is resolving incorrect addresses. If a driver is given a wrong address, there's an almost 40 percent chance the delivery will fail. Every unsuccessful delivery eats into couriers’ thin margins, so it’s important to catch wrong addresses early. With Google Maps Platform we can do just that.
Once an address is entered into Circuit, the app calls the Autocomplete functionality of the Places API, to validate whether that address exists. If it’s ambiguous, incomplete, or incorrect, Autocomplete will help correct it. The Geocoding API helps verify addresses and standardize formats in a consistent, accurate way. Together, these features help ensure courier companies have accurate addresses for successful deliveries.
Courier companies also use Circuit for Teams to plan and manage efficient routes for multiple drivers, visualizing all those routes on Google Maps, saving courier firms an average of three hours a day.
Courier companies can track all their drivers on the map, ensuring deliveries are proceeding as planned. In one unusual case, a courier firm was even able to contact and track an unresponsive driver and provide life-saving aid during an emergency.
Charting a road map to efficient deliveries for all
As for the consumer waiting for their parcel, courier companies can use Circuit for Teams and Google Maps Platform Mobility services to provide an accurate estimated delivery time so they know when to be at home. We’re now also implementing the Routes API to factor in live traffic for the entire journey, giving recipients further along the route even more accurate estimated delivery times. They can also use Circuit for Teams to track their driver’s progress in real time with Google Maps.
As Circuit grows, we’re exploring new ways to use Google Maps Platform Mobility services to improve last-mile delivery, including allowing couriers to assign the more complex routes to their most capable drivers. We’re also focusing on helping courier firms improve other areas of their business, such as managing costs and cash flow and finding growth opportunities.
All this growth is built on the foundation we’ve developed with Google Maps Platform. Its quality, reliability, and breadth of functionality have allowed us to build a world-class driver product, together with a complete last-mile management solution. That simply wouldn’t have been possible with anyone else.
