Route4Me, a routing optimization platform, seeks to save shipping companies from manual planning. They bill themselves as an alternative to Google Maps and use an app to coordinate continuously tracked mobile drivers with a headquarters. Route4Me claims that they can save you money by minimizing your planning time and by cutting down on fuel use with their shorter and more efficient routes. The company is not currently operating in freight services; however, their most recent patent application shows they may be looking at entering into the space.
Their patent application indicates their desire to be more than just another routing company. This patent describes a system for rerouting a vehicle once it has gone off a preplanned path. This patent would be equally effective for their current business model or for commercial shipping. Is this first step into dynamic rerouting just an improvement on their previous model? Or is Route4Me positioning themselves to move into a new space to challenge companies such as Uber and UPS?
