Our Story
RouteSmart’s history and origins embedded in our company and people a passion for solving the world’s most complex routing challenges. Our highly educated and experienced team and deep understanding of our customers’ businesses needs comes from decades of working at their sides to deliver efficiencies and savings.
1895
Sidney B. Bowne and Son Engineering, established in New York
1978
Four Operations Research Professors at the University of Maryland, College Park begin collaborating on vehicle route planning (VRP) research
1980
Distinct Management Consultants (DMC) founded by University of Maryland Operations Research professors to solve problems using the latest operations research methodologies
1984
Bowne and DMC collaborate on sanitation routing solution for Oyster Bay, NY, its first waste management client
1985
Bowne and DMC begin working with Electronic Data Systems on letter carrier route planning for the U.S. Postal Service (USPS), marking our first work with a postal sector client
1988
Southern California Gas Company begins working with Bowne and DMC, its first entry into the utilities sector
1989
Bowne and DMC jointly form Bowne Distinct Limited to build a routing product to rapidly deliver routing solutions to large-scale, high density routing challenges on top of Esri Arc/Info for Unix
1990
Bowne Distinct develops Carrier Optimal Routing (COR) solution in partnership with the USPS to calculate efficient routes
1995
RouteSmart for ArcView is released
1995
Bowne Distinct begins a long-lasting relationship with Esri by becoming part of the Esri Business Partner Program
1997
Bowne Distinct begins working with its first U.S. newspaper distribution client, the Wall Street Journal, as well as the New York Times, offering optimization for home delivery distribution operations
1998
RouteSmart Technologies, Inc. formally incorporated after Bowne acquires a majority ownership
1999
RouteSmart’s 20+ year relationship with FedEx begins in support of its new Home Delivery service
2000
RouteSmart works with environmental consultancy Integrated Skills, Limited, its first UK client, to deliver route optimization for UK waste authorities, forging a relationship and growing its international presence
2001
RouteSmart holds its first user conference, INTERSECT, convening a community of routing and technology professionals to learn about innovations and share best practices
2003
RouteSmart begins offering premium street data to clients through HERE (then Navigation Technologies Corporation), starting a strategic partnership that continues today
2005
Introduction of cycle day balancing for utilities, allowing clients to design balanced routes across the entire fleet to increase efficiency and productivity
2005
RouteSmart for ArcGIS introduced and builds upon the relationship with Esri to integrate the ultimate route planning and optimization algorithms from RouteSmart with the premiere GIS solution from Esri
2006
For public works, RouteSmart offers solutions for snowplow and street sweeping services that allows for multiple weather scenarios and speed of vehicles, respectively
2010
RouteSmart Online becomes the first web solution for newspapers with a streamlined interface that provides a faster, simpler way of executing daily routing tasks
2012
RouteSmart’s Automatic Meter Reading (AMR) Read Range-Derived Route Optimization Solution introduced to reduce meter reading travel distances and total route times
2013
Routing-as-a-Service (RaaS) debuts and allows clients to access RouteSmart solvers via a hosted, scalable, environment
2015
RouteSmart receives 20-year Esri Business Partner Award
2015
Roll-off waste solution is released after extensive R&D; effort and begins helping commercial and municipal Public Works clients streamline daily scheduling
2022
After a year-long hiatus from in-person events due to the COVID-19 pandemic, RouteSmart welcomes back routing and technology professionals to INTERSECT 2022 in Orlando, Florida, to educate, collaborate and celebrate
2022
RouteSmart prepares for the future by building and evolving route planning solutions to be ever faster and more efficient
2025
FedEx acquires RouteSmart Technologies and the company continues to strengthen its position as a global leader for optimizing service and delivery routes.
