Reliability Matters: A Strategic 25-Year Partnership Made RouteSmart the Global Route Planning Engine for FedEx
From pioneering FedEx Home Delivery in 1999 to powering 100,000+ routes daily, RouteSmart has been at the core of FedEx’s logistics evolution—culminating in FedEx’s acquisition of RouteSmart in 2025. This is more than a story of ownership—it’s a story of trust, scale, and intelligent route planning.
– 2 Min Read
Building the Partnership
For more than two decades, RouteSmart has stood beside FedEx through transformation, expansion, and innovation. What started as a vendor relationship in 1999 became a cornerstone of FedEx’s logistics strategy. In 2025, that journey came full circle when FedEx officially acquired RouteSmart Technologies. This is a story that goes beyond ownership. It’s a story about trust, performance, and scaling a vision.
Starting With a New Line of Business
At the outset of FedEx Home Delivery in 1999, FedEx faced a challenge: how to make residential deliveries—often unpredictable, voluminous, and widely distributed—work at scale. The answer wasn’t just people or vehicles. It was intelligent route planning. RouteSmart’s Vehicle Route Planning (VRP) platform became the engine behind that success.
Scaling Solutions to Grow the Business
From those early days, RouteSmart and FedEx grew together. As FedEx added volume and complexity, RouteSmart kept pace, delivering tools that not only
adapted, but anticipated needs: Daily Route Planning System (DRPS) to optimize stop sequencing. Work Area Planner (WAP) to forecast and scale for peak time periods. FedEx Route Optimization (FRO) optimizes more than 100,000 FedEx routes daily in North America. It allows couriers and service providers to adjust for volume fluctuations, dynamically assign stops and reduce miles driven—all while maintaining service-level commitments. Each solution was designed with couriers in mind—offering visibility, efficiency, and autonomy. RouteSmart became a trusted name inside FedEx stations, not just for engineers, for couriers.
Making the Partnership Official
In February 2025, FedEx announced it had acquired RouteSmart Technologies. FedEx President and CEO Raj Subramaniam described the move as part of a broader mission: “This is yet another step on our journey to make supply chains smarter for everyone… to accelerate the deployment of a common route optimization capability for FedEx operations.”
Delivering Now and in the Future
“RouteSmart continues to operate as a standalone brand and our mission remains the same: to serve our clients, listen to their needs, and turn their delivery challenges into competitive advantages.” — Larry Levy, President, RouteSmart
This is the beginning of a new chapter—with more insight, more investment, and more intelligent solutions for efficient operation
