Nick Zabikow, senior director of sales for the Americas with HERE Technologies, explains the concept of private mapping, and how it helps shippers to customize their routing strategies.

Private mapping takes normal route maps and allows the user to add their own data points, including proprietary information from customers and delivery services, maximize the efficiency of freight transportation, Zabikow says.

The customized nature of the resulting map makes it impossible for competitors to benefit from the intelligence built into it. Such information might include special routes and precise locations within buildings for delivery. Private maps allow the user “to say this is exactly where I want my package or your goods delivered,” Zabikow says. “It gives you time back, creates a more efficient route, and keeps customers happy.”

The accuracy and value of a private map depends, of course, on the quality of the data it contains. To make that possible, shippers need to communicate closely with service providers. And carriers need to capture data at every point along their routes. “It’s very important to take that on, and add more to the picture,” Zabikow says.

The possession of private maps also allows carriers to deploy the best equipment for a particular job, such as narrower trucks in urban settings. “When all of that information is laid out and brought into a mapping,” Zabikow says, “people finding creative ways to do things they didn’t think they could do.”

The information must be fresh and constantly updated. Traditional maps might be revised on a monthly, quarterly or even yearly basis, but “private mapping can do it daily.”