Get To The Point! Kerbside Geocoding for Logistics

Addresscloud supports logistics customers by providing rooftop coordinates to get deliveries to the correct property, first time and on time. To further improve our service for last mile logistics we used the newly released Open USRN Dataset from the Ordnance Survey to create a Kerbside location for every address in Great Britain. In this post I look at why we need kerbside locations and how they are being used.

Kerbside locations have been a real game-changer for our last-mile logistics planning, significantly reducing the time our drivers spend locating a property. We have been very impressed with how quickly Addresscloud turned a problem into a solution and a differentiator for the Riverford business.

Sue Jones, Co-Owner and Head of Business Systems
Riverford Organic Farmers (September 2020)

The Routing Problem

Addresscloud uses Ordnance Survey mapping to provide rooftop locations for its geocoding service in Great Britain. Our logistics customers feed these address locations into their routing algorithms which direct drivers to the nearest point on the road network. One customer, Riverford Organic Farmers sent us some feedback from its drivers who often found that the nearest road to an address was not always the one used for property access. For example, a detached house on the corner of two streets with a long front garden often resulted in the routing algorithm sending a driver "round the corner" instead of stopping the driver at the front gate. The example below demonstrates this, and shows that determining the nearest street to a property cannot be done on proximity alone.

Linking via USRNs

The Ordnance Survey recently released the Open USRN dataset which provides Unique Street Reference Numbers and a simplified road network for all the roads in Great Britain. The OS AddressBase products which we use to power our British geocoding services also include a USRN value for every property. Following advice from our colleagues at the OS we were able to link these two products to determine the nearest road assigned to every property in the country, and use these to determine the optimum location for deliveries. As this was one of the first use cases of the new Open USRN dataset the OS were keen to learn how we were benefitting from their data to solve a customer problem.

We are delighted to have a strong partnership with Addresscloud, and that our data is supporting them in their ambition to develop innovative solutions for challenges affecting their customers. Up-to-date, accurate location data is the foundation on which government and a variety businesses rely on to do so much, and we look forward to working with them as they continue to help their clients realise the benefits of this.

Hannah Williams, Marketing Manager
Ordnance Survey (September 2020)

Kerbside Now Available

Thanks to the newly available Open USRN product from the Ordnance Survey we were able to quickly and effectively enhance our geocoding service by adding a Kerbside location for every property. Riverford have been trialing the new functionality and have received positive feedback from their drivers, who say that their routing has improved and they are able to deliver their produce more efficiently.

Kerbside locations are now available for Addresscloud customers and are supported through our Match API for both AddressBase Premium and AddressFirst geocoding solutions for Great Britain.  Contact us for more information or to setup a trial. To keep up to date with more news follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn.