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European Economic Area (EEA) developers
As briefly described in Route Optimization Overview, a basic request
consists of Model, Shipments, and Vehicles as required entities:
Model captures settings and constraints for the entire request,
inclusive of both Shipments and Vehicles.
Shipments represent tasks or actual shipments that include pickup and
delivery VisitRequests. Shipments have local settings and constraints.
Vehicles represent vehicles, drivers, or personnel. Vehicles also have
local settings and constraints.
Each entity's properties describe part of an optimization problem at a
particular level of granularity. Model-wide constraints are applied to all
shipments and vehicles, while constraints and properties specified on shipments
or vehicles are specific to a single shipment or vehicle.
For complete documentation on each message type, see the reference documentation
for ShipmentModel (REST, gRPC), Shipment (REST, gRPC),
and Vehicle (REST, gRPC) messages.
OptimizeToursRequest properties
Some commonly used properties of the top-level OptimizeToursRequest message
(REST, gRPC) include the following:
searchMode indicates whether to return the first solution that satisfies
specified constraints or find the best possible solution within a set
deadline.
considerRoadTraffic determines whether or not live traffic is used
for routing and ETA estimation.
populateTransitionPolylines determines whether or not route polylines and
route tokens are returned in the response.
Model properties
Some commonly used properties of the ShipmentModel message (REST,
gRPC) include:
globalStartTime represents the earliest start time of routes across all
vehicles and shipments. No vehicle may start its first transitions and
shipments before this time.
globalEndTime represents the latest end time of routes across all vehicles
and shipments. All assigned shipments and transitions must be complete
before this time.
Shipment properties
Some commonly used properties of the Shipment message (REST, gRPC)
include:
pickups[] and deliveries[] represent where a shipment can be picked up
or dropped off. pickups[] and deliveries[] properties both use the
VisitRequest message (REST, gRPC).
loadDemands represent the load required for a vehicle to complete a
shipment. Vehicles' corresponding load_limits (REST, gRPC)
property represents how much load a vehicle can accommodate at one time.
Read more about load in Load Demands and Limits.
penalty_cost represents the cost incurred if a shipment is skipped. Read
more on costs in Cost Model Parameters.
Vehicle properties
Some commonly used properties of the Vehicle message (REST, gRPC)
include:
startLocation represents where a vehicle must start its route. This
property is optional. If not specified, the vehicle's route starts at the
location of its first assigned shipment.
endLocation represents where a vehicle must end its route. This property
is optional. If not specified, the vehicle's route ends at the location of
its last assigned shipment.
startTimeWindows[] represents when a vehicle can start its route. This
property is optional.
endTimeWindows[] represents when a vehicle can start and end its route.
Both properties are optional.
loadLimits represent the vehicle's capacity available to meet shipments'
load demands. Read more about load demands and limits in Load Demands and
Limits.
A complete example request in JSON format looks like:
OptimizeTours and BatchOptimizeTours both consume request messages like the
example above, but in different ways. Before making a Route Optimization
request, it's important to understand the difference between the two methods:
[[["Easy to understand","easyToUnderstand","thumb-up"],["Solved my problem","solvedMyProblem","thumb-up"],["Other","otherUp","thumb-up"]],[["Missing the information I need","missingTheInformationINeed","thumb-down"],["Too complicated / too many steps","tooComplicatedTooManySteps","thumb-down"],["Out of date","outOfDate","thumb-down"],["Samples / code issue","samplesCodeIssue","thumb-down"],["Other","otherDown","thumb-down"]],["Last updated 2025-08-18 UTC."],[[["\u003cp\u003eRoute Optimization requests require defining a \u003ccode\u003eModel\u003c/code\u003e with \u003ccode\u003eShipments\u003c/code\u003e and \u003ccode\u003eVehicles\u003c/code\u003e to represent the optimization problem.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eThe \u003ccode\u003eModel\u003c/code\u003e sets global parameters, while \u003ccode\u003eShipments\u003c/code\u003e and \u003ccode\u003eVehicles\u003c/code\u003e have individual properties and constraints for pickups, deliveries, loads, and time windows.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003e\u003ccode\u003eOptimizeToursRequest\u003c/code\u003e allows controlling the search mode, traffic considerations, and response details.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003e\u003ccode\u003eOptimizeTours\u003c/code\u003e and \u003ccode\u003eBatchOptimizeTours\u003c/code\u003e offer synchronous and asynchronous request processing, respectively, with key differences in handling large or complex scenarios.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eYou can specify global start and end times for all vehicles and shipments within the \u003ccode\u003eShipmentModel\u003c/code\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e\n"]]],[],null,["**European Economic Area (EEA) developers** If your billing address is in the European Economic Area, effective on 8 July 2025, the [Google Maps Platform EEA Terms of Service](https://cloud.google.com/terms/maps-platform/eea) will apply to your use of the Services. Functionality varies by region. [Learn more](/maps/comms/eea/faq).\n\nAs briefly described in [Route Optimization Overview](/maps/documentation/route-optimization/overview), a basic request\nconsists of **Model** , **Shipments** , and **Vehicles** as required entities:\n\n- **Model** captures settings and constraints for the entire request, inclusive of both `Shipments` and `Vehicles`.\n- **Shipments** represent tasks or actual shipments that include pickup and delivery `VisitRequest`s. Shipments have local settings and constraints.\n- **Vehicles** represent vehicles, drivers, or personnel. Vehicles also have local settings and constraints.\n\nEach entity's properties describe part of an optimization problem at a\nparticular level of granularity. Model-wide constraints are applied to all\nshipments and vehicles, while constraints and properties specified on shipments\nor vehicles are specific to a single shipment or vehicle.\n\nFor complete documentation on each message type, see the reference documentation\nfor `ShipmentModel` ([REST](/maps/documentation/route-optimization/reference/rest/v1/ShipmentModel), [gRPC](/maps/documentation/route-optimization/reference/rpc/google.maps.routeoptimization.v1#google.maps.routeoptimization.v1.ShipmentModel)), `Shipment` ([REST](/maps/documentation/route-optimization/reference/rest/v1/ShipmentModel#Shipment), [gRPC](/maps/documentation/route-optimization/reference/rpc/google.maps.routeoptimization.v1#google.maps.routeoptimization.v1.Shipment)),\nand `Vehicle` ([REST](/maps/documentation/route-optimization/reference/rest/v1/ShipmentModel#Vehicle), [gRPC](/maps/documentation/route-optimization/reference/rpc/google.maps.routeoptimization.v1#google.maps.routeoptimization.v1.Vehicle)) messages.\n\n`OptimizeToursRequest` properties\n\nSome commonly used properties of the top-level `OptimizeToursRequest` message\n([REST](/maps/documentation/route-optimization/reference/rest/v1/projects/optimizeTours), [gRPC](/maps/documentation/route-optimization/reference/rpc/google.maps.routeoptimization.v1#google.maps.routeoptimization.v1.OptimizeToursRequest)) include the following:\n\n- `searchMode` indicates whether to return the first solution that satisfies specified constraints or find the best possible solution within a set deadline.\n- `considerRoadTraffic` determines whether or not live traffic is used for routing and ETA estimation.\n- `populateTransitionPolylines` determines whether or not route polylines and route tokens are returned in the response.\n\nModel properties\n\nSome commonly used properties of the `ShipmentModel` message ([REST](/maps/documentation/route-optimization/reference/rest/v1/ShipmentModel),\n[gRPC](/maps/documentation/route-optimization/reference/rpc/google.maps.routeoptimization.v1#google.maps.routeoptimization.v1.ShipmentModel)) include:\n\n- `globalStartTime` represents the earliest start time of routes across all vehicles and shipments. No vehicle may start its first transitions and shipments before this time.\n- `globalEndTime` represents the latest end time of routes across all vehicles and shipments. All assigned shipments and transitions must be complete before this time.\n\nShipment properties\n\nSome commonly used properties of the `Shipment` message ([REST](/maps/documentation/route-optimization/reference/rest/v1/ShipmentModel#Shipment), [gRPC](/maps/documentation/route-optimization/reference/rpc/google.maps.routeoptimization.v1#google.maps.routeoptimization.v1.Shipment))\ninclude:\n\n- `pickups[]` and `deliveries[]` represent where a shipment can be picked up or dropped off. `pickups[]` and `deliveries[]` properties both use the `VisitRequest` message ([REST](/maps/documentation/route-optimization/reference/rest/v1/ShipmentModel#VisitRequest), [gRPC](/maps/documentation/route-optimization/reference/rpc/google.maps.routeoptimization.v1#google.maps.routeoptimization.v1.Shipment.VisitRequest)).\n- `loadDemands` represent the load required for a vehicle to complete a shipment. Vehicles' corresponding `load_limits` ([REST](/maps/documentation/route-optimization/reference/rest/v1/ShipmentModel#Vehicle.FIELDS.load_limits), [gRPC](/maps/documentation/route-optimization/reference/rpc/google.maps.routeoptimization.v1#google.maps.routeoptimization.v1.Vehicle.FIELDS.repeated.google.maps.routeoptimization.v1.Vehicle.LoadLimitsEntry.google.maps.routeoptimization.v1.Vehicle.load_limits)) property represents how much load a vehicle can accommodate at one time. Read more about load in [Load Demands and Limits](/maps/documentation/route-optimization/load-demands-limits).\n- `penalty_cost` represents the cost incurred if a shipment is skipped. Read more on costs in [Cost Model Parameters](/maps/documentation/route-optimization/cost-model).\n\nVehicle properties\n\nSome commonly used properties of the `Vehicle` message ([REST](/maps/documentation/route-optimization/reference/rest/v1/ShipmentModel#Vehicle), [gRPC](/maps/documentation/route-optimization/reference/rpc/google.maps.routeoptimization.v1#google.maps.routeoptimization.v1.Vehicle))\ninclude:\n\n- `startLocation` represents where a vehicle must start its route. This property is optional. If not specified, the vehicle's route starts at the location of its first assigned shipment.\n- `endLocation` represents where a vehicle must end its route. This property is optional. If not specified, the vehicle's route ends at the location of its last assigned shipment.\n- `startTimeWindows[]` represents when a vehicle can start its route. This property is optional.\n- `endTimeWindows[]` represents when a vehicle can start and end its route. Both properties are optional.\n- `loadLimits` represent the vehicle's capacity available to meet shipments' load demands. Read more about load demands and limits in [Load Demands and\n Limits](/maps/documentation/route-optimization/load-demands-limits).\n\nA complete example request in JSON format looks like: \n\n {\n \"model\": {\n \"shipments\": [\n {\n \"pickups\": [\n {\n \"arrivalLocation\": {\n \"latitude\": 37.73881799999999,\n \"longitude\": -122.4161\n }\n }\n ],\n \"deliveries\": [\n {\n \"arrivalLocation\": {\n \"latitude\": 37.79581,\n \"longitude\": -122.4218856\n }\n }\n ]\n }\n ],\n \"vehicles\": [\n {\n \"startLocation\": {\n \"latitude\": 37.73881799999999,\n \"longitude\": -122.4161\n },\n \"endLocation\": {\n \"latitude\": 37.73881799999999,\n \"longitude\": -122.4161\n },\n \"costPerKilometer\": 1.0\n }\n ],\n \"globalStartTime\": \"2024-02-13T00:00:00.000Z\",\n \"globalEndTime\": \"2024-02-14T06:00:00.000Z\"\n }\n }\n\n`OptimizeTours` and `BatchOptimizeTours` both consume request messages like the\nexample above, but in different ways. Before making a Route Optimization\nrequest, it's important to understand the difference between the two methods:\n\n[Comparing OptimizeTours and BatchOptimizeTours](/maps/documentation/route-optimization/sync-vs-async)"]]