Originally published at: Amazon overtakes US Postal Service as largest parcel carrier - FreightWaves
Amazon has taken the lead as the largest U.S. domestic parcel carrier and smaller independent couriers are also taking market share from the U.S. Postal Service, FedEx and UPS.
Amazon becoming #1 on parcel volume is big. However, there are a couple other things worth mentioning.
Riddle me this. If cost per delivery declined when the market was booming, doesn’t it mean that the cost per delivery will increase for carriers with negative volume growth? I’m looking at you UPS. If you squeeze the ballon on one end …
It is also worth mentioning that the growth with alternative carriers is significant, albeit volume grew more than revenue. The alternative carriers I advise say that carrier decisions are all about cost and when asked about service, the response is often, “It is good enough.” Does that mean that the winners in the alternative segment will only do well with gig drivers, virtually no overhead and limited or no hub and linehaul? It think it does, but are shippers identifying their additional costs for carrier splits in fulfillment and expensive multi-stop truckload service to inject into the destination delivery depot? Maybe the carriers like OnTrac, CDL, Better Trucks, Optima and others who do provide this service are not being given enough credit by shippers from a total cost point of view? There are more than a few anecdotes to suggest the answer is no.