Last Mile Carriers: Everything You Need to Know

The last mile is the most expensive delivery stage, the most visible to customers, and the hardest to control at scale. That’s why last mile carriers play a critical role in modern ecommerce logistics — they’re responsible for turning fulfillment promises into real outcomes at the doorstep.

This guide gives logistics leaders a clear look at how final mile carriers operate, why they matter, and how to use them more effectively.

Key highlights: 

• Last mile delivery companies handle the final leg of delivery — getting orders from fulfillment centers to customers’ doors — and directly impact speed, cost, and customer satisfaction.
• Key challenges for businesses working with final mile carriers include blind handoffs, delayed tracking, and slow onboarding caused by outdated systems and siloed workflows.
• Shipping trends like crowdsourced delivery, sustainable transportation options, and tech-driven logistics are reshaping how final mile performance is measured.
• Shipium provides a pre-integrated network of last mile carriers along with real-time tracking, fast onboarding, and full control over multi-carrier delivery.

What is a last mile carrier?

A last mile carrier is the delivery service responsible for transporting a package from a distribution hub — such as a warehouse, third-party logistics provider (3PL), or local fulfillment center — to the customer’s doorstep. 

This stage of the ecommerce supply chain is the final and most customer-visible part of the fulfillment journey. To make informed decisions, it’s important to understand the different types of last mile delivery companies and what each offers:

• National carriers, like UPS, USPS, and FedEx, provide broad coverage and established infrastructure for ecommerce businesses.
• Regional carriers, such as Lone Star Overnight (LSO) and General Logistics Systems (GLS), offer targeted zone coverage with cost and speed advantages in specific geographies.
• Gig economy-based carriers, including DoorDash Drive and Uber Direct, enable rapid, flexible same-day or on-demand delivery.
• Specialized or white-label providers, like Tusk Logistics, Better Trucks, and Sway, focus on niche services such as branded delivery, reverse logistics, or urban micro-fulfillment.

Keep learning: How last mile delivery impacts your shipping cost

Why do businesses need a last mile service provider?

Businesses need a last mile service provider to maintain control, flexibility, and performance across the most variable and customer-visible phase of the shipping process workflow. 

According to DHL’s Logistics Trend Radar 7.0, the last mile segment represents roughly 53% of total shipping costs, making it the most expensive part of fulfillment. For logistics leaders, it means that even small inefficiencies, like delayed handoffs or poor routing, can have outsized impacts on both cost structure and customer satisfaction.

Beyond cost, the last mile introduces operational complexity. Delivery timing varies by region, carrier performance is inconsistent, and customer expectations for tracking and transparency continue to rise. Managing this variability at scale requires precise execution, real-time data, and technology that ensures the right order arrives at the right time, every time. 

How does the delivery process for final mile carriers work?

The delivery process for final mile carriers works as these companies pick up labeled shipments from fulfillment centers and move them through a local delivery network before handing them off to the customer.

Now let’s break down these five steps of the last mile delivery process:

1. Order hand-off: Once the order is packed and labeled, it’s transferred to the selected last mile carrier from a fulfillment center, store, or 3PL partner.
2. Carrier routing: The carrier receives the package and plans the route based on destination, traffic patterns, and delivery commitments.
3. Out for delivery: A driver scans the shipment and starts the local route, with real-time tracking often shared with the customer.
4. Package drop-off: The courier delivers the order to the specified location, whether a residence, business, locker, or pickup point.
5. Status confirmation: Delivery is confirmed and synced back to the shipper’s systems, completing the shipping workflow and enabling follow-up actions like notifications or returns.

Depending on the provider, these final mile steps can involve regional sorting hubs, gig-based drivers, or direct transfer to a local fleet.

How long does a last mile carrier take​ to deliver orders?

Delivery times for last mile carriers vary depending on the service level, geography, and carrier type — but typically range from same-day to five business days. For example: 

• Gig-based services like Uber Direct can fulfill local deliveries within hours
• Regional carriers often support 1 to 2-day delivery across focused zones
• National carriers may take 2 to 5 days for standard ground shipments, depending on distance and network load

How much do last mile services cost?

Last mile services’ costs vary based on factors like delivery speed, distance, carrier type, and package size. Expedited or same-day services are typically more expensive, while regional and ground-based options can offer more affordable rates for standard delivery windows.

Automating carrier selection helps reduce these costs across every order. By evaluating rates, delivery times, and service levels from a range of different providers, logistics teams can make smarter carrier decisions in real time.

Top last mile delivery companies to work with

Today’s ecommerce fulfillment strategies rely on a mix of national, regional, on-demand, and international carriers to meet delivery promises and customer expectations. These providers offer specialized strengths — from ultra-fast urban delivery to low-cost cross-border shipping — and play different roles depending on geography, order profile, and customer need.

Here is a curated list of Shipium-integrated last mile delivery companies, organized by type, use case, and coverage to help you build a smarter, faster network.

Coordinating this range of last mile carriers requires a system built to manage complexity. Shipium’s multi carrier shipping software is designed for enterprise ecommerce teams that need speed, flexibility, and visibility across every carrier.

Explore Shipium’s pre-integrated carrier network to see how you can activate national, regional, and on-demand partners — fast, reliably, and at scale.

What are the most common challenges businesses have with final mile delivery companies?

While customer expectations around speed and visibility continue to grow, many final mile delivery companies still rely on outdated processes that create costly consequences for shippers, like missed delivery windows and tracking gaps. 

Key challenges businesses experience with last mile logistics companies include:

Blind handoffs and lack of visibility 

When carriers poorly coordinate handoffs between systems or partners during the order management process flow, they result in delays, gaps in tracking, or complete data loss. These “blind handoffs” make it difficult for logistics teams to monitor the status of a package in transit, especially during exceptions like missed deliveries or address issues.

According to McKinsey, between 13% and 19% of total logistics costs in the United States — up to $95 billion annually — can be traced to inefficient interactions or "blind handoffs." For shippers, the impact is both financial and reputational: missed delivery confirmations drive support costs up and erode customer trust.

Inconsistent delivery performance

Service levels from final mile carriers vary widely across regions, especially from companies lacking standardized operational practices, which leads to missed estimated times of arrival (ETAs) and unreliable delivery windows.

Without consistent execution, even well-optimized networks struggle to maintain accurate delivery promises, driving customer complaints and costly re-shipments.

Manual onboarding and slow integrations

Legacy systems often make it difficult to add or switch last mile carriers quickly. Instead of configuring a new partner in hours, logistics teams face weeks of manual setup, custom development, and testing, slowing down time-to-value.

For ecommerce businesses under pressure to launch new regions, enable same-day delivery, or shift volume during peak season, these delays introduce real operational risk. Logistics teams need infrastructure that lets them add new carriers on demand, not wait for IT timelines to catch up with business needs.

Gaps in final mile carrier tracking

Many final mile carriers provide limited tracking capabilities, especially when their systems aren’t integrated with the shipper’s tech stack. This disconnection delays order status updates or makes this information incomplete, lacking the detail needed to monitor performance in real time.

Without standardized final mile carrier tracking, retailers struggle to surface accurate delivery information to customers or flag issues before they escalate. Consistent, real-time tracking is essential for both operational control and a seamless customer experience.

How do I improve last mile carrier tracking?

Improving last mile carrier tracking requires full system integration. Tracking events should sync automatically across carrier APIs, ecommerce shipping software, and customer-facing tools — eliminating manual updates and reducing support escalations. 

As a modern shipping platform built for enterprise ecommerce, Shipium consolidates and normalizes tracking across all carriers into one system. Logistics teams gain real-time visibility, faster exception handling, and smarter decision-making across the entire last mile.

Learn how our multi carrier shipment tracking API gives your team full visibility and control across the last mile.

How do I choose the ideal last mile provider for my operation?

Logistics leaders must evaluate final mile delivery companies on their ability to integrate into complex networks and meet the demands of enterprise-scale operations. Great partners should uphold performance — even during peak season — and provide the technical infrastructure needed for automation and visibility.

Look for last mile providers that offer:

• Operational reliability: Consistent performance across geographies and peak periods, with clear service-level agreements (SLAs) and accountability for on-time delivery.
• Real-time tracking and visibility: Transparent milestone updates that feed directly into your systems and support customer-facing communications.
• Technology integration: Modern APIs and platform compatibility that streamline onboarding and simplify data exchange.
• Flexible delivery options: Support for standard, express, and on-demand services to match delivery speed to customer expectations.
• Scalability and reach: The infrastructure and readiness to support growth, seasonal surges, and network changes without compromising service quality.

What are the current last mile carriers trends?

Last mile carriers evolve as ecommerce customer expectations push the limits of delivery efficiency. Logistics leaders have to adapt, exploring new carrier types, smarter routing, and other delivery methods — all aimed at improving supply chain performance while keeping costs in check.

Key last mile delivery carriers trends include:

• Carrier diversification: Shippers are building multi-carrier networks that include national and regional providers to improve resiliency and reduce dependency on any single partner.
• On-demand delivery growth: Consumer demand for same-day and next-hour delivery has led to widespread adoption of gig economy carriers, enabling faster service without investing in owned fleets.
• Real-time routing and automation: Carriers are increasingly using machine learning and data models to optimize routes, reduce delivery windows, and improve delivery promise accuracy.
• Customer-first experiences: Last mile service providers are investing in better tracking, proactive alerts, and frictionless returns to support the full post-purchase journey.

Shipium has the last mile courier partner network you need

Modern ecommerce brands can’t afford to rely on a single last mile courier. With rising delivery expectations and constant cost pressure, multi-carrier strategies are operationally necessary. But legacy systems make diversification slow, expensive, and hard to manage. 

That’s where Shipium delivers a real advantage. Our shipping platform is built to operationalize a multi-carrier network at enterprise scale. With pre-integrated access to national, regional, on-demand, and international carriers, businesses can add new partners quickly and start optimizing routing logic immediately — without development bottlenecks or long onboarding cycles.

Case in point: Saks OFF 5TH used Shipium to move from one national carrier to 12 active partners in under just six months. The result: faster delivery times, more flexibility, and lower shipping costs. Shipments delivered in three days or less nearly doubled, while the original carrier now handles only 7% of volume — down from 100%.

Book a demo to see how Shipium helps you scale with the right last mile carriers.