FedEx, UPS and the Postal Service have the e-commerce market covered for parcel-size shipments, but an opportunity still abounds.
A growing number of carriers and logistics companies are moving larger items purchased through online B2B and B2C channels to curbsides and through the front door.
On Tuesday May 22, a panel of fleet executives discussed critical success factors in final-mile transportation and logistics at the annual CCJ Spring Symposium in Hilton Head, S.C.
Meeting expectations
Parcel carriers drop shipments on doorsteps but Orlando, Fla.-based FASTMILE Logistics delivers bulky household items like furniture and appliances across the threshold and into homes.
“Anytime you are walking into a customer’s home it changes everything,” said Lance Dearborn, chief executive of FASTMILE Logistics, a regional carrier and logistics provider that specializes in e-commerce and last-mile residential deliveries. “When you take that extra step inside the home, the expectations of delivery go through the roof.”
To meet those expectations, drivers for FASTMILE Logistics are carefully selected and trained for “soft skills,” he says.
