Final-Mile Delivery

How this simple, sustainable solution could ease the problem of double-parked delivery vehicles.

Oak Brook, Ill.-based freight transportation and logistics services provider Hub Group took steps to expand its final mile service portfolio, announcing it has acquired Forward Air Final Mile (FAFM), a subsidiary of Greenville, Tenn.-based asset-light freight and logistics services provider Forward Air.

This follows its Texas-based expansion plan, which was rolled out in August 2022, with a focus on what it called the “fast-growing megaregion of Austin, Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston, and San Antonio, with the Dallas-Fort Worth facility to function as the major Texas-based sort hub, reaching 19 million new consumers through faster residential e-commerce delivery services.

The findings of the study, entitled “How Retailers Can Build Supply Chains That Thrive in the Post-Pandemic World,” were based on a partnership between OnTrac and Hanover Research through a survey of more than 150 C-Suite, VP, and director level supply chain professionals at large retailers, focusing on the challenges they are facing and how they plan to respond to those challenges, as well as key investment areas for them.

Taking steps to continue to invest in its final-mile service offerings, Waterloo, Ontario-based Descartes, a provider of logistics based on-demand, software-as-a-service offerings, recently announced it has acquired Melbourne, Australia-based Localz, a technology platform to help engage with customers on the day they’re having goods or services delivered.

An OnTrac spokesperson told LM that uniting the companies under a single name and brand identity was the final pieces in combining the LaserShip and OnTrac delivery networks.

Waterloo, Ontario-based Descartes, a provider of logistics based on-demand, software-as-a-service offerings, is expanding its final-mile services portfolio, announcing this week it has acquired Minneapolis-based GroundCloud, a cloud-based provider of final-mile carrier solutions and road safety compliance tools. The purchase price was $138 million, according to Descartes.

For Atlanta-based Roadie, an on-the-way delivery service with the nation’s largest local same-day footprint, and subsidiary of UPS, there is always a heightened focus on final-, or last-, mile logistics. That is especially true at this time of the year, to be sure. LM Group News Editor Jeff Berman recently caught up with Roadie Senior Marketing Manager Will Walker to learn about how the company approaches the busiest time of the year.

The role of the final mile market and where it fits in to the overall logistics landscape were key themes at the “Final Mile Issues and Opportunities” session at the CSCMP (Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals) EDGE conference last month in Nashville.

On the heels of recently announcing the rollout of a new transcontinental delivery service, following their October 2021 merger announcement, Vienna, Va.-based LaserShip, the largest regional e-commerce parcel carrier and last-mile delivery services provider, and Chandler, Ariz.-based regional shipping services provider OnTrac, said earlier this month that they are expanding into Texas.

Following their late 2021 announcement, in which Vienna, Va.-based LaserShip, the largest regional e-commerce parcel carrier and last-mile delivery services provider, and Chandler, Ariz.-based regional shipping services provider OnTrac, announced they had entered into a definitive agreement to merge, with LaserShip acquiring OnTrac for $1.3 billion, the companies last week stated they are taking a major next step in the process.

Atlanta-based Nolan Transportation Group (NTG), a provider of non-asset, tech-enabled logistics and brokerage services, and a subsidiary of Transportation Insight, and San Francisco-based freight forwarding and customs brokerage services provider Flexport, said they are collaborating on a strategic partnership focused on integrating their respective technologies, with a focus on “greater visibility across supply chains.”