Carriers transit time is the overall duration of time required for a package to get from a fulfillment center to its final destination. There are many factors that affect transit time, including the size and weight of the package, the zone it’s being shipped to (and the zone it’s being shipped from), and the carrier service. Most domestic shipping carriers have an estimated delivery time, which is the standard that they try to meet for any given service.
Why Should You Track Carrier Transit Time?
Delivery speed is one of the biggest ways customers evaluate their satisfaction when ordering online. Even though an ecommerce company has no control over delivery time once the product is in the shipping carrier’s hands, if a customer receives a package late or damaged, they will see it as the brand’s fault.
Transit times over the last two years have jumped around wildly as carriers have struggled to meet the surges in ecommerce growth and subsequent increase in small package shipments. Delivery times have crept up to two or three days outside of the estimated delivery time.
Follow the chart below (updated monthly) to track each carrier’s average transit times this year. Toggle through the chart to see different services tracked over time.
Shipping News and Carrier Updates
Below we’ve listed out the big updates from each carrier, listed in chronological order.
USPS
Combining Three Ground-Delivery Products (retail ground, parcel select ground, first class package service)
July 2022 — USPS announced a proposal to combine three of its ground parcel delivery products into a single offering intending that this move will simplify the delivery experience for shippers. This change will incorporate the Postal Service’s Retail Ground and Parcel Select Ground products, in which parcels weighing up to 70 pounds are shipped with two- to five-day transit times, with its First Class Package Service (FCPS), which covers shipments weighing up to 1 pound and has a similar time-in-transit window. The change is set to be effective January 1, 2023.
Read more about the proposal here.
Adjustment of Delivery Times for Ground-Parcel
June — Starting August 1, 2022, the Postal Service will adjust the delivery times for two of its ground-parcel products: Parcel Select Ground and Retail Ground. This means products within the lower 48 states using these two products will be delivered between two and five days instead of the current two- to eight-day window. Pricing will remain unchanged.
Read the full announcement here.
National Rollout for New Service, Connect Local
January — Connect Local is a new USPS service that aims to provide low-cost, next day and same-day delivery to local regions for small businesses.
Currently a pilot service, offered only in Texas, The Postal Service is beginning to rollout their new Connect Local service nationwide. Announced in August of 2021, USPS posted more information on how the Connect service works.
Connect Local requires shippers to drop off packages at the local post office by a pre-determined time for it to be delivered later the same day. For packages that miss that cut-off time, they will be delivered the next day.
Read more here.
FedEx
Launch of Picture Proof of Delivery
June — FedEx announced they will institute “Picture Proof Delivery” for express and ground residential deliveries in the U.S. and Canada that are released without a signature. Customers will receive photo documentation of the exact location their package is dropped.
Read more of the announcement here.
Suspended Domestic Express Freight Services
February 1 — Due to staff shortage as the Omicron variant of the coronavirus rise, FedEx announced a suspension of domestic express freight services, including FedEx two-day freight and FedEx three-day freight services.
Read the news here.
Announcing "Logistics as a Service"
January 24 — FedEx’s partnership with Microsoft is now extended to offer a cross-platform solution. This provides shippers with more data in an effort to help them meet rising ecommerce demand. FedEx is calling these new capabilities “logistics as a service.”
Read the full press release here.
UPS
UPS Acquires Delivery Solutions
June — UPS acquired Delivery Solutions whose platform offers shippers multi-carrier, same-day, curbside delivery options. The terms of the deal are undisclosed at the time of the announcement.
Reach more about it here.
Tags: Shipping carrier updates
