7/27/2023 0 Comments Ontime expressaBoth carriers are showing they would reach most of the contiguous US in four days or less.Like UPS, setting that expectation would require more detailed ZIP Code information from FedEx. It’s interesting that FedEx has made it known it is in the process of going to 7-day deliveries but are not yet displaying that in these high-level maps. FDX demonstrates the impact of ship day to delivery day.A shipper would need more detailed ZIP Code info from UPS to set that expectation. Technically, there are a few ZIP Codes they will deliver to on a Saturday. UPS is somewhat vague using the term “business days”.In the basic transit maps above, there are minor differences in expected transit time and how the carriers display high level expectations. UPS Ground Residential Expected Time-in-Transit: (Chart 1) This would mean an expected Friday delivery to Zone 8 via the UPS Ground Residential and FedEx Home Delivery networks. In most cases, items shipping on a Monday have a published transit time of four days to Zone 8 - the longest contiguous US zone. Ohio in most cases can reach the entire East Coast via the Ground networks in two days or less. I chose Ohio due to its geographic desirability and high concentration of DCs and 3PLs. The maps below (Charts 1 & 2) show published time-in-transit comparisons between UPS and FedEx for the same origin ZIP Code out of Ohio. To start, let’s look at a comparative example of what the carriers are publishing relative to time-in-transit. In theory, the adverse impacts of COVID on carrier networks should be on the decrease. We compared actual carrier performance to current published time-in-transit information. In my current role as a consultant, I have access to delivery performance data for hundreds of shippers. In general, both carriers would have rotating confidence level issues from time to time. Depending on recent actual performance, we would adjust our own promises of delivery displayed in cart. From our data ,we would calculate statistical measures of performance to determine our confidence in the carriers’ published time-in-transit. In my past life as a logistics manager, we used the actual time-in-transit performance data as determined by the scanned ship date in conjunction with the delivery date provided by the carriers. Having accurate time-in-transit projections is vital to e-comm shippers to set delivery expectations for clients. Both carriers are making the case in contract RFPs that they are faster than the other. In the meantime, every day, our clients are asking which carrier is better in terms of actual time-in-transit. (The over/under is five hours – I have the under…) Is it due to a legitimate inability to deliver in published time frames, or is the decision driven by a more profit-centered motive, utilizing a crisis as cover? In either case, it is a safe bet that when either carrier reinstates MBG for Ground services, the other will follow suit within hours. We can speculate on the reason(s) for the selective reinstatement of guarantees. However, to date, neither carrier has reinstated MBG for the more widely-used Ground and 2-3 Day Air networks. Generally, this was seen as a very positive sign that COVID’s impact on expected time-in-transit was decreasing. In April, FedEx and UPS reinstated Money Back Guarantees (MBG) for on-time delivery on various express services, mainly Next Day Air and International Express packages.
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