Trends & Innovations in Final Mile Delivery Services

Even with today’s best forecasting and routing tech, last-mile delivery (which often involves navigating densely populated urban areas, sitting in traffic and finding appropriate parking) reportedly accounts for more than half of the average company’s annual shipping costs.

This disproportionate stress on funds and resources has many businesses seeking new-age solutions. Here are a few of the trends and innovations poised to change how shippers approach final-mile delivery:

Autonomous Vehicles

Self-driving vehicles may be just around the corner.

Ecommerce giants like Amazon tend to grab headlines as they push to revolutionize efficient parcel delivery, but the industry’s projected adoption rate of autonomous vehicles indicates massive changes are ahead — even for B2B shippers. One global report predicts the autonomous vehicle market to eclipse $11.5B by 2032, and new headlines emerge almost daily detailing unmanned vehicles’ progress toward mass production (here’s one aiming for fully commercialized driverless trucks by 2027).

Some obstacles remain — federal safety regulations will almost certainly be required before mass production, and keeping both cargo and equipment secure is more challenging without anyone onboard. Regardless, the prospect of significantly cutting down on final mile costs is enticing enough to make the eventual development and deployment of driverless trucks inevitable.

Drone Delivery

Drones are undeniably part of the industry’s future plans, and development may even be further along than you think.

By avoiding the issue of traffic congestion altogether (not to mention reducing reliance on traditional fuel and other resources) drone delivery appears to be trending toward mass adoption — and not just by online retailers selling small packaged goods.

While it’s true the use of drones for parcel delivery is probably best known as a trend championed by big box retailers, the development of large, uncrewed heavy cargo drones is underway by several enterprising robotics companies across the globe. One such company is already field-testing a giant cargo drone to service offshore wind turbines; another has established itself as the world’s first “cargo drone airline.”

AI & Machine Learning

AI’s most basic function is to identify patterns in vast swaths of data and use those patterns to optimize processes. For logistics, this usually means applying predictive analyses to optimize delivery routes, reduce deadhead miles and limit fuel consumption — but that’s just the tip of the iceberg.

Today’s supply chains are rapidly adopting AI-powered technologies to enhance package sorting, better manage inventory, quickly recognize damaged goods and even boost security. This is achieved by merging AI’s image-recognition capabilities with its capacity to “learn” when certain items appear damaged or out of place.

By simply reading and interpreting barcodes (or other markers) on the side of a package, AI tools can also quickly extract information about a package’s contents and destination, provide safe storage and handling instructions and even update shippers with real-time location updates.

Strategic Shifts

Perhaps the most intriguing trends driving the evolution of last-mile services are those practical strategies that aren’t so reliant on the integration of high-tech tools.

Alternatives to traditional warehouse-to-door delivery methods (namely small parcel delivery lockers and secure pick-up/drop-off points) are already gaining traction in urban areas where it’s both costly and challenging to deliver to multiple addresses at once.

Large-scale corporate partnerships and collaborations are likewise growing more common among freight shippers, as pooling delivery networks and resources can often improve a company’s supply chain flexibility and cost-saving benefits.

Even new inventory management strategies (a topic we’ve covered in further detail here) can be seen contributing to lower final mile costs, as more businesses turn away from one main storage hub in favor of decentralized warehousing.

Streamline Your Final Mile with First Call Logistics

Though the last-mile delivery puzzle isn’t fully solved, these trends allow businesses to simplify a problem that’s plagued shippers and logisticians for decades. Embracing innovative final-mile delivery solutions isn’t just a competitive advantage — in today’s fast-paced, customer-centric world, it’s virtually a necessity.

Contact us today about your last mile, expedited and emergency shipping needs and explore the benefits of partnering with First Call.