Control Outperforms Speed in U.S. Last-Mile Delivery Economics

The report, Eye on the Last Mile America 2026, surveyed 500 U.S. operators to find that efficiency is no longer a matter of raw pace but of orchestration. While 88% of companies report that delivery costs are rising at or above the rate of revenue, high-control operators maintain superior service levels without increased capital expenditure. By contrast, low-control operators struggle with fragmented networks and inconsistent results.

Nick Costides, a former global president of IT at UPS, noted that the complexity of modern supply chains requires a unified response to change. The data underscores this shift: only 11.4% of operators now prioritize the fastest possible delivery, while 55.7% focus on predictability and first-attempt success. Kushal Nahata, CEO and co-founder of FarEye, argued that the industry is moving away from a pure investment race. Instead, success hinges on the ability to manage diverse carriers and gig providers as a single, cohesive unit.