Newsletters Contact Us
Last-Mile DeliveryLayoffs and BankruptciesModern ShipperNewsParcel FreightPostalMag

Parcel provider Deliver It shuts down 

Consolidation necessary in crowded last-mile delivery space, experts say

Eric Kulisch
·
Deliver It offered express delivery service in California, Arizona and Nevada. (Image: Shutterstock)
Gemini Sparkle

Key Takeaways:

  • Deliver It, a California-based parcel delivery service, recently shut down due to intense competition in the last-mile delivery market.
  • The company's failure is attributed to factors like oversaturation of the market, high residential delivery costs, decreased e-commerce volume, and aggressive pricing from established carriers.
  • Experts predict further consolidation and exits within the parcel delivery industry as many companies struggle to survive in a highly competitive and fragmented market.
  • Deliver It's closure highlights the challenges faced by smaller, independent parcel carriers in competing with larger, established players like FedEx, UPS, and the USPS.
Key takeaways sponsored by SONAR
See a mistake? Contact us.

Parcel delivery provider Deliver It has shut down, an apparent victim of intense competition in the domestic last-mile delivery sector that took off with the entry of tech-enabled startups responding to a surge in pandemic-driven online shopping.

Deliver It, which provided next-day delivery e-commerce and B2B customers in California, Arizona and Nevada, is the latest parcel service to go under in the past year. Pandion shut down in January, citing difficult market conditions. Other companies that have disappeared include Maergo, Point Pickup and Pitney Global E-Commerce. 

Kendra Jackson, Deliver It’s chief commercial officer, wrote on LinkedIn she received notice that the company “unexpectedly closed its doors” on Monday. The company’s website does not have any information about going out of business and executives could not be reached for further details.

Pitney Bowes’ recent Parcel Shipping Index underscored how the recent influx of couriers in the United States has created a buyer’s market with providers competing on price and eating into the market share of FedEx, UPS and the U.S. Postal Service. The volume carried by alternative carriers has jumped nearly 40% in the past five years. In 2024, carrier revenue per parcel ticked down a penny to $9.09. 

Independent and regional parcel carriers only represent 9.7% of the domestic parcel, according to ShipMatrix, making it difficult for all of them to succeed. Experts say too many companies jumped into the parcel market without full consideration of the high cost of residential delivery and they were squeezed when the e-commerce market normalized., 

Inflation, macro-economic uncertainty, declining e-commerce volumes from China because of Trump administration tariffs, more aggressive pricing from traditional integrated carriers and a slowdown in venture capital funding have also pressured delivery companies, according to Cirrus Global Advisors. Some carriers also expanded too quickly and were unable to maintain quality service levels.

“There is no need for the number of carriers that deliver today [or next day] in Southern California. I know of 8 different companies that can do your parcel delivery, not including UPS, USPS, FedEx or Amazon Shipping. The market is too fragmented for all of them to be individually successful. We will continue to see exits or consolidation in the months to come,” said Derek Lossing, founder of Cirrus Global Advisors, on LinkedIn.

Deliver It was an asset-light provider that used third-party carriers for physical distribution. The company served industries such as real estate, court reporting, finance and healthcare, according to the website. RFID tracking and after-hours drop boxes were part of its product offering. 

Click here for more FreightWaves/American Shipper stories by Eric Kulisch.

US parcel market to grow 36% by 2030, Pitney Bowes says

DHL Express Canada resumes service after workers ratify labor deal

Eric Kulisch

Eric is the Parcel and Air Cargo Editor at FreightWaves. An award-winning business journalist with extensive experience covering the logistics sector, Eric spent nearly two years as the Washington, D.C., correspondent for Automotive News, where he focused on regulatory and policy issues surrounding autonomous vehicles, mobility, fuel economy and safety. He has won two regional Gold Medals and a Silver Medal from the American Society of Business Publication Editors for government and trade coverage, and news analysis. He was voted best for feature writing and commentary in the Trade/Newsletter category by the D.C. Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists. He was runner up for News Journalist and Supply Chain Journalist of the Year in the Seahorse Freight Association's 2024 journalism award competition. In December 2022, Eric was voted runner up for Air Cargo Journalist. He won the group's Environmental Journalist of the Year award in 2014 and was the 2013 Supply Chain Journalist of the Year. As associate editor at American Shipper Magazine for more than a decade, he wrote about trade, freight transportation and supply chains. He has appeared on Marketplace, ABC News and National Public Radio to talk about logistics issues in the news. Eric is based in Vancouver, Washington. He can be reached for comments and tips at ekulisch@freightwaves.com