ShipMatrix data provides insight into delivery on-time performance

Data recently provided to LM by ShipMatrix, a subsidiary of Pittsburgh-based SJ Consulting, showed that major parcel carriers, including UPS, FedEx, the United States Postal Service (USPS), and were within similar ranges, for on-time performance (OTP) for May on an annual basis, whereas average daily volumes saw a bigger spread, to the upside.

For FedEx, its May 2020 OTP was 91.3%, and it dropped to 87.2% in May 2021. ShipMatrix. Satish Jindel, president of SJ Consulting said that with FedEx experiencing a higher increase in volume, compared to UPS, it is understandable to face more challenges in achieving a higher OTP such as was the case with its competitors.

“FedEx started to convert all of SmartPost (its cost-effective U.S. residential shipping option for low-weight, high volume shipments, utilizing the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) for final delivery) into their own delivery network in January 2020, and in May 2020 they were still using the USPS for the final mile delivery for some packages but over time they converted  all of it but 5%-to-10% going to more rural  and far away locations, in which it did not make sense for it to deliver themselves,” said Jindel. “As the volume increased, it had a more difficult situation of filling that growth in its own network. UPS still uses the USPS for more than 50% of SurePost, its ground economy service, that gets most of the company’s e-commerce packages.”

Addressing the USPS’s OTP performance in May, Jindel observed that it was down in May 2020, due largely to limited worker availability related to union protocols, and employees not returning to work.

“It was not service related, it was more the eligibility of available workers,” said Jindel.

Q1 2021 data: ShipMatrix also provided data to LM, focusing on average daily volume and market share, for FedEx, UPS, UPS Total (including a portion of FedEx and UPS ground economy parcels for which UPS performed last-mile delivery from DDUs (delivery destination units, the final stop in the USPS network that a package takes prior to delivery), Amazon Logistics, and other carriers, a grouping comprised of DHL, Newgistics, Ontrac, Lasership, LSO, Spee Dee Delivery, and GLS, among others.

The firm said that these figures are based on company-reported data with adjustment for all carriers based on a 5-day work week even though FedEx is operating on all seven days. UPS is on a 6-day work week, and USPS is on a 7-day work week also, because both FedEx and UPS continue to report their ADV figures on a five days per-week basis.

• ShipMatrix reported the following for the first quarter:
• FedEx average daily volume, at 15.708 million, up 17.8% annually, with 18.5% market share by volume;
• UPS average daily volume, at 20.034 million, up 11.0% annually, with 23.6% market share by volume;
• USPS Total average daily volume, including a portion of FedEx and UPS ground economy parcels for which UPS performed last-mile delivery from DDUs, at 29.082 million, up 25.4% annually, with 34.2% market share by volume;
• Amazon Logistics average daily volume, at 14.722 million, up 18% annually, with 17.3% market share by volume; and
• Other carriers average daily volume, at 5.409 million, up 6.4% annually, with market share by volume at 6.4%

Jindel noted that it is expected that Amazon Logistics will likely increase the shipping of its own parcels from its current level of around 70% to somewhere around 80%-to-85% and likely keep it at that level in order to manage spikes and keep relationships going with UPS and USPS to a smaller extent.

“Even though the percentage will increase for itself, the volume Amazon gives to UPS [and other carriers] will stay fairly good, because with the growth of Amazon, it can reduce the percentage and the volume will remain the same,” he said.