Fulfillment: Five Simple Approaches to Parcel Cost Savings

A parcel shipment going across the country can easily be three times the cost of a local shipment. At a certain volume, shipping long distance using a truckload (TL) or less-than-truckload (LTL) common carrier and having a parcel carrier deconsolidate and deliver, will be less costly and faster than using parcel delivery the entire distance. A simple breakeven analysis for this is: breakeven shipments required = (fixed TL or LTL cost + deconsolidation cost) / (direct ship parcel rate per package - local ship parcel rate per package)