Dive Brief:
- OnTrac is launching Saturday and Sunday delivery for the majority of its network this month, Chief Commercial Officer Josh Dinneen said in a presentation at the Manifest Vegas 2024 conference in February.
- Dinneen said 75% of the carrier’s network is going to seven-day delivery in March, although “there are some desert locations that we may not deliver on Saturday and Sunday.” Eligible service areas offer deliveries from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. on the weekends, according to OnTrac's website.
- The parcel carrier will also expand its coverage in July by launching in the Chicago metropolitan area and more of the Midwest — "St. Louis up through Minneapolis" — Dinneen added. OnTrac did not respond to a request for further details about seven-day delivery or the coverage expansion.
Dive Insight:
OnTrac is expanding its operations into weekend delivery and its coverage to Chicagoland despite the headwinds that FedEx and UPS alternatives are facing this year.
Companies are using fewer delivery providers to transport packages as demand wanes and large carriers offer up discounts to draw in more volume. Dinneen acknowledged this development in his presentation, calling it "the great carrier consolidation."
But OnTrac is a big fish in the pond of smaller parcel carriers, with its network reaching 35 states and Washington D.C. Even in a softer market, the company saw "strong package volume growth by expanding wallet share with existing customers" through August of last year, according to an October report from Moody's.
OnTrac will need volume growth to continue to make weekend deliveries a profitable venture. After touting it as an edge over rival UPS, FedEx Ground scaled back its Sunday home delivery coverage last year to focus on densely populated areas with proven demand. UPS leans on the U.S. Postal Service for Sunday deliveries through its SurePost service.
The Chicagoland expansion, meanwhile, was expected after Dinneen told Supply Chain Dive last July that OnTrac had its sights set on the major Midwest market. At the time, the carrier was searching for a facility in order to launch delivery coverage in the region.
