E-commerce shipping and logistics provider Fast Group, the company formed via the merger of Sendle, ACI Logistix and FirstMile, is winding down operations, according to a customer notice viewed by Supply Chain Dive.
Fast Group's formation, announced in August, aimed to provide a parcel distribution platform in North America that could serve a mix of small, medium and large shippers. The company said it pushed to adapt to market conditions, integrate operations and stabilize its business amid market disruptions, per the customer notice.
"Despite these efforts and the progress made in building a differentiated platform, we were ultimately unable to secure the capital required to sustain operations," Fast Group said in the notice. "As a result, we have made the difficult decision to wind down FAST Group's operations, effective immediately."
A precise timeline for the wind down was not disclosed. Sendle said on its Australia- and Canada-based websites that it was halting all bookings for parcel pickups and deliveries as of Sunday.
Fast Group's vision was to leverage the strengths of all three companies, Kevin Collins, president of ACI Logistix, said in an interview with Supply Chain Dive. ACI Logistix, a longtime U.S. Postal Service consolidator, provided parcel distribution services for large-scale shippers. FirstMile offered a national parcel pickup network focused on mid-sized and large businesses. Sendle delivered parcels for small businesses in the U.S., Canada and Australia.
For ACI Logistix, the combination was a "pivot plan" to more effectively navigate disruptions such as the Postal Service's changes to its consolidator partnerships, tariffs and competitors pushing below-market shipping rates, Collins said. But the combination was ultimately short-lived, with Fast Group only in the early stages of the integration process prior to the decision to wind down operations.
"Towards the end, we ran out of time and couldn't secure the right type of investment to grow to the next level," Collins said. "So the decision was made at the board level to wind operations down, and that's where we are."
A top priority in the wind-down process is to "ensure that every last parcel gets delivered" and to return packages still at company hubs back to clients, Collins said.
"We don't want anything stranded anywhere," he said.
Collins declined to comment on how long it will take Fast Group to shut down or how many people are losing their jobs due to the closure. However, he said Fast Group wants to ensure employees "find themselves in the best possible situation going forward."
"I don't want any of what happened to Fast Group to reflect poorly on the job that the teammates here did, [it's] just a phenomenal team," Collins said.
