Dive Brief:
- The U.S. Postal Service has launched a website for shippers to reserve capacity within the agency's last-mile facilities via a bidding process, according to a Jan. 20 news release.
- The bid solicitation website enables customers to suggest a combination of pricing, volume and tender times at over 18,000 destination delivery units, or DDUs, and more than 170 local processing centers. Customers can then inject volume directly into those locations, enabling same-day or next-day delivery speeds.
- To reserve capacity, shippers must sign into the website with a USPS.com account and fill out a form. Accepted bids through the website will be formalized through a negotiated service agreement for the Postal Service's Parcel Select product, per the announcement.
Dive Insight:
Large-scale shippers, such as package consolidators, have historically been the only group that leverages DDU access, with other customers not having the volume or upstream capabilities to justify bringing packages to final-mile facilities. Former Postmaster General Louis DeJoy pushed to disincentivize DDU access as part of larger overhaul efforts, but the agency’s current leader is making moves to once again open up the Postal Service's final-mile infrastructure.
“Our last-mile delivery provides fast and reliable service throughout the United States," Postmaster General and CEO David Steiner said in the release. "This provides a competitive advantage to anyone who values speed and dependability. We want to provide that competitive advantage to our customers through a consumer-tailored last-mile solution."
The bidding process, initially announced in December, aims to ensure last-mile access "is correctly priced when demand, open competition and known capacity are taken into consideration," the release said. Revenue generated through bids will also help the agency improve its struggling financial outlook, it added.
The agency expects winning bidders will be notified in the second quarter of 2026, with service commencing in the third quarter.
Increased DDU accessibility sounds good for shippers in theory, but the solution's success will depend on rate stability, clear service level agreements and whether the economics of such an approach hold under complexity, Bailey Clark, Fulfillment IQ's head of global partnerships and alliances, said on LinkedIn last month.
"If this ends up adding variability without cost or service upside, it’s hard to see it becoming more than a tactical option," Clark said. "If it’s structured thoughtfully though it could be a useful lever in certain network designs."
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