For years, parcel shipping has largely revolved around two dominant players: FedEx and UPS. But that dynamic is steadily shifting. Rising costs, ever-expanding surcharges, and increasing delivery expectations have opened the door to a growing ecosystem of regional carriers, last-mile providers, and mid-sized logistics companies.

For shippers, retailers, and e-commerce businesses, the question is no longer if you should explore alternatives, but how to evaluate them strategically.

Why Are Alternative Shipping Carriers Getting More Popular?

The case for diversifying your carrier mix often starts with cost. Over the past several years, rate increases, delivery restrictions, and year-round surcharges have driven shipping expenses significantly higher, putting pressure on margins. But cost is only one reason why a shipper may look elsewhere.

Depending on the variables in play, many alternative carriers can offer:

  • Faster transit times in specific regions
  • Greater flexibility in delivery options
  • Improved performance in the last mile
  • Specialized capabilities for oversized or hard-to-serve shipments

In other words, finding the right mix of carriers – big and small – can improve both your cost structure and your customer experience. The key is knowing how to evaluate those options effectively. Here are a few key steps to keep in mind while evaluating a new carrier partner.

5 Considerations When Evaluating A New Parcel Carrier Partner

1. Look Beyond Base Rates

It’s easy to compare carriers based on headline pricing, but that rarely tells the full story. Surcharges — fuel, residential delivery, extended areas, peak demand — often account for a significant portion of total shipping costs.

When evaluating alternative carriers, dig into:

  • Total cost per package (not just base rates)
  • Accessorial fee structures
  • Dimensional weight pricing policies
  • Minimum charges and thresholds

In some cases, a regional or mid-sized carrier may appear more expensive upfront but deliver lower overall costs once surcharges are factored in.

2. Evaluate Service Performance with Data

Cost savings mean little if service suffers. That’s why performance metrics should be central to any carrier evaluation. Shippers should focus on key indicators such as:

  • On-time delivery rate
  • Average transit time by zone
  • Damage and claims rates
  • Pickup and delivery reliability

These metrics help shippers understand whether a carrier can consistently meet service-level expectations — and customers’ expectations. Even small improvements in delivery speed or reliability can have an outsized impact on customer satisfaction and retention.

3. Assess Geographic Strengths

Not all carriers are built for the same coverage. National providers excel at broad reach, but regional carriers often outperform in specific areas. For example, regional carriers may offer faster, lower-cost delivery within defined zones, last-mile providers can reduce costs on final delivery legs, and smaller carriers may better serve rural or hard-to-reach locations.

Mapping your shipping volume by geography is a critical step. It allows you to align the right carrier with the right lanes, rather than forcing a one-size-fits-all approach.

4. Understand Operational Fit

Beyond cost and performance, operational compatibility matters. A new carrier should integrate smoothly into your existing processes. Some of the top aspects to consider include technology integration and data visibility:

  • Will they be able to give you the insights you need to properly manage them? 
  • Are there any pickup, scheduling, or capacity constraints to consider? 
  • How do they scale during peak periods, and can they show their experience doing so? 
  • And of course, customer service – are they responsive? Can they provide tracking and instant answers?

Carriers that offer strong data access and transparency make it easier to monitor performance, manage service, and identify optimization opportunities over time.

5. Don’t Overlook Contract Implications

One of the most overlooked aspects of adding alternative carriers is the potential impact on existing agreements with FedEx and UPS. 

Many shipper contracts are volume-based, meaning that discounts improve as volume thresholds are met – and by diverting volume to another carrier, you could reduce your discount tier. It’s critical to keep an eye on your minimum spend/volume commitments when making any carrier decisions.

Before making changes, it’s critical to model different scenarios, such as:

  • How will shifting volume impact your current rate structure?
  • At what point do savings from alternative carriers outweigh potential losses in discounts?
  • Can a multi-carrier strategy strengthen your leverage in future negotiations?

Adding carriers creates a balancing act you may or may not have time to manage properly. While shifting volume to alternative providers can unlock savings, it may also weaken your negotiating position or increase costs. 

6. Use Data to Drive Decisions

Ultimately, evaluating alternative carriers is not a one-time exercise; it’s an ongoing strategy. The most effective shippers continuously analyze their data to identify where changes will deliver the greatest impact. This includes monitoring cost trends and surcharge exposure; tracking carrier performance over time; identifying lanes or services where alternative carriers outperform; and modeling the financial impact of carrier mix changes.

Without this level of visibility, it’s difficult to move beyond assumptions and make confident decisions.

Continued Reading: Which Parcel Shipping Company is Right For Your Business?

A Smarter Approach to Carrier Diversification

The rise of alternative carriers represents a significant opportunity for shippers, but only for those who approach it strategically. Adding new providers without clear evaluation criteria can introduce complexity without delivering meaningful savings. The goal isn’t simply to diversify for the sake of diversification. It’s to build a carrier network that aligns with your shipping profile, optimizes costs, and enhances service performance.

Doing so requires a clear understanding of your data, your contracts, and your operational needs. With the right insights, shippers can move from reactive cost management to a more proactive, optimized approach.

Reveel Can Help With Carrier Diversification

Reveel’s Shipping Intelligence Platform uses advanced analytics, modeling and simulation, statistical analysis, and machine-generated real-time insights to tell organizations where they can reduce their shipping expenses and how to do so. 

The parcel spend management technology empowers shippers to see through the unstructured data and the litany of constantly changing rules – including annual changes to critical variables such as zones, fuel prices, and service fees – that can dramatically impact the cost to ship any one parcel. By creating digital models of your carrier agreements and using actual shipment data to run simulations, shippers gain visibility into how best to make a multi-carrier strategy work for them.

Want to know if an alternative carrier or multi-carrier strategy would work for your unique situation? Reach out to our team for a demo.