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SSI SCHAEFER is an industry leader in
e-commerce supply chain automation.
ssi-schaefer.com
WMS Software & Controls
Storage & Retrieval Systems
Shuttle Systems
Automation Solutions
Automated Guided Vehicles
32 DC VELOCITY NOVEMBER 2019 www.dcvelocity.com
help the company support its primary customers—big e-commerce
retailers—and their peak season volumes. “If you don’t service them
during peak, they won’t use you
the rest of the year,” Magill says.
He explains that OnTrac, with its
regional focus, is more cost-compet-
itive and nimble than the national
carriers. “If you are a big online
retailer, I’ll knock 20% off your
ground rate,” Magill says. “We’ll
spot a trailer, pick it up as late as
midnight, and do next-day delivery.
And we’ll pick up on Sunday and
make Monday deliveries.”
OnTrac’s regional model is mirrored
in other parts of the country as well.
LaserShip covers the East Coast; LSO
(formerly Lone Star Overnight), based in
Texas, covers much of the U.S. Southeast;
and UDS (United Delivery Service) oper-
ates in the Chicago area and surrounding
Midwest states.
STARTUPS JUMP IN THE RING
The parcel express market is attracting
its share of startups as well, some of
whom are leveraging a very internet-like
model—crowdsourcing—to build out
new networks of drivers for same-day
parcel deliveries.
Roadie Inc., based in Atlanta, has established a technology platform and on-demand same-day delivery network that
utilizes “on the way” crowdsourced drivers—those already going toward the place
where a shipment needs to be delivered.
Using an Uber-like mobile app, drivers
sign up—and get paid—for “gigs” or
part-time delivery assignments, for example, picking up a purchase made locally
from Home Depot online and delivering
it to a recipient located in the direction
the driver is already headed.
“The future of delivery is about how well
your e-commerce strategy integrates with
your ground game in and around the physical communities where your customers
live,” says Marc Gorlin, Roadie’s founder
and chief executive officer. He notes that
retailers are increasingly moving toward
“localized” supply chains, optimized for
fast, efficient same-day final-mile delivery
to homes and businesses. “By tapping into
employees, customers, or other drivers in
close proximity to stores or warehouses,
we’re quite literally positioning ourselves
along the most common routes between
retailers and the local communities they
serve,” he says.
Gorlin notes that with Roadie’s “on the
way” model, “someone is already heading
in the right direction and utilizing the
extra space in their car to make money—
on a drive they already are taking. [It’s a]
completely new type of delivery system
with the flexibility to handle variable
volumes and distance at a predicable
cost.” He describes Roadie’s approach as a
“faster, more efficient delivery model that
