FedEx Teams With OneRail to Offer Same-Day Local Delivery

FedEx has debuted a program designed to let customers get deliveries within two hours.

FedEx SameDay Local, introduced Tuesday (March 24) in partnership with last-mile delivery solution company OneRail, lets shoppers choose two-hour or end-of-day delivery at checkout.

“At FedEx, we’re supporting our customers in pushing the boundaries of their value proposition around speed and convenience,” Jason Brenner, senior vice president, digital portfolio at FedEx, said in a new release.

“FedEx SameDay Local will provide our customers with a scaled solution to give the delivery options customers want, without adding complexity to their operations—all backed by the confidence of working with FedEx.”

According to the release, the service will connect FedEx customers to a network of more than 1,000 delivery providers around the country, “coordinated through intelligent orchestration.”

From there, orders are matched automatically to the appropriate vehicle and driver, quickly dispatched, and monitored with live updates from pickup to delivery.

Writing about FedEx’s most recent earnings last week, PYMNTS examined the position FedEx and other logistics companies find themselves in now that the era of soaring eCommerce demand driven by the COVID pandemic is long over.

“Today, the competitive edge increasingly lies in extracting efficiency from existing infrastructure, whether through automation, routing optimization, tighter integration across modes, or, frequently, all three,” that report said.

The report also took into account the evolving competitive landscape, particularly the continued expansion of Amazon’s in-house logistics capabilities.

“While FedEx has deliberately distanced itself from Amazon as a direct customer, the eCommerce giant’s growing delivery network exerts indirect pressure across the industry,” PYMNTS wrote. “Amazon’s ability to internalize a significant portion of its shipping volume reduces the addressable market for traditional carriers.”

News had surfaced earlier that week that the company has begun scaling back the volume of packages it ships via the postal service with the goal of reducing that number by at least two-thirds before its contract expires this fall.

“At the same time, Amazon’s investments in speed and reliability raise customer expectations, forcing competitors like FedEx to continually enhance their service offerings,” the report added.

The tech giant also recently acquired RIVR, a company that uses physical artificial intelligence and wheeled-legged robots to automate doorstep delivery, and expanded its one-hour and three-hour delivery offerings.

Rival Walmart, meanwhile, has said it can ship goods to 95% of households in the U.S. in under three hours. That is “thanks to the retailer’s physical footprint of brick-and-mortar stores, which are fast becoming crucial micro-fulfilment nodes,” as PYMNTS wrote last year.