Last Mile Carrier

Overview

This article explains the role of last-mile carriers and the options provided by Rush for these carriers. A last-mile carrier is responsible for delivering the order to the buyer’s doorstep. These are local carriers that customers are often familiar with, which facilitates easier contact and scheduling if a delivery attempt is missed. Essentially, the last-mile carrier is the final service responsible for delivering the order to the customer.

Benefits of Knowing the Last-Mile Carrier

• Increased Customer Satisfaction: Customers recognize familiar carriers, providing a sense of security. Familiar carriers are often trusted by both customers and stores, leading to better overall satisfaction.
• Less Time Spent in Support: Providing contact details for the last-mile carrier allows customers to manage redelivery schedules themselves, reducing the need for store customer support involvement.
• Fewer Chargebacks: When customers see orders handled by recognized carriers, there is less suspicion of scams, which can reduce the likelihood of chargebacks.

Explanation

Once your fulfillment service provider fulfills an order, they assign a global carrier tracking number (e.g., from YunExpress, 4PX, China Post). However, these global carriers do not deliver the order to the customer's address; that task is handled by the last-mile carrier. For example, a YunExpress tracking number like YT2104121266032515 might show USPS as the last-mile carrier based on the tracking details.

Shipment Events Processing in Rush

Rush displays all shipment statuses, including when the last-mile carrier event is recorded as "In Transit." Displaying shipment events such as "Pickup Ready," "Out for Delivery," and "Delivered" helps keep the customer informed about the shipment's progress.

Case 1: International Carrier Shows "In Transit," Last-Mile Carrier Shows "Pending"

Suppose, YunExpress has been sharing checkpoints of carrier movement since 3rd March.

However, USPS will not show any new information for a couple of days, till it receives the order and starts its transit.

For this case, customers will see events from YunExpress, as shown below:

• Scenario: YunExpress provides updates showing the shipment as "In Transit" since March 3rd. USPS, the last-mile carrier, does not update its status until it starts handling the parcel.
• Customer Experience: Customers will see updates from YunExpress until USPS updates its status.

Case 2: Both International Carrier and Last-Mile Carrier Show "In Transit"

Global carrier status shows In transit in the example below:

The last-mile carrier also shows the In transit status:

In this case, Rush will take events from the last-mile carrier only, as it provides better updated customer information.

• Scenario: Both the global carrier and the last-mile carrier show the status as "In Transit."
• Customer Experience: Rush will prioritize updates from the last-mile carrier for more accurate and timely customer information.

Known Issues

There are some issues that you might face regarding the last-mile carrier information.

For example, in the image below, we can see the last-mile carrier is Canada Post but there is still no tracking number assigned to it. It is because it takes a few days for last-mile carriers to populate this information. In some cases, this information is not set at all

Another issue is that even after the global carrier has delivered the shipment to the last-mile carrier with the tracking number, it may still not show on the carrier’s website. For example, in the image below, it can be seen that YunExpress has returned the order to the carrier Royal Mail with the tracking number:

However, it might still not show on Royal Mail’s page because it has not been processed yet:

• Tracking Number Delays: Sometimes, the last-mile carrier information is not immediately available, as seen when Canada Post has not assigned a tracking number yet. This delay can range from a few days to indefinite.
• Processing Delays: Even after the global carrier delivers the shipment to the last-mile carrier, tracking information might not be visible on the carrier’s website immediately. For example, YunExpress returning an order to Royal Mail may not reflect on Royal Mail’s tracking page if not yet processed.

Conclusion

Rush can display last-mile carrier information based on the global carrier details provided. While there can be delays and issues, Rush aims to provide the most accurate and timely updates possible.

Contact Us

For more information or assistance, feel free to contact us.