
Imagine this: you're a retail executive enjoying a steady partnership with a major parcel carrier, when suddenly the ground shifts beneath your feet. In 2026, that's not a hypothetical scenario, it's exactly what's happening in the delivery world. UPS is dramatically cutting the volume of Amazon packages it carries, FedEx is overhauling its network and even delivering on Sundays, and upstart regional carriers like OnTrac and Veho are racing to fill gaps with new services. It's a wake-up call for European merchants: the era of relying on a single carrier is over. In a volatile market, multi‑carrier contingency isn't just a cost hack, it's a strategic necessity for resilience and growth.
To put this plainly. Think of delivery companies like the plumbing in your house. For years, businesses just picked one "plumber" and assumed they'd always be there when needed. But now, something shocking happened: UPS literally told Amazon, their biggest customer, "we're cutting you loose by half."
This is like your main supplier saying "we don't want your business anymore" even though you're their largest account. It sent shockwaves through the business world.
The shifting ground of 2026's delivery landscape
UPS and Amazon: when giants decouple. In a move that sent shockwaves through the industry, UPS announced plans to cut the packages it handles for Amazon by more than 50% by late 2026. Yes, UPS is intentionally delivering half as many Amazon orders as before. Why turn away business from your biggest customer? In UPS's case, it's a bold pivot towards profitability over volume. Amazon shipments, which made up nearly 12% of UPS's revenue in 2024, were deemed "extraordinarily dilutive" to profit margins. CEO Carol Tomé bluntly noted that Amazon may be huge, but it's "not our most profitable customer". Instead of chasing sheer volume, UPS chose to "take control of our destiny", focusing on higher-margin segments like healthcare and small/medium businesses. This strategic decoupling was so significant that UPS's stock plunged on the news, underscoring how unexpected it was. Amazon reportedly even offered UPS more volume to meet growing demand, but UPS said "no thanks."
What does this mean for merchants? If a carrier can walk away from a chunk of business as large as Amazon's, no shipper is too big to fail. Contracts and cozy relationships can change overnight. UPS's move also shows carriers will prioritize their bottom line, potentially at the expense of yours. European retailers shipping large volumes with UPS might not feel the Amazon cut directly, but the philosophy behind it is global: carriers are optimizing for profit, not just volume. Don't assume your volume makes you a VIP; if it's not profitable enough, it could be on the chopping block.
UPS "insources" SurePost, and hints of new alliances. In parallel with shedding Amazon loads, UPS has been reshaping how it handles economy deliveries. Historically, UPS's SurePost service handed off lightweight packages to local postal workers (in the US, the USPS) for final delivery, even covering Sunday deliveries via the postal service. But as of January 2025, UPS ended its SurePost partnership and now delivers 100% of those parcels with its own drivers. In other words, UPS "insourced" all its SurePost volume, rebranding it as Ground Saver and betting it can handle cheap, last-mile drops more profitably itself. This had a side effect: UPS no longer had any service delivering on Sundays (since the postal tie-up was how UPS covered Sundays before). Ironically, just months later UPS began discussing a new alliance with the postal service for budget shipments, essentially revisiting the partnership it just quit. Call it a sign of the times: even carriers are experimenting with their networks, starting and ending partnerships in search of the right balance of cost and service.
For shippers, these flip-flops are a cautionary tale. If you depended on UPS's SurePost for economical delivery or Sunday coverage, you had to scramble for alternatives once UPS pulled the plug. Today UPS is back to exploring hybrid solutions, but who knows what tomorrow brings? The lesson is clear: agility in your carrier mix is crucial because carriers are reinventing themselves constantly.
FedEx's network overhaul and the Sunday surprise. Not to be outdone, FedEx has been in transformation mode too. Facing a soft post-pandemic parcel market, FedEx is merging its Ground and Express operations and even scaling back its air fleet capacity. The once-distinct FedEx Express (air/overnight) and Ground networks are being consolidated into a single, streamlined system to cut costs and eliminate redundancy. FedEx is essentially saying: we'll fly fewer planes for overnight packages if demand isn't there, and use cheaper modes for non-urgent shipments. At the same time, FedEx is doubling down on something UPS doesn't do, Sunday home delivery. After initially cutting back, FedEx expanded its Sunday delivery coverage again to reach nearly two-thirds of the U.S. population by early 2025. Why? Big retail clients asked for it, and FedEx found it could fill trucks on Sundays enough to make a profit this time around. In fact, FedEx secured an extra half-million packages per week from customers thanks to Sunday delivery. For FedEx, offering 7-day delivery became a competitive edge over UPS (which still sticks to weekdays).
If you're a European merchant, you might wonder: what's in it for me that FedEx now delivers on Sundays in the US? The broader point is how carriers are reshaping service offerings to win business. We could well see similar moves in Europe, more weekend delivery options, new economy services, or network mergers, as carriers respond to e-commerce expectations. FedEx's changes signal that carriers will reconfigure routes, transit times, and services in ways that could impact your supply chain. The air network consolidation, for instance, might mean fewer next-flight-out options and more reliance on ground transport for cross-border EU shipments if volume is low. And if FedEx (or others) decide to bring Sunday delivery to major European markets, it could raise customer expectations for what "fast shipping" means. Retailers need to be ready to plug into these new services , or find alternatives if a service is cut.
Regional players seize the moment. While the giants streamline, regional and alternative carriers have smelled an opportunity. OnTrac, a once West-Coast-only courier, expanded to cover the U.S. Midwest in 2024 and rolled out seven-day delivery across 75% of its network. Essentially, OnTrac bet that by delivering every day (yes, including Sundays), it could steal volume in a market where UPS doesn't deliver on Sunday and FedEx only just ramped up. Veho, a tech-driven last-mile startup, is also on the rise , launching delivery hubs in new cities and even introducing a 2-5 day "premium economy" parcel service in 2025. And it's not just those two. A wave of newcomers, from Amazon's own logistics arm to postal hybrids and gig-economy couriers, are expanding coverage or adding specialized services. In the U.S., Amazon has grown an in-house delivery fleet so extensive that FedEx stopped carrying Amazon packages entirely back in 2019.
Europe is seeing its own diversification. Amazon is increasingly delivering its own orders in Europe through Amazon Logistics, operating thousands of branded vans and employing tens of thousands of delivery drivers across the UK, Germany, France, Spain, Italy, and Poland. In major markets like the UK and Germany, Amazon Logistics now handles the majority of the company's deliveries. Meanwhile, national postal services (La Poste, Deutsche Post DHL, PostNL, etc.) are reinventing themselves with new e-commerce services, and cross-border specialists and locker-delivery companies (like InPost or DHL's Packstation network) are gaining traction. A single country might have a half-dozen viable parcel partners, and the biggest e-commerce players are already using many of them. Zalando, for instance, leverages a network of preferred carriers across Europe, handing off French orders to Colissimo/Chronopost, German orders to DHL, Dutch orders to PostNL, and so on. This patchwork approach ensures deliveries align with each market's best service (and best price). In short, the delivery market is fragmenting into a multitude of options. The silver lining? Shippers can benefit from more choices and more competition. As one logistics analyst put it, greater carrier competition means "more delivery choices and sustained pricing pressure" , in other words, better options and rates for those who can take advantage.
The perils of carrier dependency in volatile times
All these industry swings highlight a core risk: depending on a single carrier is a high-stakes gamble. When you tie your fortunes to one delivery partner, you're also tying yourself to their ups and downs , whether that's a labor strike, a service meltdown, or an unexpected strategic shift. We've already seen painful examples of this in recent years.
Take the UK's Royal Mail strikes in late 2022. Many British retailers were heavily reliant on Royal Mail for online orders. When 115,000 postal workers walked off the job during the peak holiday season, those merchants were caught flat-footed. The result: a mad scramble to reroute packages through alternative couriers at the last minute. So many shippers switched to DPD, Evri (Hermes), and others that those couriers got overwhelmed , DPD had to warn of 2-day delivery delays as volumes spiked beyond their capacity. One DPD spokesperson noted that due to the strikes, shippers sought alternatives to Royal Mail, causing surges that strained their network. Retailers who already had relationships and integrations with multiple carriers could react fastest , shifting shipments with relative ease. Others who didn't have a Plan B faced chaos, unhappy customers, and lost sales. It was a painful lesson: when one carrier goes down, you need backups ready to roll.
Labor unrest isn't the only hazard. Sometimes the threat is sudden capacity limits or contract changes. Remember the pandemic parcel boom? In 2020, national carriers in various countries (UPS, FedEx, USPS, etc.) were so swamped they imposed volume caps on large shippers. Some retailers were literally told "we won't pick up any more of your packages this week" because the carrier couldn't handle them. Those who had no secondary carrier lined up were paralyzed , orders piled up in the warehouse with nowhere to go. As a 2021 post-mortem observed, single carriers may offer better rates but it's a high-risk strategy if the carrier is short on capacity. The days when you could put 100% of your delivery business in one carrier's hands and call it a day are gone , "the days of single sourcing are over".
Even subtler shifts can hurt if you're not diversified. Suppose your sole carrier suddenly adds a new fuel surcharge or changes its delivery commitment times. Or they decide to restructure their service areas, and your region gets slower service. (This isn't hypothetical , major carriers regularly re-draw service maps and hub routes during reorganizations.) If you don't have alternative carriers pre-vetted and integrated, you're stuck accepting those changes , possibly at great cost to your margins or customer experience. The bottom line is that a single point of failure in deliveries is just as dangerous as a single supplier in your product sourcing. In an era of constant disruptions , from pandemics and geopolitical events to carrier corporate shake-ups , putting all your parcels in one basket is a risk no savvy retailer can afford.
And don't overlook the customer expectation angle. Your customers don't care which carrier you chose , they care that their order arrives on time and intact. If a carrier's failure causes a delay or lost package, 51% of consumers will hesitate to shop with you again (and nearly 1 in 5 won't come back at all). They blame your brand for the delivery screw-up. So relying too heavily on a carrier with inconsistent performance (or one that might drop out on you) directly damages customer loyalty. Having multiple carrier options is like an insurance policy to protect your reputation , you can switch to a more reliable partner before things go awry in the customer's eyes.
Multi-carrier strategy. From cost optimization to strategic imperative
For years, logistics teams have used multi-carrier strategies mainly to save money , playing carriers off each other for better rates or using one for overnight, another for economy, etc. Cost optimization is still important, but today the motive goes deeper: resilience and agility. A multi-carrier approach is rapidly becoming the standard for any retailer that values continuity. Forward-thinking retail leaders now view carrier diversification as mission-critical for navigating uncertainty. As Supply Chain Dive aptly put it, offering alternative carrier options means you can "maintain smooth operations without scrambling" when disruptions hit. In practice, if Carrier A is suddenly unable to perform, Carrier B or C is already in your stable to pick up the slack , protecting your delivery promise to customers.
Think of a multi-carrier network as building redundancy and flexibility into your supply chain. It's akin to having multiple suppliers for raw materials: if one source falters, production doesn't stop. Similarly, multiple carriers ensure deliveries can still move forward if one carrier faces a hiccup. This might mean splitting volumes by region, by service type, or even dynamically based on performance. For instance, many retailers use a mix of an integrator (UPS/FedEx/DHL) and local couriers , leveraging the integrator for international or premium services and locals for domestic standard shipments. If the integrator has an issue (say backlog at a hub), you can divert more domestic orders to the local carrier, and vice versa for international.
Multi-carrier setups also confer a competitive edge in customer experience and reach. You can offer more delivery options at checkout , faster shipping via one carrier, cheaper or greener shipping via another, in-store pickup or locker delivery via yet another. Rather than a one-size-fits-all approach, you tailor the delivery method to each order's needs and each customer's preference. This kind of flexibility isn't possible with a single carrier. In Europe, for example, one carrier might excel in a particular country or offer a broad locker network while another is great at cross-border shipments or oversized packages. Using both means your customers get the best of each world. It's no surprise that a recent study found retailers already work with an average of 3–4 different logistics providers, accounting for over half their orders. The trend is clear: diversification is happening because it works.
Crucially, having multiple carriers in play gives you negotiating leverage and adaptability when market conditions shift. If one carrier imposes a steep rate increase, you can push back by moving volume elsewhere , or negotiating a better deal by credibly saying you have other options. If one carrier's network gets bogged down during peak season, you can proactively route more shipments through a lighter-loaded alternative. In a stable world, single-carrier might maximize your volume discounts; in today's volatile world, multi-carrier maximizes your control. It turns delivery into a strategic lever rather than a dependency. As one logistics expert said, ensuring carrier resilience is essential to upholding your brand promise in tough times. In other words, multi-carrier strategy is no longer just about shaving a few percent off shipping costs , it's about business continuity and keeping your customers' trust.
Real-world examples. The highs and lows of carrier choices
If you're wondering what multi-carrier contingency looks like in practice, consider a few illustrative examples:
- Walmart's delivery network: Walmart U.S. uses a blend of carriers, not only FedEx and UPS, but also its own crowd-sourced Spark Driver fleet , to ensure it meets delivery deadlines. By having internal drivers for local drops and external partners for broader coverage, Walmart can flex deliveries between its network and third-parties as needed. This diversity paid off during the pandemic and beyond, allowing Walmart to keep promises despite surging volumes and carrier capacity issues. The principle applies to European retailers too: mixing in-house capabilities (if you have them) with multiple external carriers can greatly increase reliability.
- Zalando's multi-carrier matrix: Europe's fashion giant Zalando relies on more than a dozen parcel carriers across its markets. In each country, Zalando selects a top-performing local carrier (DHL in Germany, PostNL in the Netherlands, Correos in Spain, etc.) to handle last-mile delivery. If one of those carriers encounters trouble or if Zalando needs to ramp up speed, it can adjust by introducing another partner. In fact, Zalando's systems will automatically redirect an order to a different carrier if a customer chooses a specific option like a pick-up point that one carrier doesn't support. The result is a resilient, customer-centric network: shoppers get the familiar local delivery service they trust, and Zalando operates a structured network of preferred carriers. The hidden benefit is that carriers compete to meet Zalando's high standards, knowing that if they falter, Zalando can shift volume elsewhere. This keeps service levels high.
- Case of the nimble pivot: During the 2022 Royal Mail strike in the UK, one mid-sized online retailer had thankfully onboarded two additional carriers (Evri and DHL) earlier in the year as part of a new delivery strategy. When the strikes hit, this retailer was able to switch 100% of its order volume overnight away from Royal Mail and split it between Evri and DHL. Customers saw some minor delays, but the business continued taking orders and cleared its backlog, whereas a key competitor who stuck solely with Royal Mail had to pause order-taking due to fulfillment gridlock. This scenario (drawn from industry reports and anecdotes) illustrates how a contingency plan can make the difference between operational meltdown vs. merely a manageable inconvenience.
On the flip side, there are cautionary tales of failing to diversify. FedEx's ground delivery network issues in 2022 (when contractor shortages led FedEx to cut back Sunday service) hit some retailers hard , those who had all home deliveries going FedEx had no Sunday coverage and saw delays, whereas others who also worked with UPS or regional couriers managed to route around the gaps. Likewise, the near-miss of a UPS strike in 2023 spurred many shippers to experiment with alternative carriers. FedEx reported that in early 2023 it won significant parcel volume from companies "fearing a UPS strike", as prudent shippers trialed secondary carriers to prepare for a possible disruption. In the end the strike was averted, but those trials weren't in vain , they left those businesses better prepared for future uncertainties (and likely improved their bargaining hand with UPS as well).
The takeaway from these examples is consistent: flexibility wins. Retailers that treat delivery partners interchangeably , as modular pieces of a larger strategy , can weather storms that knock out the one-carrier crowd. Those that don't, risk finding themselves at the mercy of events beyond their control.
Making multi-carrier management work without the headache
Now, a fair concern is that managing multiple carriers sounds complicated. Different tracking systems, different invoices, contacts, technologies, isn't that a headache? It can be if approached ad hoc, but modern solutions have emerged to make multi-carrier management quite seamless. Think of how cloud software lets you manage multiple suppliers or multiple sales channels in one place; the same evolution is happening for shipping.
Technology is your ally. Today's multi-carrier shipping platforms , sometimes called carrier aggregators or Transportation Management Systems (TMS) for parcel , allow you to integrate dozens of carriers into a single interface. For example, some software will automatically compare services and rates in real time, then select the optimal carrier for each order based on rules you set. Instead of your warehouse staff logging into three different carrier portals, they have one system that prints the right label (be it DHL, DPD, UPS, etc.) according to the business logic and current conditions. This not only saves time, but ensures you're constantly using the best option available for each package. As Business Reporter noted, an aggregator can "validate the optimum carrier to service an order" with a single API call, returning the transit time, cost, and label without manual effort. In essence, software can do the heavy lifting of dynamic carrier selection , one of the traditionally hardest parts of multi-carrier logistics.
Integration is key to keep customer experience smooth. An order management or delivery management system ties together your inventory, ordering, and carriers so that tracking updates and status notifications are all handled uniformly. Your customer shouldn't feel a difference whether their parcel comes via Carrier X or Carrier Y , they should get timely tracking links, branded notifications, and easy returns just the same. Achieving that consistency was a challenge in the past, but now with APIs and unified tracking dashboards, retailers can maintain a single source of truth for all deliveries across carriers. Many platforms provide a unified tracking page and event stream, meaning you can proactively monitor performance of each carrier and catch issues (a delayed truck, a sorting center backlog) in near real-time. This visibility is crucial: it allows you to anticipate problems and reroute shipments on the fly if needed. For instance, if data shows Carrier A in Region Z is experiencing delays due to weather, you might shift new orders in that region to Carrier B for the time being , before customers are affected.
Yes, working with multiple carriers also means negotiating multiple contracts and managing multiple relationships. But even there, diversification helps. You're not beholden to one annual rate increase; you can negotiate knowing you have options. And partners like 3PLs or consultants can assist with benchmarking rates across carriers so you know if one is out of line. The goal isn't to constantly jump around for every package (that could get inefficient) , rather, it's to have a stable of vetted partners and the tech framework to utilize them as flexibly as possible. The good news is that many retailers are already partway there (recall that average of 3–4 carriers in use). The next step is to formalize contingency plans: map out "if/then" scenarios. If carrier X goes down or raises prices, then how will we redistribute shipments to carriers Y and Z? Proactively model those scenarios and even run small pilots. This kind of planning was explicitly recommended as the parcel landscape began shifting: logistics advisers urge shippers to "develop contingency plans to navigate service disruptions or volume shifts". It's much easier to do when you already ship with multiple carriers , you have the data and relationships needed to pivot quickly.
European merchants. Turning contingency into competitive advantage
European retail executives might ask, does all this U.S. carrier drama really apply to us? Absolutely. In some ways, Europe's delivery scene has always been multi-carrier by nature , each country historically had its own postal service and local couriers, so cross-border e-commerce inherently required juggling carriers. But as Pan-European commerce grows, so do the stakes of carrier choice. The volatility we're seeing , whether it's UPS's strategic shifts or potential disruptions like strikes , does not stop at the Atlantic. In fact, UPS's Amazon volume cut and FedEx's restructuring are global corporate strategies that will influence their European operations too (e.g. where they allocate capacity and investment). Moreover, Amazon's relentless drive to build its own delivery network is very much a factor in Europe. Amazon is already delivering a large share of its packages directly in markets like the UK, Germany, and France. If you are a merchant who also sells through Amazon Marketplace, you're indirectly reliant on Amazon Logistics in those cases , which raises a new kind of single-carrier risk: being too dependent on Amazon's fulfillment. Diversifying carriers is one way to keep leverage, even if a chunk of your sales come via Amazon's channels.
Another angle is customer expectations in Europe. Convenience services like parcel lockers, pickup points at convenience stores, or same-day couriers are popular in various European countries. No single carrier excels at all these formats. To offer, say, a pickup option in France, you might need to integrate with Mondial Relay or La Poste's Pickup network. For same-day delivery in London or Paris, you might partner with a specialty courier or gig platform. Retailers who embrace these multi-carrier offerings can actually gain market share by appealing to what local shoppers prefer. It's not just contingency, it's expansion of capability. Being nimble with carriers enables you to adopt new delivery innovations faster than competitors. For example, if a startup offers a new eco-friendly bicycle courier service in city centers, a multi-carrier-capable retailer can pilot that service with minimal fuss , plugging it into their delivery options as a differentiator for eco-conscious customers. Meanwhile a retailer locked into one carrier might watch from the sidelines, unable to participate without unwinding their one-carrier strategy.
Finally, consider the regulatory and cost environment. With fuel costs, emissions regulations, and cross-border complexities, having multiple carriers lets you optimize for cost and compliance. You might route more orders through a carrier that has an electric fleet in Norway to meet sustainability goals, or use a tax-friendly route for EU customs via a specific logistics partner. If tariffs or trade rules change (as we saw with Brexit), the flexibility to switch carriers or distribution approaches can save a fortune and keep shipments flowing when others are snarled in red tape. In essence, a multi-carrier framework gives European businesses optionality , the strategic freedom to respond to whatever comes, be it a sudden customs rule change or a carrier business decision.
The key for European merchants is to treat multi-carrier capability as a strategic asset at the executive level, not just an operational tactic. The discussion in the boardroom should shift from "how do we get the cheapest shipping rates?" to "how do we build a delivery network that is resilient, agile, and scalable?" The latter will naturally entail multiple carriers, smartly orchestrated. And it will pay dividends not only when crises occur, but also in day-to-day efficiency and customer satisfaction.
Embrace the multi-carrier mindset, your customers will thank you
Standing at 2026, the message from the parcel industry to retailers is loud and clear: evolve your delivery strategy or risk being left flat-footed. UPS's dramatic pivot away from Amazon, FedEx's reinvention of its network, and the rise of alternative carriers all point to one conclusion , flexibility wins in the long run. For European retail executives, the charge is to take delivery contingency as seriously as any other business continuity plan. It's not "nice to have" or a mere cost-play; it's about safeguarding your revenue and reputation in an unpredictable environment.
Adopting a multi-carrier approach isn't without effort, but the tools and partners to do it are more accessible than ever. With the right platform in place, you can unify carriers under one roof, instantly reroute orders when service or contracts change, and gain visibility across your entire last-mile operation. When done right, you'll find that multiple carriers don't multiply complexity , they divide risk. And they empower you to demand more from your partners, keeping everyone on their toes to deliver the best for you and your customers.
So ask yourself: if tomorrow your primary carrier announced a 20% rate hike, or a key lane got suspended, could your business continue humming? If the answer isn't a confident yes, now is the time to build that capability. Start by evaluating your current carrier performance and costs. Explore the emerging regional and specialized carriers in your markets. Begin integrating the tech that will let you toggle between carriers with a click. And make sure your team has contingency playbooks on the shelf for the next curveball.
In a volatile world, agility in delivery is as important as agility in merchandising or marketing. The retailers that thrive will be those who turn logistics into a competitive advantage rather than a bottleneck. By embracing multi-carrier strategies, you're not just hedging against disruption , you're positioning your company to proactively adapt and excel no matter how the delivery landscape evolves. In other words, you're seeing the writing on the wall and choosing to transform, rather than be transformed by events. The single-carrier comfort zone is gone; the future belongs to the nimble.
Now is the moment to diversify, integrate, and conquer the last mile on your terms. Your customers may never know the intricate web of carriers that got their order to the doorstep , but they will remember that you delivered as promised, no matter what surprises came behind the scenes. And ultimately, that's the payoff of a multi-carrier mindset: keeping your promises when others can't.
