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Smaller parcel carriers are growing fast as major providers narrow their focus and shippers seek options that suit their priorities.
Regional, local and alternative last-mile providers delivered nearly 1.32 billion packages in the U.S. in 2025, up from 424 million packages four years earlier, according to market intelligence firm The Colography Group. In the process, these providers grabbed market share from major carriers like FedEx, UPS and the U.S. Postal Service.
Espresso and coffee company Nespresso's logistics strategy illustrates the trend in motion.
Nespresso historically relied on a single-carrier network, focusing on cost and on-time delivery as core performance metrics, Matthew Greenspan, Nespresso's director of logistics and transportation, said at Home Delivery World 2026 last month. Those factors are still important, but in the past five years, Nespresso began considering if carrier choice can also improve the customer delivery experience.
