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The national parcel carriers in the U.S. do a great job, says Douglas Kahl, director of sales and business development for AFMS Logistics Management Group, a Portland, OR-based consultancy specializing in domestic and international shipping. “We are very fortunate in this country to have the best transportation system that has ever been available, and it is important to appreciate the national carriers for being able to do that.”

Kahl then adds one other comment: “However, don't overlook the regionals.”

Fewer and fewer shippers are overlooking the regional carriers, and the number of such companies is growing as a result. “We know of at least 500 in the U.S. alone,” reports Rob Shirley, president/founder of Austin, TX-based shipping solutions consultancy ExpresShip. Some regional carriers serve just one metro market, such as New York City. Others serve entire states. “In fact, there are three that serve every address in California,” Shirley says, “and they offer express and ground service.” And some regional carriers will serve a number of states in the same region.

If you ship only within a limited geographic area, working with a regional parcel carrier certainly makes sense. If you ship beyond your regional market, it is likely that you will be doing business with a national carrier. But this doesn't mean that all your outbound packages can or should be shipped by the national carrier.

THE BENEFITS OF REGIONALS

In many cases, regional parcel carriers can be competitive in at least four important areas: time, technology, cost, and service.

Time: The primary selling point of the regionals is faster short-zone transit times, according to Brett Febus, president of Hilliard, OH-based parcel shipping consultancy Insource Logistics. “In fact, they usually compete pretty well against the nationals by taking the packages that would normally be delivered in two or three days and delivering them the next day.”

And there is another time benefit, according to AFMS's Kahl. “Regional carriers are probably going to be able to arrange for later pick-up times than the nationals,” he says. “This lets you fill orders later in the day that can still be delivered the next day.” Some regionals will even offer same-day delivery.

Technology: Until recently, many shippers gravitated toward national carriers because they provided shipment tracking technology that the regionals did not offer. But this is no longer the case. “With the price of technology being as inexpensive as it is, regional carriers have invested in full-blown tracking, tracing, and proof of delivery systems,” says Shirley of ExpresShip. “Previously this was the major edge that the national carriers had.” What's more, he says, merchants can now order their shipment pickups online with most of the regional carriers.

While many regionals offer real-time tracking information, most of the rest will at least be able to offer timely tracking information.

Cost: “In terms of pricing, when working with most of the regional carriers, the path to achieving discounted pricing is a bit quicker and more straightforward,” points out Febus. “The reasons are that they provide fewer services, and they have fewer accessorial charges, so they can make their pricing and tariffs a lot more simple to understand.”

Some regionals also offer another cost edge: They make residential deliveries for no additional charge. Others have extra charges for shippers that ship mostly residential, but no extra charges for shippers that have few residential deliveries. Still others will negotiate.

Service: Regionals may be able to handle special needs that the nationals don't have the flexibility to do, says Shirley. For example, you may be able to give a regional carrier five pallets with 200 boxes on each pallet and then send it 1,000 customer labels online. The carrier would then print all the labels and affix them to the boxes for you (assuming that the boxes all have the same products). “Then the carrier will deliver all of them on the day specified,” he says.

And if you are a large enough customer — shipping at least 20 packages a day — you may even be able to personally call the president of a regional carrier to get something changed, Shirley says.

ARE REGIONALS RIGHT FOR YOU?

There are many instances when it makes sense to consider regional carriers. The size of your company is one consideration. “The decision to use nationals or regionals may depend on your total spend,” says Don La France, director of transportation services for enVista Corp., a Mishawaka, IN-based logistics and shipping provider. “If you're a smaller player, you will typically get better service and pricing from a regional.”

Your location is another factor. If you are in a remote area or a smaller city, La France says, you will usually have better service with a regional carrier.

Also, consider where most of your customers are located. “Look at your distribution and traffic pattern,” Kahl suggests. “If you have a high concentration in a certain geographical area, then it may make sense to consider a regional carrier.”

When comparing prices between regional and national shippers, don't forget to consider added costs, experts say, especially as the national carriers have increased the number of accessorial charges during the past few years. These charges include fuel surcharges, inside-delivery service, waiting time, address correction fees, oversize shipments, and packages that are nonconveyorable and need to be hand-carried.