AxleHire, a startup last-mile logistics provider, has partnered with major 3PL and freight forwarder Seko Logistics to enable next-day deliveries directly from Seko facilities, eliminating middle-mile linehauls between hubs, saving time and money for shippers.
AxleHire has been working with Seko since 2021, and the latter is the first 3PL to utilize the new delivery model. Seko customers using it include apparel brand Shein and Wish, an ecommerce marketplace.
Through the partnership, orders from Seko customers that come into one of its fulfillment centers are scanned, routed and prepped using AxleHire’s technology, then delivered locally using carriers in AxleHire’s network. The system is live now at a Seko facility in Los Angeles, with plans to expand to Chicago in the next two months, and other major metros from there.
For example, a Seko customer in China prints out AxleHire shipping labels. When the orders arrive at a Seko facility, AxleHire’s dynamic routing algorithms balance delivery supply and demand and build route density, with predictive analytics ensuring service levels are met.
“AxleHire’s technology is the perfect fit for our ‘client first’ approach to logistics and allows us to keep up with consumers’ ever-increasing delivery demands,” said Richard McLaren, SVP of Global Ecommerce for Seko in a release.
AxleHire has a similar arrangement with Quiet Logistics, the outsourcing arm of American Eagle Outfitters. But in that case, inventory from various clients is commingled in a Los Angeles facility owned by AxleHire, a Quiet Logistics hub in Atlanta and a shared space in Dallas.
Adam Bryant, CEO of AxleHire, said the new offering works best with high-volume shippers on a unit cost basis, with smaller volumes priced accordingly.
“Instead of Seko loading up a truck and shipping it to our facilities, this eliminates that time and cost,” Bryant said, adding on average a half day to a day in transit time is gained. “We taught their associates how to use our sort process and our technology, routing orders with our algorithm. Essentially, they do scans and sorts the way we do, then stage the product for our drivers to pick up.”
AxleHire has operations in 19 metro areas on the west coast, in Texas, Florida, the Great Lakes region and the Northeast, and continues to expand. Clients include meal kit service Hello Fresh, retailer American Eagle Outfitters, shipping and logistics platform ShipHero and ecommerce 3PL Radial.