Carrier loyalty might feel like the safe choice, but for growing eCommerce and DTC brands, adopting a multi-carrier shipping strategy can reduce costs, improve reliability, and protect the customer experience.
Today's logistics landscape is evolving almost unreasonably quickly. Carriers are raising rates, introducing and adjusting surcharges, capacity fluctuates with every season, and customers expect faster, more affordable delivery options both domestically and internationally. However, many brands are still tied to a single negotiating power, and leaves your business vulnerable when service disruptions or price hikes hit.
Let's explore the hidden disadvantages of relying on one carrier and how a multi-carrier strategy can help cut costs, improve reliability, and create a better shipping experience.
Risks of Single-Carrier Shipping vs. a Multi-Carrier Strategy
Many brands stay with one carrier out of habit, thinking loyalty leads to better treatment or pricing. But in reality, sticking with a single provider weakens your negotiating power. Nowadays, running a monogamous shipping operation and depending entirely on one carrier can cost brands and their customers more than they realize.
When there were fewer than a handful of key carriers, loyalty might have been prudent, but today, a multi-carrier shipping strategy is often the safer, more cost-effective choice. Learn more about optimizing your carrier network and some of the downsides of relying on a single carrier in the modern shipping ecosystem.
Capacity limitations
When you rely on just one carrier, you're limited by what they offer and their network. During peak seasons, that carrier may prioritize higher-volume shippers or limit space altogether, so your orders are either delayed or rerouted. Major carriers may even quietly pause service guarantees or limit daily pickups during high-demand periods, leaving businesses with a backlog of unshipped orders.
Without alternatives, your brand bears the brunt of their bottlenecks, and your customers will feel it, too. These capacity constraints become exponentially worse during peak periods like holidays and promotional events, when volume spikes and every carrier faces pressure.
Service gaps
No single carrier can do everything well. One might excel in last-mile delivery but fall short in rural area coverage, while another carrier might handle lightweight parcels better but charge heavily for oversized shipments.
Some carriers perform excellently in major metro areas but experience slower delivery times in rural zones, while others may be strong with last-mile delivery but less efficient for international handoffs. Depending on a single provider means accepting their strengths and weaknesses, even if those gaps don't align with your business' and customers' needs.
Service disruptions are another critical risk. A winter storm, a driver strike, or a technical outage at a major carrier can throw your entire supply chain into chaos. When you're relying on just one carrier, these unpredictable events leave you with no backup plan, leading to delayed shipments, overwhelmed support teams, and dissatisfied customers. Building shipping resilience and redundancy into your operations ensures that service disruptions don’t derail your fulfillment.
Rising costs
Carriers raise rates regularly, through both surcharges and GRIs, and when you're locked into a single contract, your negotiating power weakens. Loyalty doesn't translate into better pricing; it means having to pay more over time. Peak season brings additional financial pressure through residential delivery fees and high-demand surcharges that can significantly impact your margins if you have no alternative carrier options.
For example, one carrier might consider your best selling set an oversized package and charge additional handling fees. Another carrier might use a different measurement table, so that same package would be considered standard size (and priced accordingly).
Simply put, a multi-carrier strategy gives you options and leverage. Instead of being at the mercy of one provider's pricing or performance, you can compare rates, create competition between carriers, and negotiate better.
How a Multi-Carrier Shipping Strategy Improves Cost, Flexibility, and Reliability
A multi-carrier strategy is about building smarter relationships, not abandoning them. When you diversify your carrier mix, you create a shipping network that adapts to your business needs instead of forcing your business to adapt to one carrier's limitations. The result? Lower costs, greater flexibility, and happier customers.
Below are the benefits of switching to multiple carriers.
Cost Optimization
No single carrier will offer the lowest rate for every shipment. Weight, destination, and delivery speed all affect pricing, which is where having multiple options pays off. A multi-carrier setup allows you to compare rates in real time and choose the most cost-effective option for each order.
By intelligently routing shipments to avoid peak surcharges and selecting carriers with better pricing for specific zones or delivery types, you can control shipping costs without sacrificing speed or reliability. Over time, this lowers expenses and gives you the upper hand to negotiate better terms.
Operational Flexibility
When you rely on one carrier, you are tied to their schedule, capacity, constraints, and service performance. With a multi-carrier strategy, you gain freedom. You can shift volume depending on carrier performance, and match the right carrier to each order based on size, weight, delivery time, or even surcharge risk.
When one carrier hits capacity limits or experiences service disruptions, you can dynamically reroute shipments through another provider with minimal delay, keeping your operations resilient even when the unexpected hits.
This flexibility helps brands maintain consistent operations, even when the logistics landscape shifts unexpectedly.
Improved Turnaround Times
Not all carriers perform equally across regions or service levels. Some may excel at fast local delivery, while others are better suited for nationwide or international routes. Through intelligent routing (matching each shipment with the carrier best equipped to deliver on time in that specific region) you can ensure packages arrive when promised.
By assigning the right carrier to the job, you can shorten delivery windows and reduce transit variability. You will also find that some carriers excel at certain service levels, so you should constantly be monitoring on-time delivery performance across various providers.
The result is faster and more reliable shipping that aligns with rising customer expectations for speed and transparency.
Better Customer Experience
In eCommerce, shipping is part of your brand experience. Missed delivery windows, unexpected fees, or inconsistent tracking erode trust. A multi-carrier strategy helps protect that experience by ensuring customers always get the best possible service no matter where they live or what they order.
Additionally, a multi-carrier approach enables you to offer more shipping options at checkout, including same-day delivery, economy shipping, scheduled drop-offs, or local pickup points, to give customers the flexibility they expect while boosting conversion rates.
Enhanced International Capabilities
International shipping becomes significantly more reliable with a multi-carrier strategy. By matching each destination with a carrier that understands local customs procedures, last-mile handoffs, and regional regulations, you can reduce delays and improve delivery reliability. Whether you're shipping to Canada, the UK, Australia, or beyond, the right carrier mix helps ensure your cross-border orders arrive on time with minimal friction, transforming international shipping from a constant headache into a smooth extension of your supply chain.
More Data to Guide Strategy
You can review carrier service levels comparatively. Does one carrier perform better with on-time performance, while another has fewer claims? Access to real-time metrics and performance insights across multiple carriers gives you a complete picture of industry standards rather than just one carrier's lens.
Bring those metrics to your carriers and ask them to aim for the better metric in every case, since you're seeing it's possible with other providers.
Being able to see performance across various carriers puts you in a stronger negotiating position, because you can see a wider picture of industry standards rather than only judging carrier KPIs through one lens.
Seamless Scalability During Volume Spikes
When orders start pouring in during flash sales, holiday peaks, or promotional surges, you don't have time to reinvent your shipping process.
A multi-carrier strategy enables you to scale seamlessly, automatically assigning the best carrier for each order based on destination, weight, and required speed. No manual sorting, no label chaos. Just a system that flexes with demand, ensuring your team stays focused and your customers stay happy.
Overcoming Common Challenges in Multi-Carrier Shipping
Managing multiple carrier relationships, systems, and service levels can feel overwhelming at first. But the good news? With the right tools and planning, these challenges are manageable, and the payoff is well worth it.
Balancing volume commitments
Carriers often offer better rates in exchange for volume guarantees. However, spreading shipments across multiple carriers might make it tricky to meet those targets.
Workaround: Use data-driven forecasting to distribute volume. By analyzing order history, peak periods, and shipping zones, you can allocate shipments in a way that meets each carrier's thresholds while maintaining rate advantages.
Integrating carrier data
Each carrier has its own system, reporting structure, and service metrics, making visibility a challenge.
Workaround: Implement tech solutions that centralize shipping data from all carriers into one central dashboard. A unified view of rates, delivery performance, and spend helps your team make faster, smarter decisions and prevents disconnected systems.
Look for platforms that integrate seamlessly with your existing eCommerce platform or warehouse system, ensuring compatibility with your tech stack and workflows without requiring you to juggle multiple carrier accounts.
Avoiding analysis paralysis
With so many carrier options, service levels, and pricing models, it's easy to get overwhelmed and stall progress.
Workaround: Add one carrier, then expand gradually after testing their performance. As you gain confidence, small diversifications like adding a regional carrier can deliver measurable cost and service improvements.
Managing operational overload
More carriers can mean more administrative work: managing claims, scheduling pickups, auditing invoices, and reconciling billing against contracts. Without the right processes, that added complexity can strain internal teams.
Workaround: Partner with logistics experts like iDrive Logistics, who can streamline these tasks and manage carrier relationships for you. A trusted multicarrier partner handles the logistics complexity behind the scenes on your behalf, automatically selecting the best shipping method for each package to printing labels, managing carrier handoffs, and providing real-time tracking updates. That way, your team can focus on growth while maintaining control and visibility over performance.
Building Your Multi-Carrier Shipping Strategy: Step by Step
Building a multi-carrier strategy doesn't mean signing contracts with every carrier you see. It means creating the right mix for your business. It's not a one-size-fits-all situation, since every brand has different goals, products, and delivery needs.
Before you compare rates or add new partners, ask yourself: What are your goals when shipping, and who works best for your needs?
- If you want the lowest cost, focus on carriers that offer efficient ground or postal-induction services for affordable point A-to-B delivery.
- If speed and reliability are your top priority, go for carriers with guaranteed 2-day or overnight services and service level refunds if they miss those commitments.
- If you have a diverse product mix, match your carriers to your product profile. Lightweight items between 1 to 5 lbs may ship best with postal or regional carriers, while heavier parcels from 20 to more than 50 lbs will need national carriers with better large-parcel rates.
Once you've clarified your shipping goals, follow these steps to build a strong and scalable multi-carrier network.
1. Assess your current shipping mix and pain points
Look at your existing carrier's performance, rates, and limitations. Identify where costs spike, where delivery times lag, and where customer experience delays or complaints. Understanding your starting point gives you a clear plan for improvements.
2. Identify key regions, order volume, and customer expectations
Map out where your customers are, how often they order, and what delivery times they expect. If your customer base spans multiple regions, a mix of national and regional carriers can help you optimize coverage and transit times.
3. Compare different carriers and negotiate rates
With your shipping data and goals in hand, evaluate multiple carriers side by side. Look beyond base rates, compare carrier surcharges, delivery guarantees, and performance metrics.
Then, use that data to negotiate rates, just as you would when shopping for the best deal. Having alternatives on the table keeps you in control and strengthens your negotiating position.
4. Pilot with an additional carrier before scaling
You don't have to overhaul your shipping setup overnight. Start small by introducing one additional carrier to test performance and cost efficiency. Monitor delivery times and customer feedback.
After you've validated the results, gradually scale and fine-tune your carrier mix to balance cost, speed, and service quality.
Key Considerations for going Multi-Carrier
Before jumping into a multi-carrier strategy, it's important to assess whether your business is ready and what infrastructure you'll need to make it work smoothly.
Technology Requirements
If you're managing multiple carriers, your shipping system needs the ability to rate shop or set up business rules that automatically select the lowest-cost carrier based on the service level requested. Look for platforms that integrate seamlessly with your warehouse management system (WMS) and offer rate-shopping capabilities that can compare carriers in real time. Without this capability, you'll end up manually comparing rates for every shipment, which defeats the purpose of efficiency gains.
Volume Thresholds
While multi-carrier strategies benefit businesses of all sizes, there are practical considerations around volume. To negotiate meaningful discounts with carriers, you typically need around 1,000 packages per month or more to access better discount tiers. If you're shipping lower volumes, you can still take advantage of multi-carrier pricing by working with consolidators or fulfillment companies that aggregate volume across multiple clients to secure better rates through parcel consolidation.
Staffing and Resources
One of the most common concerns is whether managing multiple carriers requires dedicated staff. With the right software in place, you can manage multiple carriers effectively without requiring a dedicated logistics manager unless you're dealing with significant volumes. A general operations team can handle day-to-day carrier management when supported by technology that automates carrier selection, label generation, and tracking.
Multi-Carrier Strategy Best Practices
Once you've decided to adopt a multi-carrier approach, following these best practices will help you maximize the benefits while avoiding common pitfalls.
Build a Balanced Carrier Mix
A healthy carrier mix typically includes at least one national carrier combined with multiple regional carriers and consolidators. Avoid concentrating too much volume with a single carrier. Even with a multi-carrier strategy, giving more than 60% of your volume to one carrier can leave you vulnerable to capacity and pricing issues.
Review Your Carrier Mix Regularly
Carrier performance and pricing change over time, so it's important to formally review your carrier mix and rates every 2-3 years at minimum. Most service agreements with carriers run for at least two years unless you specifically request annual renewal. While month-to-month arrangements are also possible, many carriers offer additional discounts for signing longer-term agreements, so factor that into your decision-making.
Manage Carrier Relationships Transparently
A common concern is how to maintain good relationships with carrier reps when you're actively moving volume to their competitors. The answer is honest and transparent communication. Clearly outline your organization's goals and explain why you're shifting volumes. A good carrier rep will view this as an opportunity to expand the partnership and offer solutions if they're having challenges in a particular region or service area. Transparency builds trust and often leads to better pricing or service improvements.
Cut Costs and Improve Customer Experience With a Multi-Carrier Strategy
Carrier loyalty might feel comfortable, but in today's fast-changing logistics environment, it's a risk most growing brands can't afford. Rising costs, capacity constraints, and shifting customer expectations demand a more flexible and data-driven approach.
Relying on a single carrier limits your options, while a multi-carrier strategy puts you back in control. But before making the switch, analyze your current setup. See where you're overspending and which areas can benefit from more reliable coverage. Understanding these gaps is the first step in designing a multi-carrier strategy that fits your business goals.
At iDrive Logistics, we help brands build a shipping setup that supports profitability. Our scalable fulfillment and shipping solutions give you the flexibility to choose the best carriers, the confidence to negotiate better rates, and the visibility to deliver a seamless customer experience.
If you're ready to see how a multi-carrier strategy can strengthen your bottom line, schedule a consultation with iDrive today.
Multi-Carrier Strategy FAQs
This is a common concern, but in practice, it's rarely an issue. Most customers don't know which carriers a retailer uses until they receive their shipment confirmation email. As long as you're transparent and provide clear tracking information, customers typically don't care which carrier delivers their package. They just want it to arrive on time.
Most carrier systems automatically send confirmation emails with tracking links that take customers directly to the tracking page. The key is transparency: make sure your order confirmation and tracking emails are clear and consistent regardless of which carrier is handling the shipment.
The only scenario where confusion might arise is if a single order ships in multiple boxes via different carriers, but this is usually avoidable with proper fulfillment planning.
Do I need to sign long-term contracts with every carrier?
Not necessarily. Most carriers offer both long-term contracts and pay-as-you-go options. Long-term agreements often come with incentives like additional discount tiers or better base rates, which can make them worthwhile if you're confident in your volume projections. However, when entering into any agreement, carefully review the terms for exclusivity clauses and minimum volume requirements. Missing volume commitments can result in rate adjustments, so make sure the terms align with your actual shipping patterns before signing.
How long does it take to switch from single-carrier to multi-carrier?
The implementation timeline varies by carrier, but realistically, expect anywhere from 2-6 weeks per carrier depending on the software integration required. Some carriers can be onboarded quickly if your platform already supports their integration, while others may need custom setup. Start with one additional carrier to test the process before scaling further.
About the Authors
Andrew Battaglia, iDrive Logistics
Andrew Battaglia is a Small Parcel Analyst with iDrive Logistics, bringing a strong background in logistics consulting, shipping analysis, and economics. He partners with shippers of all sizes to identify cost-effective, efficient strategies that align with their business needs.
Specializing in small parcel carrier optimization, Andrew focuses on creating transparent, fair shipping solutions that put control back in the hands of businesses. He continues to drive innovation in small parcel logistics to make shipping smarter, simpler, and more sustainable.
Outside of logistics, Andrew enjoys traveling, chess, and music. He currently lives in Salt Lake City, Utah with his fiancé.
Barbara Rausch, ePost Global
Barb is a Client Solutions Partner with ePost Global, bringing over 24 years of experience in mail and logistics. She partners with clients to build customized shipping strategies that reduce costs, improve transit performance, and navigate complex international regulations.
Specializing in cross-border logistics and multi-carrier solutions, Barb focuses on becoming a trusted resource to her clients by identifying opportunities, solving distribution challenges, and delivering programs that consistently exceed expectations. She continues to help businesses streamline their shipping operations across domestic and international markets.
Outside of logistics, Barb believes in the "pay it forward" philosophy, maintaining a positive attitude and helping others succeed both professionally and personally.
