As anyone who reluctantly hits the treadmill knows, the last mile is always the hardest. That’s also true of parcel delivery.
What happened: Calgary-based Ziing — focused on solutions for “last-mile delivery,” the final leg of package delivery — is acquiring newspaper publisher Torstar’s parcel-delivery unit for an undisclosed amount. The deal will give Ziing an extra ~30,000 weekly deliveries.
Why it’s happening: Newspapers have fallen on hard times, but gosh darn it, they’re still doing a good job when it comes to a field they helped pioneer: delivering stuff door to door.
- While Torstar is deciding to sell its delivery unit, rival Postmedia is all in on parcel delivery, which has been one of its scant few operations actually driving revenue.
Big picture: A 2021 survey of Canadian logistics providers found that 78% feel that last-mile delivery is the most difficult and inefficient part of the supply chain, as it’s filled with (surprisingly complex) challenges like finding parking spots and navigating neighbourhoods.
- It’s also very expensive — not to mention environmentally unfriendly — as drivers burn up fuel as they slowly idle around residential areas and look for houses.
Why it matters: If major shippers and deliverers can better optimize their last-mile practices, they would save both time and money — a win for online shoppers who would get their 161 billion annual parcels quicker and see those savings trickle down to lowered shipping fees.
Zoom out: Last-mile startups have other strategies besides snapping up the remnants of dying media empires, like drones or adorable remote-control robots. Vancouver-based UniUni, a budding leader in last-mile solutions, uses an Uber-like fleet of drivers.—QH