Alternative delivery providers ramp up service coverage

Several alternative parcel carriers are expanding their U.S. coverage to meet shipper demand.

Since February, Jitsu, SpeedX and Veho have announced new markets they are making deliveries in, or will soon. These companies join competitors like UniUni in bolstering their domestic networks to fuel volume growth and improve their value versus industry titans like FedEx and UPS.

Here’s a rundown of the specific markets these carriers are launching in and why they’re making the leap now.

Jitsu bolsters Midwest footprint

Jitsu will begin delivering in six additional Midwest cities starting April 1: Cincinnati, Cleveland, Indianapolis, Pittsburgh, St. Louis and Columbus, Ohio. The expansion will allow Jitsu to deliver to more than 122 million people in the U.S., according to a news release from the company last week.

The new markets add to the carrier’s existing Midwest coverage in Chicago, Detroit and Milwaukee. Jitsu also serves major cities in the Northeast and western U.S., along with coverage in Texas, per its website.

Indianapolis will serve as Jitsu’s primary hub for interconnectivity within the Midwest, with Chicago and Columbus designated as secondary hubs. Any shipper injecting volume into Indianapolis can reach Chicago, Cincinnati, Columbus, Detroit and St. Louis with “basically next-day service,” Jitsu CEO Adam Bryant said in an interview. Other covered cities in the region can be reached in two days from Indianapolis.

“The interconnectivity is very helpful because it just gives you that common entry point,” Bryant said. “So it’s a lot less to have to manage for the client themselves. It also enables much better utilization on both the first mile and the middle mile.