Dive Brief:

• Ryder launched a new e-commerce fulfillment solution meant for small to large consumer goods, allowing manufacturers to ship directly to consumers instead of relying on a third-party marketplace, the company announced in a press release. 
• "The solution is a fulfillment and shipping solution," Steve Sensing, Ryder president of global supply chain solutions, explained in an email to Supply Chain Dive. "We are not launching a marketplace. Customers would handle the online sales of their products on their own websites. Ryder would pick, pack, and ship the orders. This allows customers to manage the consumer experience on the front end, while Ryder handles the logistics of getting the product to the consumers’ home."
• Two new facilities in Perris, California and Fort Worth, Texas, and the expansion of an existing warehouse in Douglassville, Pennsylvania will support the new fulfillment offering.

Dive Insight:

Ryder's fulfillment services echo a trend among logistics providers to grab as much of the fulfillment process as possible, from the moment goods are finished to the last mile. Both UPS and FedEx have built up their fulfillment services in recent years. Ryder built up its last mile network to cover 11 major North American markets before peak season 2018, and the carrier now says it can deliver to 95% of the U.S. within two days. 

This new offering has already been through a pilot phase with "a globally recognized small appliance manufacturer," Ryder said. This client moved from a third-party marketplace to Ryder's new fulfillment offering and saw 99.9% on-time and in-full shipping accuracy during Black Friday and Cyber Monday, according to Sensing.

Fulfillment services, however, are separate from Ryder Last Mile that provides home delivery and installation on big and bulky goods. 3PLs are currently struggling to handle "big and builky" items. FedEx, J.B. Hunt and UPS are all working on getting the right assets in place to profit off of this growing but precarious category. 

Last year, Ryder acquired MXD Group, an e-commerce fulfillment provider that deals with big and bulky goods, and with it gained its facilities in the United States and Canada, according to Transport Topics.

"The acquisition of MXD Group’s last-mile solution was part of a broader e-commerce strategic initiative that Ryder has been focused on," Sensing said, when asked if the MXD acquisition led to the new offering. "We had been looking at ways to both grow a solution organically, as well as keeping our eyes open for potential acquisition opportunities."