In last-mile delivery, reputation is built through execution. Deliveries arrive when they’re supposed to, problems are communicated early and exceptions are handled without creating more disruption. It’s the most visible part of the network – and the least forgiving.
As networks scale, the final handoff becomes the moment where everything else is judged. Customers don’t see the planning, routing or systems behind a delivery. They see the outcome. When it falls short, responsibility is assigned quickly and directly to the company running the operation.
Where the pressure is increasing
The last mile has always been expensive. Industry research shows it can account for more than half (53%) of total delivery costs, while also being the most operationally complex part of the network.
What’s changed is how directly performance is tied to customer retention. Research from Capgemini has highlighted that delivery failures significantly impact trust and future purchasing decisions. While much of that data is drawn from consumer contexts, the underlying dynamic is the same in B2B delivery: reliability and communication determine whether customers continue to do business with a provider.
In commercial delivery, reliability and communication determine whether customers continue to trust an operator with their volume. That trust shows up in renewals, expanded contracts and fewer escalations.
For fleet operators, pressure is coming from every direction. Customers expect tighter delivery windows and proactive updates. Routes are more complex. Labor remains difficult to secure. Tolerance for missed commitments is low. The last mile has become one of the most operationally fragile parts of the business.
Drivers carry the consequences of scale
Drivers operate where planning meets the real world. They deal with traffic, site access issues, incomplete information and changing priorities in real time. They’re also the only part of the operation most customers ever associate with the delivery itself.
When plans hold, drivers can focus on execution. When they don’t, drivers absorb the consequences. They explain delays they didn’t cause and manage exceptions they weren’t prepared for. Over time, this affects service consistency and puts strain on the people doing the work.
Relying on drivers to compensate for gaps elsewhere in the operation might work occasionally. At scale, it introduces risk and makes performance harder to maintain.
What breaks first as operations grow
As delivery networks expand, failures rarely appear all at once. What breaks first is visibility. Information arrives late. Exceptions are flagged after decisions have already been made. Small delays compound across routes.
Industry analysts have consistently pointed to lack of real-time operational visibility as a factor that limits scalability and increases service volatility. In practice, this leads to more manual intervention, more dispatcher involvement and more follow-up after deliveries are missed.
Once teams move into reactive mode, everything slows down. Drivers improvise. Dispatchers chase updates. Customers escalate. These issues don’t always appear immediately in headline metrics, but they increase friction and quietly erode trust.
The cost of inconsistency
The cost of inconsistency rarely shows up all at once. When visibility is limited, teams spend more time intervening manually. That effort adds labor cost, slows response times and pulls attention away from higher-value work. At the same time, inconsistent communication drives more customer inquiries, escalations and disputes.
Capgemini has noted that service issues significantly increase the cost of customer support. In B2B delivery, those costs surface differently – through longer resolution cycles, strained account relationships and lost expansion opportunities.
For leaders, these patterns are signals. They indicate that the last mile is carrying more complexity than the operation was designed to support, and that the cost of doing nothing is already being paid – just not always on the balance sheet.
Execution discipline over tooling
Performance breaks down when expectations, ownership and decision-making aren’t clear.
Stable operations tend to share a few traits. Commitments are realistic. Exceptions are clearly defined. Escalation paths are understood before something goes wrong. Drivers know what success looks like before the day begins.
When that foundation is in place, execution improves. When it isn’t, even experienced teams struggle to keep up.
Reducing uncertainty for drivers
Driver performance and retention are often framed as workforce challenges, but they’re also operational ones. Drivers struggle when plans change without warning, when information arrives late, or when they’re left to manage issues that they didn’t create.
Fleets that perform consistently focus on reducing uncertainty. Routes are achievable. Commitments reflect real conditions. Communication is timely and direct. Drivers are trusted to execute within clear boundaries.
With this move, the service becomes more consistent, drivers stay longer and customer relationships are easier to manage.
What leaders need to decide
Drivers already sit on the front line of trust in last-mile delivery. That isn’t changing. What can change is how well they’re supported.
Treating the last mile as a strategic function – not just a cost to manage – means investing in systems that hold up under pressure and give frontline teams the information they need to execute consistently. Organizations that do this tend to scale more predictably, protect customer relationships and avoid the hidden costs that come with reactive operations.
As we look toward 2026 and beyond, trust in last-mile delivery is built through performance, one delivery at a time.
Discover how the last mile is shifting from static routes to smart ecosystems, helping to reduce failed deliveries and operational costs, in the December 2025 issue of Parcel and Postal Technology International
