What is last mile delivery?
Last mile delivery is the final leg of a shipment, the trip from a local hub to the customer’s door. It sounds small, but it is the most expensive and most complex part of getting a package delivered.
The cost is in the chaos. One truck, dozens of stops, traffic, missed customers, and tight time windows. That last short distance can eat a surprising share of the total shipping cost.
It is also where the customer actually feels your service. A late or fumbled last mile undoes everything that went right earlier in the chain, which is why so much routing and tracking technology aims squarely at it.
Sthenos builds the routing and optimization behind efficient delivery, including an AI route and truck volume optimization platform for a Nordic fleet.
Related terms: route optimization, fleet management software.
Why is last mile delivery so expensive?
Many stops, short distances, traffic, and failed deliveries make the final leg far less efficient than long haul transport.