FarEye launched Eye on the Last Mile America 2026, new research examining how U.S. enterprises are responding to persistent delivery cost inflation, increasingly complex fulfillment networks and changing expectations around speed, reliability and control.
The report was launched at Last Mile Leaders America 2026, being held from August 26–28 at The Gwen in Chicago. Hosted by FarEye, Last Mile Leaders is a global industry community bringing together decision-makers shaping the future of last-mile delivery. The community has now convened seven editions across the Americas, EMEA and APAC. The 2026 research points to a significant divide between organizations that have greater control over their delivery networks and those that do not. Operators with the highest levels of network control report 95% on-time performance, compared with 65.5% among low-control operators. Their median WISMO rate - customer contacts asking, “Where is my order?” - stands at 6.2% versus 20.8%, while median year-over-year delivery cost inflation is 8.3% compared with 14.5%.
The research also exposes what FarEye describes as a growing speed penalty. Operators that prioritize the fastest possible delivery report only 76% on-time performance alongside 24% median cost inflation. By comparison, operators prioritizing predictable delivery achieve 88.4% on-time performance with 10% median cost inflation, while those focused on real-time tracking visibility report 90.3% on-time performance and just 4.9% median cost inflation.
The comparison challenges the long-standing assumption that faster delivery automatically creates a stronger customer proposition. Within the survey, the operators most focused on maximum speed are experiencing both weaker reliability and more than twice the median cost inflation of those prioritizing predictability and nearly five times that of the visibility-first cohort.
These findings come as the broader economics of last-mile delivery remain under pressure. The median year-over-year increase in cost per delivery was 12% in 2026, matching the 12% increase recorded in 2025, and suggesting that elevated cost inflation is becoming a more persistent operating condition rather than a temporary spike. Sixty percent of respondents reported increases above 10%, while 20% reported increases above 20%.
The pressure is becoming structural: 88% of operators say delivery costs are growing at the same pace as revenue or faster, leaving just 12% in a position where revenue growth is outpacing delivery costs. For logistics leaders, the challenge is no longer simply to manage growth, but to scale delivery volumes and service expectations without allowing operating costs to rise at the same rate - or faster.
The shift is also visible in what operators now consider the most important customer promise. 55.7% say predictable delivery or successful first-attempt delivery matters most, compared with just 11.4% that prioritize the fastest possible delivery. Predictability alone ranks first at 30%, followed by successful first-attempt delivery at 25.7%.
“In the U.S., last-mile delivery is no longer an emerging capability; it is a highly mature, highly competitive operating environment where the differentiator is increasingly the quality of orchestration,” said Kushal Nahata, CEO & Co-Founder, FarEye. “Retailers and logistics providers are managing multiple carriers, owned fleets, regional partners and increasingly complex service expectations, all while protecting margins. What this research makes clear is that investment alone does not create control. The leaders are the organizations that can translate visibility, governance and orchestration into consistent execution across the network. That is what ultimately determines whether a delivery promise can be kept at an economics the business can sustain.”
Key findings from Eye on the Last Mile America 2026
- Control separates performance leaders from laggards: High-control operators report 95% on-time performance, compared with 65.5% among low-control operators. Their median WISMO rate is 6.2% versus 20.8%, while median cost inflation is 8.3% versus 14.5%, despite the same median investment level.
- Speed carries a measurable penalty: Speed-first operators report 76% mean on-time performance and 24% median cost inflation, compared with 88.4% and 10% among predictability-first operators and 90.3% and 4.9% among visibility-first operators.
- Reliability is overtaking maximum speed: 55.7% of operators prioritize predictable delivery or first-attempt success, while only 11.4% identify fastest possible delivery as their most important promise.
- Cost inflation remains persistent: Median year-over-year cost-per-delivery inflation stands at 12%, with 60% of respondents reporting increases above 10% and one in five reporting increases above 20%.
- Growth is becoming harder to absorb: 45.8% of operators say delivery costs are increasing faster than revenue, and a further 42.2% say the two are growing at the same rate.
- Hybrid delivery has become the dominant operating model: 57% of respondents now combine owned and outsourced delivery capacity. Among hybrid operators, 47% plan to increase outsourcing further, compared with 27% of outsourced-only operators and 14% of own-fleet operators.
- AI adoption is accelerating, but adoption alone does not guarantee better outcomes: The share of operators implementing or operating AI increased from 46.2% in 2025 to 66.3% in 2026. The report finds that technology maturity and investment alone do not explain the differences in network control or reliability.
The research suggests that the next stage of U.S. last-mile competition will be defined less by who can make the fastest promise and more by who can control increasingly complex delivery networks well enough to make the right promise, execute it consistently and sustain the economics behind it.
Eye on the Last Mile America 2026 draws on a survey of 500+ U.S. delivery operators and more than 3,000 data points, covering delivery economics, customer expectations, network control, technology adoption and operating models.
