Parcel Shipping Power Rankings: 2022 Industry Standings + What’s Next

“What a business needs most for its decisions — especially its strategic ones — is data about what goes on outside it. Only outside a business are there results, opportunities and threats.” — Peter Drucker

Most parcel shippers want (and need) to see how they stack up against the competition/other industries. If you don't know where you stand–you're blind to where you can move next, how you can improve, and most importantly–how you can outrank your competitors.

Good News. We ran the data for you ($20B of data). Where does your business rank?

? Let's peek at an example of the data we've analyzed. Starting with the transportation and warehousing industry and its respective KPIs.?

The KPIs Sifted established during this analysis were chosen based on factors that impact businesses and their shipping health rankings.?

?? Sifted Score

Sifted's proprietary tool measures the health of a company's shipping operations. Think of it like a credit score for your shipping health. It's calculated based on 6 key categories and 20+ factors, with results of either poor, fair, good, or excellent. Re-calculated every week, this score tracks your improvements and helps you pivot as needed.

?? Average Zone

Spanning from Zones 1-8, these are areas in the US that carriers ship to. The higher the zone, the higher the costs. These averages are calculated based on the average delivery zones of all shipments per industry.?

?? Cost Per Package

Packaging costs depend on various factors: the item's dimensions, weight, and final destination. These average costs include those factors and represent an overall cost per package overview.?

?? Residential Percentage

Residential deliveries are among the most expensive shipment types for businesses. These averages are based on the % of deliveries made to residential areas out of all shipments per industry.?

?? Average Percent Dimmed

Dimensional weight is based on the measurements of a package: (L x W x H) / DIM divisor. The standard DIM divisor (as of 2022) is 139 (and is negotiable with your carrier). These averages are based on the % of packages DIMed out of all shipments per industry.?

?? Average Billed Weight

Weight is the second most important metric in package spend. If it's not small and lightweight, carriers will charge you extra. These #'s are calculated from the average package weight of all shipments per industry.?

But what does this mean for your shipping business? Why should you care??

Because the numbers don't lie. And before you get your game plan ready for 2023, you need to see what's been happening to forecast what's coming next, where you stand, and how you can organize your playbook for 2023. Let's go!?

?? What Data Was Analyzed to Obtain These Rankings:

Before we dive deeper into other industry power rankings, here's an overview of the data.

?? What was the analyzed shipping spend? Over $2B?

? How many different industry categories were analyzed? 20

? What were the average KPI standards across all industries?

Average Sifted Score: 641.1

Average Package Cost: $18.9

Average Zone: 4.7

Average Billed Weight: 14.8lbs

Average DIM %: 28.8%

Average Residential %: 33.8%

Average Transit Time: 2.9 Days

#1: 2023 Construction Industry Shipping Power Ranking?

With an average Sifted Score of 517, a cost per package of $29.85, and a DIM % significantly higher than the overall standard—Construction shippers may have a weight problem. (Not surprising) Check out their Package DIM% stats ?? (Orange is overall, Blue is industry average)

This is where a dynamic carrier mix could break up larger and oversized shipments that national carriers like FedEx and UPS can't handle.?

#2: 2023 Manufacturing Industry Shipping Power Ranking?

One of the largest sectors of our research, manufacturing is a top category in parcel shipping. They're either right on track with industry standards or better.?

?? Compared to the average DIM % of 28.8 and average Billed Weight of 14.81, Manufacturing shipping companies are putting up rival numbers. Star industry players and boosting an average Sifted Score of 681—these shippers know what they're doing.?

#3: 2023 Retail Trade Industry Shipping Power Ranking?

Retail Trade is the MVP of 2022 shipping power rankings. Those numbers speak for themselves. ???

With an average Sifted Score of 704–and don't even get us started on those weight metrics–this industry category dominates the rest of shippers. But they aren't without their weaknesses. Since a significant percentage of their deliveries are residential, a good chunk of their spend goes to carrier surcharges. Plus, their average transit time is 3.40 days, about a ? day longer than the industry average of 2.90. But hey, with an average cost per package of $5 under the average–they've found a happy balance.?

#4: 2023 Health Care & Social Assistance Industry Shipping Power Ranking?

Standing strong in their rankings is also the health care and social assistance industry. They have better averages than most standards, but their biggest area of savings by far–is their low weight and short-distance deliveries.?

? However, our data analysts noticed something about this industry that was unlike the others.?

[Note: for the sake of not data dumping, we simplified our analysis for this article. Our team has dozens of other KPIs we measure and monitor.]?

One of those KPIs is Express Percentage. This KPI is based on the percentage of packages that used more expensive express options. (Packages that are either shipped as ground, express, or international.) The overall average is 20.69%. Health care and social assistance is sitting high at 48.6%. Double the standard for a "good" ranking."?

#5: 2023 Transportation & Warehousing Industry Shipping Power Ranking?

Last but not least, let's fully dive into the transportation and warehousing industry. Their averages are all slightly higher than the standard. Weakness: They have a higher average residential percentage, pointing to a potential overspend on surcharges—shippers could benefit from finding ways to cut costs on last-mile delivery for better overall standing.?

? What Happened in 2022? What Did We Learn?

Every industry has strengths and weaknesses. What's crucial for shippers in moving forward with this knowledge is understanding where you are today + how you can improve. What do your power rankings look like? And more importantly, do you know how to find them?

Once you have your shipping health in view, focusing on the areas that need your attention and improvement the most comes easy.?

? Reduce your cost per package: What if a simple change to your packaging could save you thousands each month? Shippers must embrace tech that puts the power in their own hands to model "what-if?" changes. These solutions visualize the impacts of possible adjustments, like box size or shipping location changes, to determine which proactive operational shifts are worthwhile.?

? Reduce your DIM %: Use this DIM calculator to roughly see where your standard DIM is hitting, and start making adjustments where it makes sense. Once you determine where you stand, you can make use of new technology and packing alternatives to make your shipping more efficient and sustainable where you can.?

? Lower your average delivery zone: Zone-skipping and distribution network expansion are your best friends for cheaper last-mile delivery. But it requires some forethought.?

• Analyze your historical orders and zip code data to review your optimal fulfillment sites.?
• What would your shipping costs be if you went from one fulfillment center to two based on different locations? How would the additional transportation and warehousing offset those costs your business incurs??
• Would more central warehouse locations benefit your business if you frequently ship cross-country??

? Reduce residential fee %: It no longer makes sense (financially or practically) to give all your shipping to one or even two national carriers. You need to mix things up and add regional and LTL carriers where it makes sense to reduce residential fees. Alternative delivery options are another great way to offer low-cost delivery options to your customers. Think parcel lockers and in-store pickup discounts.?

? Improve your express percentage: Switch to ground services wherever possible to avoid costly special services. Unfortunately, we see shippers use express service types when ground could deliver the package in the same time, if not faster. Use service type and network optimization tools to identify those express packages, reroute them through a ground service–and find the best location of a new distribution center and avoid express services altogether.?

? Here's to 2023: Your Best Shipping Year Yet

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