What is OnTrac? Everything Explained!!

The world of e-commerce delivery is rapidly evolving. As more shopping moves online, customers have come to expect faster, more affordable shipping options. Retailers and shippers are looking for ways to meet these demands while remaining profitable.

Enter OnTrac, a niche regional carrier that has quickly become an essential part of the e-commerce infrastructure. But what exactly is OnTrac and what makes them stand out in the increasingly competitive parcel delivery market?

This in-depth guide will cover everything you need to know about OnTrac, their services, delivery network, key differentiators, use cases for shipper/retailers, customer experiences, and their plans for future growth. You’ll gain insight into how they’ve evolved into a major player focused specifically on providing a premium last-mile delivery experience.

Overview of OnTrac Delivery Services and History

Founded originally in 1991 as a regional overnight delivery service, OnTrac has over 30+ years of experience specializing in time-sensitive parcel shipping. This sets them apart from national carriers who may prioritize volume over expedited delivery.

While OnTrac started by focusing solely on business-to-business overnight envelopes and packages, they have since adapted their operation to meet the needs of rapidly growing e-commerce order fulfillment and last-mile residential delivery.

In addition to standard ground parcel delivery, OnTrac now provides a range of services including:

• Overnight shipping
• Next-day delivery
• Two-day economy
• Weekend delivery
• Scheduled deliveries
• Temperature controlled/sensitive logistics
• Warehousing and order fulfillment

The company understands that for modern retailers, being able to get online purchases delivered quickly and reliably is essential for keeping customers happy and gaining a leg up over the competition.

This goes beyond just moving packages from point A to point B. OnTrac has made investments to give shippers more flexibility, greater transparency into the delivery process, and the ability to provide branded, personalized post-purchase experiences. More on these value-adds later.

First, it’s important to understand OnTrac’s geographic service region and delivery infrastructure that allows them to facilitate expedited shipping.

OnTrac’s Delivery Network and Infrastructure

As a regional carrier, OnTrac specializes in developing delivery networks optimized specifically for the Western United States rather than trying to blanket the entire country.

Their courier routes and logistics infrastructure are designed to facilitate quick sortation and hand-offs to get packages delivered faster to this target region covering major metro areas.

Some key stats on OnTrac’s delivery reach and capabilities:

• 10,000+ shipping locations across 36 states
• Service area covers 250 million+ potential consumers
• Operates a fleet of over 500 package delivery trucks
• Also leverages train and cargo plane transport for long haul

OnTrac’s last-mile delivery zone includes major markets in:

• California
• Arizona
• Nevada
• Oregon
• Washington
• Utah
• Colorado
• Idaho

Retailers and shippers using OnTrac are able to reach 80% of the total U.S. population by focusing on the West Coast specifically.

The company moves over 2 million packages per day and has the infrastructure in place to support growing demand without spreading themselves too thin. This reliability and speed is what has earned them strong loyalty among customers.

What Makes OnTrac a Top Choice for E-Commerce Delivery?

There are a few major factors that set OnTrac apart from national carriers and make them a preferred choice for e-commerce order fulfillment:

1. Faster Transit Times

OnTrac delivers overnight service comparable to air freight pricing through optimization of their ground routes.

For shippers, this means being able to delight customers with quick deliveries while paying affordable Ground rates. Even cross-country transit often takes just 2-3 days.

2. Lower Shipping Costs

By focusing on regional routes, OnTrac can offer highly competitive pricing compared to UPS, FedEx, USPS, and other carriers.

Retailers are able to save up 36% on shipping charges to help preserve margins on e-commerce order fulfillment.

3. High Reliability

Stringent quality control and transit time guarantees also give OnTrac one of the best track records on on-time delivery.

Their specialization in expedited shipping ensures parcel movement is prioritized over lower revenue freight.

Reliable last-mile delivery improves customer loyalty and gives retailers an advantage winning over consumers.

4. Enhanced Visibility and Control

OnTrac provides superior invoice detail, tracking data, and analytics to help retailers monitor delivery performance.

Custom branded tracking pages and proactive notifications also let merchants provide white-glove service following the point of purchase.

Who Relies on OnTrac for Expedited Parcel Logistics?

OnTrac has become the carrier of choice for a wide variety of shippers needing to deliver within 1-3 days reliably across the Western United States.

This includes everyone from leading e-commerce retailers to niche boutiques, merchants selling on online marketplaces, and brick & mortar stores with expanded online ordering.

OnTrac is tailor made to support low-cost expedited shipping for high-volume B2C retailers and e-commerce order fulfillment. Their model provides a perfect balance of speed, affordability and reliability.

Below are examples of some common use cases from OnTrac customers:

• Amazon sellers who need a faster transit time advantage to rank on listings
• Direct to consumer brands like apparel companies shipping from warehouses
• Big box retailers expanding into e-commerce sales and home delivery
• Wholesalers fulfilling bulk part orders to distributors

OnTrac also has special programs for new economy disruptors:

• Crowdfunding projects rewarding backers with fast shipment
• Subscription box companies facilitating monthly order fulfillment
• Digital marketplaces like Shopify, eBay, Etsy sellers

OnTrac essentially helps mitigate one of the biggest operational challenges of running an e-commerce business – efficiently fulfilling orders to meet fickle customer delivery expectations.

Reviews of OnTrac’s Services from Customer Experiences

OnTrac has maintained an impressive reputation given the sheer volume of packages they transport daily and 30+ years in business. The company cites an average 97%+ successful delivery rate.

Big box retailers and major shippers give glowing reviews of OnTrac’s services based on key metrics like:

• On-time performance
• Loss/damage ratios
• Invoice accuracy
• Customer service response

Publicly, OnTrac maintains an A+ rating on the Better Business Bureau where they’ve resolved the majority of complaints registered.

However among individual residential consumers, experiences receiving OnTrac home deliveries can be mixed. Some criticisms of their last-mile service include:

• Missed delivery dates
• Packages marked delivered prematurely
• Lack of recipient signature capture
• Customer service wait times

While infrequent, these types of issues seem to occur as a trade-off for OnTrac’s speed and low-cost ground network. Retailers are advised to set proper consumer expectations around delivery timelines when using expedited economy parcel shipping.

And consumers may prefer OnTrac over competitors like LaserShip or Prestige given their scale and professionalism despite some exceptions.

OnTrac’s Future Outlook and Growth Plans

As demand for faster e-commerce deliveries reaches every corner the country, OnTrac continues expanding into new regions to provide retailers reliable coverage.

They now operate over 75 facilities including hubs, sorting centers and drop yards. In 2022, OnTrac extended its delivery reach into Texas, one of the fastest growing markets.

And they’ve established partnerships with USPS, DHL, FedEx and other carriers to transportation packages the “last mile” increasing accessibility nationwide.

OnTrac has also boosted capacity significantly having just merged with the leading East Coast provider, LaserShip/

Together they can provide transcontinental delivery from coast making them one of the largest regional carriers in operation.

This opens lots of exciting possibility for diversifying services:

• Further 1-2 day shipping penetration
• Introduction of same-day delivery
• More warehouse/inventory integration
• IoT tracked temperature shipments
• Autonomous vehicles for last-mile

As commerce continues shifting online, the underlying delivery infrastructure must evolve. And OnTrac aims to remain the partner of choice powering this transformation through faster, transparent parcel logistics at competitive rates.

Using OnTrac Delivery for Your E-Commerce Shipping

For any retailers and e-commerce merchants located the Western United States, OnTrac deserves strong consideration to include in your carrier strategy.

Regional parcel shipping focused specifically on expedited e-commerce orders represents a new model that can help merchants keep up with demanding customers.

Evaluate if an OnTrac partnership makes sense based on factors like:

• Delivery regions – Ensure OnTrac zones overlap your target customer base
• Speed – Assess if your business model benefits from 1-2 day transit times
• Volume – Designed for high throughput unlike crowd-shipping
• Cost – Compare OnTrac rates vs other carrier quotes historically

If your business can take advantage of faster delivery times at affordable pricing, then utilizing OnTrac is an easy way to stay ahead in highly competitive e-commerce sales channels.

Conclusion

OnTrac stands out as a niche carrier catering specifically to the accelerating demands of modern e-commerce. By focusing strictly on expedited regional parcel shipping, they’ve been able to facilitate 1-2 day ground delivery at rates cheaper than national competitors.

This rare balance of speed, affordability and reliability has made OnTrac a preferred choice for retail, wholesale and marketplace sellers striving to delight customers and gain a competitive edge. Their expanding next-generation delivery networkaims to continue revolutionizing order fulfillment expectations.

So in summary – OnTrac represents an innovative regional carrier leveraging optimization and specialization to provide premium last-mile delivery experiences underpinning the e-commerce economy.