The True Cost of Free Shipping Is More Than You Can Afford

As we near the holiday season, many consumers begin to focus on one thing when it comes to deliveries: speed.

Don’t get us wrong, speed is necessary. Moving time sensitive goods in as little as 45 minutes services the Metroplex with their urgent delivery needs. Everything from food distribution to life saving medical specimens can move quickly, oftentimes within an hour. Customers love this, we know. But as the competition becomes fierce to serve customers quickly, we’re beginning to see the costs of a business model that practices speed over accountability. And a responsible courier in DFW has a tough time standing by silently.

There are major eCommerce organizations, and one in particular, who pride themselves on free, fast shipping. Items can be delivered NOW, or, at the latest, in just two days. All for “free”. What is the true cost of these operations?

Compromised Safety

The most obvious downside to a blind focus on speed is a lack of safety. There are countless instances where pedestrians or other drivers have been struck, injured, and even killed by careless delivery drivers who simply were moving too fast to stay safe.

Investigations have shown that these drivers are often working towards a daily quota, pressed by dispatchers to work longer and faster, or told to forego breaks in favor of pressing on with their route. One report suggested that the largest eCommerce site in America requires their drivers to deliver 250 packages per day during peak times. This comes down to delivering a package every two minutes. Talk about exhausting!

Eagle Express, however, favors speed and safety. We choose our drivers wisely, searching for those with excellent driving records and training them on the Eagle Express way. They’re background checked and regularly tested for prohibited substances. Our team is clean cut all around.

Shirked Responsibility

In order to fulfill customers’ expectations of fast, free shipping, many eCommerce sites will hire a third party to complete the delivery. Larger operations will hire hundreds of partner businesses to fulfill deliveries in each city. When something goes awry, which it inevitably will with break-neck speeds and lack of vigilance, it’s not the top of the pyramid who gets stuck footing the bill and taking responsibility- it’s the little guys.

It brings up the question: who does your delivery driver work for? Do they work for your big-name eCommerce site? Or someone else. With Eagle Express, you never have to wonder who your driver works for. Our team members are uniformed, sporting the Eagle logo. They have identification and a manifest. They’re also insured, meaning if things do get squirrely, your items are covered by Eagle express and our A-rated insurance providers. No run around, no passing the buck.

Unfair Wages

Ah, the free shipping schtick! It’s a good one. It entices customers and makes them feel like they’re getting a great deal! But as all economists will tell you, there is no such thing as “free”. That includes shipping.

Large companies who outsource their shipping to smaller firms are often paying those firms a flat daily rate. As we near the holidays, when loads increase and drivers work overtime, these smaller firms are stretched thin in order to pay their drivers. That free, 2-day shipping comes at a cost to the companies who are making those final mile deliveries. As they make cut back to make ends meet, the rest of us end up seeing the consequences; to the tune of increased accidents, less-than maintained vehicles, and questionable staff behind the wheel.

At Eagle Express shipping isn’t free. (Sorry, not sorry.) It is fair, though. We believe in fair prices for our customers so we can pay fair wages to our drivers and so our couriers can make a fair profit. Those are the types of drivers you want delivering your time and temperature sensitive goods throughout the Metroplex. Not the overworked, disgruntled, underpaid sub-contracted folks from some of the big name delivery companies.

Don’t Fall for It

Don’t be fooled by what you’re being sold about fast and free shipping. It comes with deadly consequences. Instead, keep your transportation and logistics processes local. Eagle Express offers fast, safe shipping 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. You’ll be pleasantly surprised to find that your cargo is never handed off to a third party, and it stays in the hands of our qualified and trained experts from start to finish.

Get started by contacting us here on our website, or calling 214-351-5777 today!