M&A activity snapshot
Last-mile M&A runs on two tracks. The first is big-and-bulky final mile, where larger logistics companies buy delivery-and-installation networks. Hub Group bought Forward Air Final Mile for an aggregate cash purchase price of $262,000,000, and Hub describes the business as residential last mile delivery services and installation of big and bulky goods, with a focus on appliances. Ryder bought Cardinal Logistics for a purchase price of $302 million in 2024.
The second track is parcel route contractors working for one shipper. FedEx uses approximately 5,300 service providers to conduct certain linehaul and pickup-and-delivery operations. Amazon's Delivery Service Partner program has drawn $21.7 billion to support DSPs and their Delivery Associates over eight years. These businesses change hands mostly between operators, with the shipper's consent.
Volume keeps growing. Pitney Bowes reports U.S. parcel volume reaching 23.1 billion shipments, a 3.3% increase from 2024's 22.4 billion, and says Amazon Logistics has surpassed the traditional Big 3 carriers by volume.
Who is buying
Asset-light 3PLs and intermodal carriers buy final-mile networks to sell a full service to retailers and manufacturers. RXO, spun off from XPO, calls itself the largest provider of outsourced last mile transportation for heavy goods in the U.S. Dedicated fleet operators add last mile alongside contract carriage, as Ryder did with Cardinal. J.B. Hunt's Final Mile segment had revenue of $824 million in 2025, showing the scale large carriers are building.
Other route operators are the main buyers of FedEx and Amazon contractor businesses. They add adjacent routes to gain density. Search funds and first-time buyers also target route businesses because the revenue is visible; for how they find owners, see the search fund deal sourcing playbook.
What buyers look for
Shipper consent and contract terms. A FedEx Ground service provider agreement filed with the SEC states that neither party is authorized to assign this Agreement without the prior written consent of the other. It counts a sale of stock or assets as a transfer of control and lets FedEx refuse an assignment that would create undue reliance for service on a single Independent Service Provider. Buyers also read the term: extensions in that agreement are capped at fifty-two weeks in total.
Concentration risk. Prime EFS, a public DSP, disclosed that Amazon does not intend to renew its Delivery Service Partner (DSP) Agreement with Prime EFS. That contract was about 67.8% of the Company's approximately $32 million of revenue in 2019.
Labor classification. FedEx says it is defending joint-employer cases over drivers employed by its service providers. Contract length in final mile. J.B. Hunt reports FMS contracts with customers range from one to five years, with the average being approximately three years.
What makes a strong company
A last-mile business that reaches the top of the range typically shows:
- Contiguous, dense routes or service areas, so a buyer can run them with fewer vehicles.
- A clean record with the shipper: scorecards, safety, and no open disputes that would slow consent to a sale.
- More than one revenue source, or a final-mile book spread across several retailers and manufacturers.
- Documented driver payroll, overtime, and classification practices.
- A fleet plan (owned or leased vans and straight trucks) with no deferred replacements.
- Managers who run daily dispatch without the owner.
Valuation and deal structure
No major data provider publishes multiples for small route contractors, so disclosed deal prices are the best proxy. By Axia arithmetic, Hub Group's $262,000,000 price was about 0.9x the $289 million in revenue Forward Air Final Mile generated in the prior 12 months; no EBITDA figure was disclosed. At the small end, one public FedEx Ground contractor disclosed buying a Salt Lake City operation where the purchase price was $1.35 million USD, paid half in stock.
Structure follows the shipper contract. Closing usually depends on the shipper's consent, and the FedEx agreement gives the other party sixty days of being notified to respond. Buyers may use holdbacks or seller notes to cover the period until consent and the first scorecards under new ownership. These are market data points, not a valuation of any single business; owners can get a starting estimate from Axia's valuation tool.
Outlook
Parcel networks are shifting. UPS expects its planned volume declines from its largest customer to reduce volume by approximately one million additional pieces per day by the end of 2026. FedEx has implemented Network 2.0 at approximately 360 locations in the U.S., reducing pickup-and-delivery routes and mixing employee couriers with service providers market by market. USPS opened more than 18,000 USPS destination delivery units to bids from shippers.
Amazon keeps funding its contractor network, including $1.9 billion in the DSP program in 2027. Over the next 12-24 months, expect FedEx route consolidation to continue as Network 2.0 rolls out, and expect buyers of big-and-bulky final mile to favor operators with several retail and manufacturing customers. See the Transportation & Logistics overview for the wider market.