What is final mile delivery?
Final mile delivery is the last leg of a shipment’s trip: from the warehouse, store, distribution center or carrier terminal where it last stopped to the place it will actually be used. That might be a store shelf, a job site, an office or a customer’s door. Final mile and last mile name the same leg.
It is the shortest part of the trip and usually the most expensive per mile. One load now has to reach many separate addresses, each with its own dock, parking and receiving hours.
How does our last mile delivery service work?
A final mile delivery with Alvy Logistics runs in four steps:
- Pickup or release. A driver collects from your warehouse, store, dock or terminal, or we release stock already held at our Valencia warehouse.
- Vehicle and route. Each load goes in the smallest vehicle that fits: a car, a cargo van or a 20 to 26 ft box truck with a liftgate or pallet jack when the receiver needs one. Recurring deliveries are grouped into routes.
- Delivery. The driver follows the receiving instructions you send: dock appointments, store hours, gate codes and a named contact.
- Tracking and follow-up. You book each order in our online shipper portal and follow it there: the driver’s live location, onsite updates, and pickup and delivery updates with photos, which give you proof of delivery to pass on to your own customer. If a delivery runs into a problem, call a coordinator during business hours.
Routed, scheduled or dedicated: which final mile option fits?
| Option | How it runs | Best for | How it is priced |
|---|---|---|---|
| On demand | One delivery, picked up and dropped the same day | One-offs, urgent restocks, overflow | Vehicle base rate plus mileage |
| Scheduled | The same run on a fixed day and window | Weekly store replenishment, daily supplier pickups | Quoted per stop or per route |
| Routed delivery | Several stops share one driver and vehicle in a planned sequence | Batches of deliveries to stores, trade customers or job sites | Quoted per stop or per route |
| Dedicated driver and vehicle | A driver and vehicle booked for your work for a day or set hours | Programs that benefit from one driver who knows each receiver’s dock and hours | Quoted for the day or the hours booked |
Routing is where final mile gets cheaper. On demand, one delivery carries the whole cost of the driver and vehicle; on a route, every stop shares it. For urgent one-off runs, see our same-day courier service.
Dedicated courier service: a driver and vehicle for a day or set hours
A dedicated courier service, also called a dedicated delivery service, books one driver and one vehicle for your work alone, for a full day or a set block of hours. You pick the vehicle: a cargo van, a Sprinter-size high-roof van or a 20 to 26 ft box truck. The driver runs your stops in the order you set and stays on your work between loads, so there is no rebooking for each run. It suits store openings, a heavy week of replenishment, a product launch, or a route that changes too much from day to day to price per stop. Blocks are quoted by vehicle, hours and area, booked once or on a standing schedule.
Retail and B2B last mile delivery
Most of our final mile work is business to business. Retail last mile delivery means moving stock from a warehouse or distribution center to stores, showrooms and pop-ups, often before opening or inside a set receiving window, where a missed slot can push the stock to the next day. B2B last mile delivery covers distributors delivering to trade accounts, manufacturers moving parts to job sites, and brands delivering to wholesale customers.
For furniture, fixtures and anything that has to be carried in, placed and unpacked, white glove delivery adds inside delivery and debris removal, from $160 for a local delivery by cargo van. Retailers planning a wider program across storage, fulfillment and delivery can start with retail logistics.
A Southern California final mile partner for forwarders, 3PLs and courier networks
A lot of final mile work starts with another logistics company. A freight forwarder has a shipment that needs to reach a consignee in the San Fernando Valley. A 3PL in another state has a retailer’s order bound for stores in Orange County. A courier network has a delivery in Los Angeles and no driver there. Alvy started out as exactly this kind of partner, running expedited deliveries for air freight forwarders, and from 2023 ran a residential parcel delivery route in Ventura County, so routed, stop-by-stop work is familiar ground.
For those partners we act as the local carrier for the last leg. Alvy Logistics picks up from your terminal, dock or cross-dock in Southern California and delivers to your instructions and reference numbers. If you run your own TMS, our online shipper portal can usually be connected to it, so your team follows our leg alongside the rest of the shipment; tell us which system you use when you ask for a quote. Freight that needs to be broken down and re-sorted first can go through cross-docking at our Valencia warehouse. Freight that arrives before the receiver is ready is held at our Valencia warehouse and delivered on the right day, with the hold quoted up front. Coverage runs from Fresno and the Central Valley through Ventura, Los Angeles and Orange counties, the Inland Empire and San Diego County.
What happens if a delivery cannot be completed?
If a receiver is closed, refuses the delivery or is not ready, the driver records it in our online shipper portal with photos, and a coordinator contacts you during business hours. The freight is then redelivered on a new window, returned to the sender, or brought back to our Valencia warehouse and held until you release it, as you choose. An attempted delivery is billed only when it happens and is listed on your quote, so accurate receiving details are the cheapest fix.
What does last mile delivery cost, and how do retailers manage it?
Per mile, final mile is the costliest leg of most shipments, for reasons that are easy to see on a route sheet:
- A driver and vehicle are committed to a few separate addresses instead of one long haul.
- Traffic and parking take time between stops.
- Receivers keep windows. A late receiver means paid waiting time, and a closed one means an attempted delivery charge, both billed only when they happen.
- Heavy or bulky pieces need a liftgate, a pallet jack or a second person.
The controls follow from that: group deliveries into routes, send the smallest vehicle that fits, give accurate receiving details so the first attempt succeeds, and move recurring work off one-off bookings and onto a scheduled route. The Los Angeles courier cost guide explains what moves the price.
Which last mile delivery companies fit B2B work?
Last mile delivery companies fall into a few groups: national parcel carriers built for small packages, app-based platforms suited to single consumer drops, white glove specialists, and regional business couriers. Alvy Logistics is in the last group: a motor carrier (USDOT 3443448, MC-1341979) with a 58,000 sq ft warehouse in Valencia on the I-5, vetted independent-contractor drivers with cars, cargo vans and box trucks, and published starting rates. We fit best when deliveries are B2B, local to Southern California, and either recurring or too big for a parcel network.
How to choose a final mile delivery partner
Ask four things of any final mile carrier. Who hauls the freight, and under which USDOT number? Can you see the driver’s location and photo proof of delivery without phoning anyone? Does the vehicle range run from a car to a box truck with a liftgate, so each load goes in the right size? And are the rates written down before the first run? Our answers: USDOT 3443448, live tracking with photos in our online shipper portal, cars through 20 to 26 ft box trucks, and published starting rates from $45.
What to send for a final mile quote
Send the pickup points, the delivery addresses or areas, what is moving (pieces, weight, pallets), how often it moves, the delivery windows and any receiving requirements such as dock appointments or a liftgate. A single run can be priced while you are on the phone; routes are priced per stop or per route once we see the pattern, and dedicated blocks by the day or the hours. Business clients are invoiced. Start with a quote request, or call (661) 344-8766.
