OnTrac

Last updated

OnTrac Final Mile
FormerlyLaserShip
Industry Last mile (transportation)
Founded1986;38 years ago (1986)
Headquarters Vienna, Virginia, U.S.
Number of locations
64 facilities (2018)
4 sortation centers (2018)
Area served
United States
Key people
  • Mark Holifield, CEO
  • Scott P. Nelson, COO
ServicesRegional carrier
Ground Service
Same-day Service
Weekend Delivery
Website ontrac.com

OnTrac (formerly LaserShip) is a last-mile delivery company that services the continental United States. [1] [2] [3] [4] Founded in 1986 as LaserShip, the company is based in Vienna, Virginia and has sorting centers in 31 states. [5]

Contents

In 2021 LaserShip acquired west coast delivery service OnTrac Logistics, Inc. for $1.3 billion, equivalent to $1.46 billion in 2023. [6] The two entities merged their delivery networks to form a transcontinental delivery network and rebranded their combined services to OnTrac. [7]

History

LaserShip began as a document delivery service in 1986. [8] In the 1990s, LaserShip landed in the small parcel business during the dot-com boom. In 1999, the company partnered with Barnes & Noble to provide same-day shipping services in New York City. [2]

In March 2014, LaserShip added four states to its service area: New Hampshire, Rhode Island, West Virginia and Delaware. This expanded the LaserShip footprint by 44 percent, reaching an additional 8.5 million consumers. [2] Also in March 2014, LaserShip acquired Cleveland-based last-mile delivery company Prestige Delivery Systems, [9] further expanding services to Ohio, Kentucky, Michigan and Indiana.

As of 2016, LaserShip had 63 distribution centers and four sorting centers servicing 22 states and Washington, D.C., [10] and handles deliveries for Amazon's Same Day Service. [11] [12]

In April 2019, LaserShip was awarded the International Supply Chain Protection Organization (ISCPO) Carrier Certification; [13] the company has also achieved compliance with ISCPO Carrier Security Requirements. [14]

In early 2018, the company was purchased by private equity firm Greenbriar Equity Group. [15]

In May 2021, OnTrac expanded into Tennessee, opening three new branches in Memphis, Knoxville, and Nashville. [16] This expansion added 979 new zip codes, [17] an 18% increase of their delivery coverage. [18] In April 2023, the company announced plans to change its name to OnTrac. [19]

By 2022, OnTrac’s service area covered 80% of the U.S population across 31 states and Washington D.C. [20]

Disputes and settlements

OnTrac has been criticized for drivers roughly handling goods, including throwing and driving over packages. [21] [22] [23] [24] [25] [26] [27] LaserShip drivers have also been reported for damaging [28] and stealing [29] the personal property of recipients. The company has been penalized by multiple governments for misclassifying drivers as independent contractors, [11] [30] and for delivering untaxed cigarettes (for which the company was prosecuted under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act).[ citation needed ]

Package tossing, property damage, and theft

In 2017, numerous news reports [21] [22] backed up by surveillance camera footage depict LaserShip delivery drivers recklessly tossing packages onto customers' property. A New York magazine article entitled "LaserShip, Amazon's New Shipping Partner, Might Be the Most Hated Company on the Internet" features a compilation video showing numerous such incidents at over a dozen different households, with packages ending up on porches, in front lawns, and on driveways. [23] [24]

Misclassification and non-payment of drivers

In April 2014, the company reached a class-action settlement of $800,000 (equivalent to $1.03 million in 2023) [6] with drivers in Massachusetts who accused the company of misclassifying them as independent contractors. [11] In November 2015, a class action lawsuit was filed in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York alleging that workers were denied overtime payments, were unlawfully denied earned compensation, and for other violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act. [31] The results of this litigation are pending.[ as of? ]

In June 2019, LaserShip was ordered to pay $597,000 (equivalent to $711,458in 2023) [6] to drivers in New Jersey who had been classified as independent contractors after an investigation by the US Department of Labor. [30]

Cigarette settlement

In September 2014, LaserShip reached a $5 million (equivalent to $6.44 million in 2023) [6] settlement with the city of New York over deliveries of untaxed cigarettes. The original suit alleged that LaserShip had delivered more than 120,000 cartons between 2011 and 2013 violating federal and state laws and resulting in tax losses of $1.9 million, equivalent to $2.49 million in 2023. [6] The case was prosecuted under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act. [32] Under the settlement agreement, LaserShip ended all cigarette shipments. [33] [34]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">United States Postal Service</span> Independent agency of the U.S. federal government

The United States Postal Service (USPS), also known as the Post Office, U.S. Mail, or Postal Service, is an independent agency of the executive branch of the United States federal government responsible for providing postal service in the United States, its insular areas, and its associated states. It is one of the few government agencies explicitly authorized by the Constitution of the United States. As of 2023, the USPS has 525,469 career employees and 114,623 non-career employees.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">FedEx</span> American freight and package delivery company

FedEx Corporation, originally Federal Express Corporation, is an American multinational conglomerate holding company focused on transportation, e-commerce and business services based in Memphis, Tennessee. The name "FedEx" is a syllabic abbreviation of the name of the company's original air division, Federal Express, which was used from 1973 until 2000. FedEx today is best known for its air delivery service, FedEx Express, which was one of the first major shipping companies to offer overnight delivery as a flagship service. Since then, FedEx also started FedEx Ground, FedEx Office, FedEx Supply Chain, FedEx Freight, and various other services across multiple subsidiaries, often meant to respond to its main competitor, UPS. The company is the fifth largest American-headquartered employer globally, with 547,000 employees. FedEx is also one of the top contractors of the U.S. government and assists in the transport of some United States Postal Service packages through their Air Cargo Network contract.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">United Parcel Service</span> American package delivery company

United Parcel Service, Inc. (UPS) is an American multinational shipping & receiving and supply chain management company founded in 1907. Originally known as the American Messenger Company specializing in telegraphs, UPS has expanded to become a Fortune 500 company and one of the world's largest shipping couriers. UPS today is primarily known for its ground shipping services as well as the UPS Store, a retail chain which assists UPS shipments and provides tools for small businesses. UPS offers air shipping on an overnight or two-day basis and delivers to post office boxes through UPS Mail Innovations and UPS SurePost, two services that pass on packages to the United States Postal Service for last-mile delivery.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Package delivery</span> Type of delivery service

Package delivery or parcel delivery is the delivery of shipping containers, parcels, or high-value mail as single shipments. The service is provided by most postal systems, express mail, private courier companies, and less-than-truckload shipping carriers. Package delivery is different in each country, and how packages are delivered is closely connected with the cost for delivering to that country as well as population. In 2019, China, The United States, and Japan were the leaders in package delivery while Latvia, Macau, and Iceland were the bottom three. The population of the bottom three barely totals 2 million while the population of the top three tops totals more than 2 billion. Package delivery is an every day occurrence in the US while many other countries do not have this luxury.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">DHL</span> German delivery and express mail company

DHL is a logistics company providing courier, package delivery and express mail service, delivering over 1.7 billion parcels per year. A subsidiary of the German logistics firm DHL Group, its express mail service DHL Express is one of the market leaders for parcel services in Europe and Germany's main courier and parcel service.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">FedEx Ground</span> American ground package delivery corporation

FedEx Ground, a subsidiary of the FedEx Corporation, is an American ground package delivery company headquartered in Moon Township, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Pittsburgh. The company began as Roadway Package System (RPS), founded in 1985 by transportation company Roadway Services Inc., later renamed Caliber System. FedEx bought Caliber in 1998 to complement its existing FedEx Express business and rebranded Caliber's RPS package delivery service FedEx Ground in 2000.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of United States postage rates</span>

The system for mail delivery in the United States has developed with the nation. Rates were based on the distance between sender and receiver in the nation's early years. In the middle of the 19th century, rates stabilized at one price regardless of distance. Rates were relatively unchanged until 1968 when the price was increased every few years by a small amount. Comparing the increases with a price index, the cost of a first-class stamp has been steady. The seal of the Post Office Department showed a man on a running horse, even as railroads and, later, motorized trucks and airplanes moved mail. In 1971, the Post Office became the United States Postal Service, with rates set by the Postal Regulatory Commission, with some oversight by Congress. Air mail became standard in 1975. In the 21st century, prices were segmented to match the sorting machinery used; non-standard letters required slightly higher postage.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Geopost</span> International parcel delivery service

Geopost is an international parcel delivery service for sorter compatible parcels based in Issy les Moulineaux, France. Until 2015 DPD stood for Dynamic Parcel Distribution. Its brands are DPD, Colissimo, Chronopost, Seur and BRT. The company is based in France and operates mainly in the express road-based market.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">GLS Group</span> European logistics company

General Logistics Systems B.V. (GLS) is a parcel services provider operating in Europe and North America.

OnTrac Logistics, Inc. was a privately held logistics company that contracted regional shipping services in the Western United States. In 2021 OnTrac Logistics was acquired by east coast delivery firm LaserShip for $1.3 billion, the combined business was later rebranded back to OnTrac.

Hermes Europe GmbH is a German delivery company headquartered in Hamburg, owned by the retail company Otto GmbH.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Amazon Prime Air</span> Conceptual drone-based delivery system currently in development

Amazon Prime Air, or simply Prime Air, is a drone delivery service operated by Amazon. The service uses delivery drones to autonomously fly individual packages to customers, and launched in 2022. The service currently operates in two cities in the US, with plans to expand into the UK and Italy in 2024.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Delivery drone</span> Unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) used to transport packages, food or other goods

A delivery drone is a unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) designed to transport items such as packages, medicines, foods, postal mails, and other light goods. Large corporations like Amazon, DHL and FedEx have started to use drone delivery services. Drones were used effectively in the fight against COVID-19, delivering millions of vaccines and medical supplies across the globe. Drone deliveries are highly efficient, significantly speeding up delivery times and avoiding challenges traditional delivery vehicles may encounter. Given their life-saving potential use cases for medical supplies in particular have become the most widely-tested type of drone delivery, with trials and pilot projects in dozens of countries such as Australia, Canada, Botswana, Ghana, Uganda, the UK, the US among others.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">LSO (company)</span> Regional shipping carrier

LSO, originally known as Lone Star Overnight, is an Austin, Texas-based regional shipping carrier that focuses on Express next day delivery, utilizing both air and ground transportation in Texas, southeastern New Mexico, certain metro markets in Oklahoma, Louisiana, Arkansas, Alabama & Tennessee, as well as northern Mexico.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Amazon Prime</span> Paid subscription service offered by Amazon

Amazon Prime is a paid subscription service of Amazon which is available in various countries and gives users access to additional services otherwise unavailable or available at a premium to other Amazon customers. Services include same, one- or two-day delivery of goods, and streaming music, video, e-books, gaming, and grocery shopping services. In April 2021, Amazon reported that Prime had more than 200 million subscribers worldwide.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Prime Now</span> Subsidiary of Amazon

Prime Now, LLC is a subsidiary of Amazon that oversees its same-day grocery shopping and delivery service. The name also originated a brand, including a custom app, to distinguish the service from Amazon's other offerings, but both the branding and the app have since been discontinued. The service is used chiefly by the company's own Whole Foods Market and Amazon Fresh subsidiaries. An Amazon Prime subscription includes and is required for access to the service, though it may not be available in all locations where Amazon Prime is offered. Third-party retail partners may also participate in the service and sell goods through Amazon's website.

Amazon Air is a virtual cargo airline operating exclusively to transport Amazon packages. In 2017, it changed its name from Amazon Prime Air to Amazon Air to differentiate themselves from their Amazon Prime Air autonomous drone delivery service. However, the Prime Air logo remains on the aircraft. Until January 2021, the airline had relied on wet-leasing its aircraft from other operators, but going forward it is looking to directly own some aircraft. On the planes the airline owns, the airline will still rely on others for CMI leases.

Intelcom is a Canadian courier and package delivery company headquartered in Montreal, Quebec. The company delivers nearly 500,000 parcels per day across Canada.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Package theft</span> Theft of a package or parcel

Package theft or cargo theft is the theft of a package or parcel. It can occur anywhere in the distribution channel.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Parcel locker</span> Self-service collection service for parcels

A parcel locker is an automated postal box that allows users for a self-service collection of parcels and oversize letters as well as the dispatch of parcels.

References

  1. "Parcel - May/June 2015". Nxtbook.com. Retrieved December 15, 2017.
  2. 1 2 3 Bhattarai, Abha (April 13, 2014). "LaserShip looks to expand to the midwest". The Washington Post. Retrieved July 31, 2014.
  3. Stevens, Laura; Benoit, David (November 12, 2013). "Activist Investor Daniel Loeb Takes FedEx Stake". The Wall Street Journal . Retrieved July 31, 2014.
  4. "Hot Companies 2013". Parcel Magazine. July–August 2013. Retrieved July 31, 2014.
  5. Pack, Natalie (August 2, 2023). "OnTrac". OnTrac. Retrieved October 5, 2023.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 1634–1699: McCusker, J. J. (1997). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States: Addenda et Corrigenda (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1700–1799: McCusker, J. J. (1992). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1800–present: Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. "Consumer Price Index (estimate) 1800–" . Retrieved February 29, 2024.
  7. Smith, Jennifer (October 13, 2021). "LaserShip Is Buying Package Carrier OnTrac in a $1.3 Billion Deal". Wall Street Journal. ISSN   0099-9660 . Retrieved November 16, 2023.
  8. Solomon, Mark (June 9, 2021). "Long controversial and now cooking, LaserShip rides the parcel-delivery wave". FreightWaves. Retrieved May 26, 2023.
  9. "LaserShip expands footprint in New Jersey to meet growing ecommerce demand". Parcel Industry. April 7, 2016. Archived from the original on January 19, 2017.
  10. "LaserShip". Company Profile. Parcel. May–June 2016. p. 23. ISSN   1081-4035.
  11. 1 2 3 Jamieson, Dave (April 24, 2014). "Meet The Real Amazon Drones". Huffington Post. Retrieved January 13, 2016.
  12. Kaufman, Alexander C. (December 26, 2014). "Amazon's Enormous Same-Day Delivery Growth Comes At A Price". Huffington Post. Retrieved January 13, 2016.
  13. "Regional Transportation Carrier Awarded Notable Security Certification". Loss Prevention Magazine. April 18, 2019. Retrieved May 6, 2019.
  14. Smith, Byron (April 12, 2019). "LaserShip, Inc. is the latest to be ISCPO Carrier Certified". ISCPO (Press release). Archived from the original on October 31, 2019. Retrieved May 6, 2019.
  15. Simpson, Burney (March 28, 2018). "Supply Chain Technology Leads M&A Wishlist". Transport Topics. Retrieved August 15, 2018.
  16. Davis, Corey (June 3, 2021). "Last-mile delivery provider LaserShip starts up Memphis facility". Memphis Business Journal . The Business Journal . Retrieved June 14, 2021.
  17. Garland, Max (June 14, 2021). "LaserShip's Tennessee expansion part of growing delivery alternative to FedEx, UPS". The Commercial Appeal. Retrieved June 14, 2021.
  18. Bailey, Tom (June 3, 2021). "Parcel carrier LaserShip opens facility in Cordova". Daily Memphian. Archived from the original on June 4, 2021. Retrieved June 14, 2021.
  19. Solomon, Mark (April 10, 2023). "OnTrac, LaserShip rebrand into 'OnTrac' name". FreightWaves. Retrieved July 26, 2023.
  20. Taylor, Caroline (August 19, 2022). "Coming in 2023: We're Expanding to Texas!". OnTrac. Retrieved October 2, 2023.
  21. 1 2 Monfort, Ashley. "Home video shows delivery drivers throwing packages at Ashland home". WWBT-TV . Archived from the original on December 24, 2016. Retrieved December 1, 2017.
  22. 1 2 Peters, Jeff (December 22, 2016). NBC 12 Interview - LazyShip (aka LaserShip) . Retrieved December 1, 2017 via YouTube.
  23. 1 2 Nosowitz, Dan (September 27, 2017). "LaserShip, Amazon's New Shipping Partner, Might Be the Most Hated Company Online". Select All. New York Magazine . Retrieved December 1, 2017.
  24. 1 2 LaserShip Delivery Montage. December 22, 2016. Archived from the original on December 6, 2021 via YouTube.
  25. Zhang, Michael (July 25, 2016). "Watch How Amazon Delivered a $500 Camera Lens". PetaPixel. Retrieved December 1, 2017.
  26. Blake, Rob (February 20, 2017). LaserShip Driver Attempts to steal package until he is caught . Retrieved December 1, 2017 via YouTube.
  27. "Caught On Video: Meriden police involved after delivery driver throws delicate package". WTNH . March 23, 2017. Retrieved December 1, 2017.
  28. "Delivery man drops package off in grass, runs over orange tree". WINK NEWS. January 18, 2018. Retrieved August 24, 2018.
  29. Lisik, Brian (July 8, 2019). "Delivery man caught on camera burglarizing home: Brunswick Police Blotter". cleveland.com. Retrieved July 23, 2019.
  30. 1 2 Attrino, Anthony G. (June 26, 2019). "Delivery company in N.J. to pay nearly $600K in back pay to drivers". nj.com. Retrieved July 23, 2019.
  31. Crosby and Lewis v. Lasership, Inc., Et Al., Index Number 08694-CV-2015, SDNY - retrieved through pacer.gov and http://www.fslawfirm.com/pdfs/cs/Lasership-Complaint.pdf
  32. "Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Cases, Dockets and Filings in the District of New York". Justia Dockets & Filings. Retrieved December 14, 2017.
  33. "City reaches $5M settlement in cigarette case". Crain's New York Business. Associated Press. September 25, 2014. Archived from the original on May 18, 2023. Retrieved January 13, 2016.
  34. Calder, Rich (September 24, 2014). "Delivery company in un-taxed cigarette racket to pay $5M". New York Post . Archived from the original on September 25, 2014. Retrieved January 13, 2016.

Further reading