A recent study shows that 68% of customers prioritize delivery speed when deciding where to shop online. But speed alone isn’t enough — reliability throughout the entire delivery process is just as crucial. If customers don’t trust that their order will arrive on time and in good condition, they’ll look elsewhere.
Download Ware2Go’s eBook to discover how fast and reliable shipping can boost customer satisfaction, increase loyalty, and drive meaningful gains for your bottom line.
That’s where last-mile carrier tracking comes in. With real-time updates and smarter delivery insights, you can keep your customers informed, streamline on-the-floor operations, and reduce complaints — giving you more time to focus on what matters most: growing your business.
In this article, we’ll explore how last-mile tracking works, why it’s crucial for staying ahead of the competition, and how businesses like yours can use it to build stronger relationships with customers.
What Is Last Mile Carrier Tracking?
Last-mile carrier tracking shows the status and often location of a package from the moment the shipping information is sent to the carrier. Some carriers provide updates as a package moves from one sortation center to the next, and some show the real-time location of the package on a map when it’s out for delivery.
What is a Last Mile Carrier?
Last-mile (or final-mile) logistics refers to a package’s final trip in the logistics process: from the fulfillment center to the consumer’s doorstep or mailbox, usually by way of a postal carrier like UPS. Last-mile carriers can also be regional couriers or, in the case of Amazon fulfillment, directly connected to the fulfillment center fulfilling the order.
Last-mile carriers like UPS go to great lengths to find the most efficient route from the fulfillment center to their final destination, lowering shippers’ costs and decreasing their carbon footprint. Merchants can ensure that they are getting the most efficient final-mile delivery by adopting a distributed fulfillment network to store their inventory as close as possible to their end customers.
By adopting a distributed fulfillment network, merchants can offer their customers 1 to 2-day ground shipping. This helps them meet growing customer expectations for 2-day delivery and save money on final-mile delivery by eliminating costly long-zone shipments and next-day air.
What is a Last Mile Tracking Number?
A last mile tracking number is a unique identifier assigned to a package during the final stage of its delivery journey, or final mile, typically understood as the transition from a local distribution center to the customer’s doorstep. This critical phase of the supply chain ensures that packages reach their final destination efficiently and on time.
This tracking number enables real-time visibility into a package’s location and delivery status, providing updates as they happen. It offers insights into driver location, mile-by-mile progress, estimated delivery times, the number of delivery attempts, chosen delivery methods, and any specific delivery instructions. This transparency allows both businesses and customers to stay informed and proactively manage delivery expectations.
The Importance of Last Mile Carrier Tracking
As shopping increasingly shifts online, the delivery experience has become paramount for creating lifetime customers.
Beyond just fast delivery, today’s consumers are looking for reliability and visibility. Real-time delivery tracking is an expectation for today’s consumers, with 67% of consumers reporting that they check delivery tracking statuses daily.
Shoppers expect:
- Instant order tracking credentials are sent immediately after the purchase
- Shipment status updates are available 24/7 on any device
- Real-time data and notifications throughout every stage of the journey, especially during the last mile
Today’s consumers are accustomed to tracking everything that shows up on their doorstep, from their restaurant take-out (via Uber Eats, Grubhub, or similar apps) to groceries (through Instacart, Shipt, or similar services).
According to a new survey by UPS Capital, 74% of consumers expect accurate tracking information for online purchases. In order to compete in today’s digital-first economy, businesses of all sizes need to be prepared to give consumers regular, real-time updates about the status and location of their order.
For example, Children’s furniture and toy manufacturer ECR4Kids learned first-hand that expectations for last-mile carrier tracking could inundate their customer support team with consumer interactions without a scalable technology solution.
Watch ECR4Kids’ full story here.
Ecommerce Growth and Why Tracking Matters
The global COVID-19 pandemic accelerated an e-commerce shift that was already underway long before Amazon introduced free 2-day shipping in 2005. According to the U.S. Department of Commerce, last year consumers spent $792 billion online, accounting for 14% of total retail sales. This was a 32% increase from 2019, when e-commerce already accounted for 11% of all retail sales.
A smartphone in every pocket has created a new B2E ecosystem – business-to-everyone, everything and everywhere. Central to B2E is a customer-centric model that puts client experience above all else. This includes providing a fast, inexpensive, and personalized eCommerce experience from purchase to delivery.
As a result, sellers’ shipping strategy must include user-friendly, transparent purchase tracking systems from order fulfillment through the last mile – the final leg of the journey when a package moves from a transportation hub to the destination.
In other words, consider how revolutionary Domino’s Pizza Tracker was when it debuted in 2008 and how quickly it became a standard, expected part of the customer experience.
For the first time, patrons could follow the progress of their order online from the time they clicked “Place Order” or called in an order until the pizza arrived at their door. Pizza Tracker also gave customers the ability to provide feedback directly to the store making and delivering their pizza, improving customer loyalty.
The same obsession with superb pizza delivery service applies to personalizing the final mile of package delivery.
Meeting High Expectations For Tracking
Delivering on these expectations isn’t easy. While the final mile is the quickest and shortest leg of the entire logistics process, it can be extremely inefficient and difficult to track.

Here’s why:
- Independent contractors are often involved, making coordination more complex
- Rural deliveries cover large distances between drop-off points
- Urban areas deal with traffic congestion that causes delivery delays
- Final mile logistics can account for over 50% of total shipping costs.
How Does Last-Mile Delivery Tracking Work?
Last-mile carrier delivery tracking provides real-time visibility into the final stage of the delivery process, ensuring both businesses and customers know exactly where their shipments are. This transparency is crucial for meeting rising customer expectations, minimizing delivery errors, and fostering long-term brand loyalty.
By offering accurate delivery updates and proactive communication, brands can reduce missed deliveries, manage exceptions efficiently, reduce rates of porch piracy, and create a seamless customer experience that drives repeat purchases.
Here are five last-mile carrier tracking technologies that your last mile carrier should have in place to provide an exceptional delivery experience from beginning to end.
1. Order Placement and Tracking Number Generation
Customers expect real-time information about their order, ensuring they know exactly where their package is.
When a customer places an order, they should promptly receive an official tracking number—ideally within a few hours of order confirmation or once the package is handed off to the carrier. This tracking code allows customers to monitor their shipment’s progress in real-time, from warehouse departure to final delivery.
To streamline this process, brands can integrate last-mile carrier tracking technology to automate tracking number generation and dispatch updates during key touchpoints, such as order processing, pickup, and out-for-delivery notifications.
The tracking technology should enable:
- Driver location updates are visible on a user-friendly map interface
- Real-time estimated time of arrival (ETA), adjusted dynamically for traffic or route changes
- Alerts for unexpected delays, such as weather or road closures
- Geofencing technology to notify customers when their package is close to delivery.
One thing to keep in mind is that email is not enough today. Customers want to opt-in to receiving real-time SMS delivery notifications on their mobile phone.
A text alert should be sent for at least the following events: when the order has been processed, the package has shipped, the last-mile driver is en route, the shipment’s ETA, and unexpected delays.
These features provide visibility to your end customers, which ultimately increases trust and enhances their experience with your brand from start to finish.
2. Carrier Integration and Real-Time Updates
Although you as the shipper have little to no control over carrier performance, your customers will still connect their experience the final mile carrier to your brand. That’s why it’s important to choose a reliable carrier with robust tracking capabilities.
It’s also important to establish clear communication between the carrier and customer in order to proactively manage potential delivery issues, such as delays, address errors, or missed deliveries. Real-time updates and alerts allow customers to stay informed and adjust their plans if needed, reducing frustration and building trust.
A robust tracking system should offer:
- Two-way communication between customers and delivery drivers via call or text
- Instant driver support for issues like gate codes, parking difficulties, or delivery instructions
- Driver check-ins to confirm availability before delivery, ensuring smooth handoffs
This is a win-win for customers and the courier. Customers can call or text the delivery driver to overcome final-mile logistical challenges, such as gate codes and parking. The driver can also ensure recipients will be available at the time and place of transfer.
3. Third-Party Tracking Platforms and Customer Portals
Third-party tracking platforms provide a centralized solution for customers to monitor their order status in real-time using tracking numbers. These platforms integrate with ecommerce storefronts through APIs, enabling seamless data sharing between merchants and carriers. This connection ensures customers receive accurate updates about their shipments, from processing to final delivery.
Why it’s important:
- Self-service tracking portals reduce dependency on customer support
- Proactive notifications about delivery delays allow businesses to manage expectations
- Third-party integrations ensure that information flows smoothly between carriers and merchants, minimizing errors
For example, when a package is marked “out for delivery,” a third-party tracking platform can instantly notify the customer via SMS or email, providing a live map or time window for delivery. This proactive communication keeps customers informed and reduces missed deliveries and opportunities for porch piracy.
This level of transparency and automation naturally leads into the importance of verifying successful deliveries, which is where Proof of Delivery (POD) solutions come into play.
4. Proof of Delivery (POD)
Utilizing a mobile app, last-mile carrier drivers can easily gather Proof of Delivery (POD) documents and other confirmation that the recipient received their order as promised by the sender. This reduces fraudulent loss claims while ensuring customers can locate their deliveries faster.

What POD can look like:
- The recipient must sign directly on the driver’s mobile device or a digital pad to confirm that the package was received.
- The delivery driver scans a unique barcode on the package, which updates the tracking system with the exact delivery time and location
- The taking a photo of the package at the delivery location, often with GPS location tagging to confirm the exact spot
- Drivers logging specific delivery notes, such as “package left with a neighbor” or “delivered to the front desk”
As porch piracy continues to rise, last-mile carriers should take every precaution to protect packages until they are actually in the customers’ hands.
Walmart and Amazon have begun to roll out garage delivery options, and according to a recent consumer survey by Ware2Go, 44% of consumers plan to take advantage of the service. In order to compete across all channels, merchants should consider either room of choice or full-service white glove delivery for large or high-value purchases.
In cases where white glove delivery is not an option, Proof of Delivery notifications can serve as a final barrier to protect against porch pirates. Merchants should encourage customers to set delivery preferences with the last mile carrier, indicating the safest location for package drop-off. Proof of Delivery should include a photo of the package in the customer’s preferred drop-off location to give the customer complete peace of mind.
5. Experience Rating
Seconds after delivery, final mile tracking software should prompt customers to rate their experience.
How It Works:
- After delivery, the system sends an automated request for feedback, prompting the customer to rate their experience
- Feedback is aggregated to track driver performance, identify issues, and improve service
Feedback from customers about last-mile carriers should be taken seriously. Most consumers indicate that if issues are resolved quickly and favorably, they are more likely to make a repeat purchase from the brand.
Why it’s important:
- Positive delivery experiences increase Customer Lifetime Value (CLV), encouraging repeat purchases
- Quick issue resolution builds loyalty — if a customer’s complaint is addressed promptly, they are more likely to reorder
- Businesses can use ratings to reward top-performing drivers and carriers, ensuring consistently high service levels
As Customer Acquisition Costs continue to rise, the investment in ensuring a seamless experience for first-time buyers is well worth the cost if it drives up Customer Lifetime Value.
Implementing end-to-end visibility for customers can be challenging without the right technology and partnerships. That’s why you may want to consider outsourcing fulfillment to a 3PL provider with the right processes and technology already in place.
How Third-Party Logistics Makes Last-Mile Delivery Tracking Easy
Last-mile carrier tracking is essential for providing an exceptional customer experience. However, handling this in-house can be daunting for fast-growing businesses and newcomers lacking the existing infrastructure of their larger, more established rivals.
Third-party logistics companies (3PLs) can carry the load but are often risky, constricting, and expensive, as brands like LS2, the second-largest motorcycle helmet manufacturer in the world, have experienced.
For this reason, it often makes more sense for SMBs to outsource all pick, pack, and shipping services to a tech-centric, on-demand fourth party logistics fulfillment company (4PL) that provides inventory management services, a nationwide warehousing network, and guaranteed 2-day delivery.
UPS created Ware2Go specifically to address this need.
As experienced by CoolersByU, a provider of ready-to-paint coolers and kits, and others, the bulk of outsourced logistics solutions are targeted toward large enterprises. On the contrary, Ware2Go helps SMBs across a broad range of industries in all growth phases offer affordable, 1-2-day delivery service.
Please contact one of our eCommerce shipping experts to learn more about how Ware2Go can help you implement a fully integrated platform that meets customer expectations.
3 Challenges to Last Mile Carrier Tracking (+ How To Overcome Them)
In order to successfully implement last mile carrier tracking, brands must navigate unpredictable delivery conditions, data integration challenges, and scalability issues. Below are common challenges businesses face and actionable solutions to overcome them.

1. Unpredictable Delivery Conditions
There are multiple external factors beyond a business’s control that can disrupt last-mile deliveries. Weather conditions, traffic congestion, road closures, and vehicle breakdowns can all delay deliveries and impact the accuracy of tracking updates.
For example, a snowstorm in a major distribution region can sideline delivery vehicles, causing widespread delays and hindering customer updates.
How to Overcome This Challenge
To mitigate the impact of unpredictable delivery conditions, it’s important to invest in dynamic route optimization tools that adapt to real-time factors like weather and traffic. Integrating predictive analytics can help anticipate potential disruptions and adjust delivery schedules accordingly.
Additionally, proactive communication through automated alerts can keep customers informed of any delays, setting clear expectations and maintaining trust. Partnering with multiple last-mile carriers can also provide more flexibility, ensuring that alternative routes or delivery methods are available when disruptions occur.
- Invest in geofencing technology: Geofencing creates virtual boundaries around delivery destinations and triggers alerts when drivers are near the delivery point. This allows customers to prepare for package receipt, reducing the likelihood of missed deliveries.
- Provide customers with flexible delivery windows: Offering flexible delivery windows helps forecast potential disruptions, enabling businesses to proactively adjust delivery schedules or notify customers of expected delays.
- Predictive analysis: Using predictive analytics to offer customers narrow delivery slots with built-in buffer time can reduce failed delivery attempts and improve overall delivery efficiency.
Ware2Go, a UPS company, leverages predictive analytics to re-route orders to the next closest warehouse in the case of inclement weather. Additionally, they offer preferred ground shipping rates through UPS, the most advanced carrier with the most reliable last mile carrier tracking in the market.
2. Driver Communication and Coordination Issues
Even with advanced tracking systems in place, it can be challenging to maintain communication and coordination between drivers, customers, and dispatchers. Without effective communication, small issues—like missing delivery instructions—can escalate into larger problems, resulting in missed delivery windows, customer complaints, and porch piracy, ultimately resulting in additional costs to resolve the issue.
One common cause of miscommunication is unclear delivery instructions. Incomplete or incorrect addresses, missing gate codes, or vague drop-off points can result in failed delivery attempts. For example, a driver may arrive at an apartment complex but be unable to access the building because the necessary gate code was not provided, leading to a missed delivery window.
Another issue arises from sticking to an unsuitable delivery method. Leaving packages unattended in high-risk areas exposes deliveries to porch piracy or weather damage, increasing customer dissatisfaction and resulting in replacement costs.
How to Overcome This Challenge
To improve driver communication and coordination, businesses should:
- Use Two-Way Communication Tools: Equip drivers with mobile apps that enable direct calls or texts to customers for last-minute instructions or delivery adjustments. Tools like Bringg or Onfleet offer real-time communication features to bridge gaps between drivers and customers.
- Require Driver Check-Ins: Implement a policy requiring drivers to confirm availability with customers before delivery. This proactive step helps avoid failed delivery attempts by ensuring the recipient is prepared to receive the package.
- Utilize GPS and Traffic Data for Real-Time ETA Updates: Leverage GPS and live traffic data to continuously update estimated delivery times. This allows dispatchers and customers to receive accurate, real-time updates, reducing uncertainty and improving the overall delivery experience.
3. High Operational Costs
Keeping operational costs at a minimum without sacrificing customer satisfaction is a delicate balance. It’s no question that today’s consumers expect reliable delivery tracking, but implementing a solution can be costly for some businesses.
Some of the costs associated with last-mile carrier tracking include:
- Investment in Last-Mile Delivery Technology: While last-mile carrier tracking software can enhance efficiency, choosing the wrong solution can be expensive. Advanced platforms with extensive features often come with high upfront costs and ongoing subscription fees. For instance, a comprehensive tracking system might cost thousands annually, especially if tailored to specific business needs.
- Cost of Delivery: This includes expenses like driver wages, fuel, and vehicle maintenance. And those costs increase significantly for expedited or same-day delivery services.
- Delivery Density Challenges: Delivering to rural or low-density areas often drives up costs due to longer routes and fewer deliveries per trip. For example, rural deliveries can cost 50% more than urban deliveries due to the increased travel time and fuel usage.
How to Overcome This Challenge
Ware2Go provides a cost-effective solution to address high operational costs by forward-stocking inventory closer to end customers to decrease time in transit (TNT) on final mile deliveries. Ware2Go also partners with UPS, the nation’s most trusted final mile carrier with the most robust tracking technology in the industry..
Last-Mile Carrier Tracking: What’s The Next Step?
While fast shipping improves the customer experience, it’s only part of the equation. You also need to provide customers with real-time visibility into where their order is at every stage. This transparency builds a foundation of trust that strengthens relationships and ensures they keep coming back for more.
However, setting up a reliable tracking system can be challenging, especially for smaller businesses that must manage multiple priorities.
That’s where we come in. At Ware2Go, we’ll guide you through the entire supply chain process. We’ll help you nail on-time deliveries, stay ahead with real-time alerts for delays, and provide end-to-end support across your supply chain and internal operations.
Let’s make last-mile tracking work for you — book in a call today and start delivering the experience your customers expect.