Guides
25 Delivery Companies and Their Business Models
A guide to 25 delivery companies, their business models and footprints, and how first-year owners can assess fit without copying the wrong operating model.
What to take away
- The 25 delivery companies below split into four modelscrowdsourced driver networks, asset-light same-day couriers, grocery and retail fulfillment, and regional last-mile carriers.
- A model tells you who owns the vehicle, who carries the insurance, and who absorbs a failed delivery. That is the part worth copying or avoiding.
- None of these companies publishes the per-stop economics a first-year owner needs, so build your own cost per stop from your own route data.
- FMCSA cargo securement rules apply to interstate loads regardless of which platform dispatched the work.
Four models, not one ranking
These 25 companies do not compete in the same business. Roadie, Uber Direct, DoorDash Drive, and Shipt run crowdsourced networks. Instacart, GoShare, Curri, and Frayt run marketplace networks. Independent drivers claim jobs, and the platform sets the price.
Four delivery models compared
Crowdsourced
- Example
- Roadie
- Pricing
- Platform sets
- Answers
- Who moves today
- Margin shape
- Per job
Marketplace
- Example
- Instacart
- Pricing
- Platform sets
- Answers
- Who plugs in
- Margin shape
- Per order
Contracted regional
- Example
- AxleHire
- Pricing
- Contract
- Answers
- 400 parcels daily
- Margin shape
- Volume
Asset-light courier
- Example
- Dropoff
- Pricing
- Own dispatch
- Answers
- Time windows
- Margin shape
- Per stop
AxleHire, Veho, Better Trucks, Point Pickup, Skipcart, and OnTrac sell regional last-mile capacity to retailers under contract. Dropoff, Senpex, Relay Delivery, Sherpa, and Zoom2u are asset-light same-day couriers with their own dispatch.
Typical ranges, not published rate cards: crowdsourced jobs pay about $3 to $8 per stop, with deadhead miles left to the driver. Contracted regional routes pay about $2.50 to $5 per stop at 100 to 400 stops a day. Grocery batches pay about $8 to $20 per shop. Asset-light same-day couriers bill about $25 to $75 per metro job.
Six services run the same model outside the United States and Canada:
- Gophr (UK)
- Stuart (UK and Europe)
- CitySprint (UK)
- Borzo (Asia and Latin America)
- Lalamove (Asia and Latin America)
- GrabExpress (Southeast Asia)
Read the list against that split. A crowdsourced network answers "who can move this today." A contracted regional carrier answers "who can move 400 parcels a day for the next two years." Those are different questions with different margins.
The 25, and what each one is for
Selection: companies that publicly sell parcel or same-day capacity to business customers, weighted to the United States and Canada, with non-US services kept for comparison. Footprints are the companies' own descriptions.
| Company | Model | Who it suits | Footprint or scale |
|---|---|---|---|
| Roadie | Crowdsourced, long and short haul | Owners testing overflow capacity | US nationwide; owned by UPS |
| Uber Direct | White-label same-day via Uber drivers | Retailers wanting delivery under their own brand | US, Canada, and other Uber markets |
| DoorDash Drive | White-label restaurant and retail | Food-heavy routes | US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand |
| Shipt | Crowdsourced grocery, Target-owned | Grocery and retail fulfillment | US only; Target-owned |
| Instacart | Crowdsourced grocery plus platform tools | Retailers plugging into an existing app | US and Canada |
| GoShare | Crowdsourced trucks and vans | Bulky and furniture moves | Selected US metros |
| Curri | Crowdsourced construction and industrial | Trade supply delivery | US only; construction and industrial |
| Frayt | Crowdsourced, business accounts | Small fleets needing surge cover | US only; business accounts |
| AxleHire | Contracted regional last-mile | E-commerce shippers with volume | US metro markets |
| Veho | Contracted, tech-forward regional | Retailers wanting tracking and returns | US markets, expanding |
| Better Trucks | Contracted regional last-mile | Midwest and Sun Belt shippers | US Midwest and Sun Belt |
| Point Pickup | Contracted, retail and grocery | Scheduled grocery routes | US retail and grocery |
| Skipcart | Contracted same-day | Regional retail | US regional retail |
| OnTrac | Contracted last-mile parcel | US e-commerce shippers | US national parcel network |
| Dropoff | Same-day courier, own dispatch | Medical and legal time windows | US and Canada |
| Senpex | Same-day courier, API-first | Businesses wiring delivery into software | US metro markets |
| Relay Delivery | Same-day courier, NYC and East Coast | Dense urban routes | New York City and the East Coast |
| Sherpa | Same-day courier | Canadian metro routes | Canada only |
| Zoom2u | Same-day courier | Australian metro routes | Australia only |
| Gophr | Same-day courier | UK urban routes | UK cities |
| Stuart | Same-day courier | UK and European metros | UK and continental Europe |
| CitySprint | Same-day courier | UK national coverage | UK nationwide |
| Borzo | Crowdsourced courier | Asian and Latin American metros | Asia and Latin America |
| Lalamove | Crowdsourced, app-based | Asian and Latin American metros | Asia and Latin America |
| GrabExpress | Crowdsourced, inside Grab | Southeast Asian routes | Southeast Asia |
Sherpa is the Canadian entry, and Canada is this site's second market. Zoom2u, Gophr, Stuart, CitySprint, Borzo, Lalamove and GrabExpress sit outside the United States and Canada and are listed for comparison.
Pricing is quoted per job or per contract in every case, and none publishes a rate card that survives a year.
What a first-year owner should copy
Copy the dispatch logic, not the branding. A crowdsourced network prices a job the moment it is posted, which forces the operator to know cost per stop before accepting it. That discipline transfers to a two-van operation.
Cost per stop math
- 40stops on the route
- $280total route cost
- $7cost per stop
Cost per stop is total route cost divided by completed stops. Total route cost includes driver pay, fuel or charge, insurance allocated per day, and platform fees. If a route runs 40 stops at a cost of $280, the cost per stop is $7. Substituting your own figures is the only honest version of that number.
Driver pay structure decides which model you can run. Per-stop pay rewards density and punishes sprawl. Hourly pay absorbs sprawl but hides idle time. Neither is wrong; they answer different route shapes. For hiring and classification questions, see how to hire reliable staff for a local delivery business.
Where the paperwork bites
Cargo securement is the failure that ends a contract quietly. FMCSA publishes the interstate rules on cargo securement, and they apply to the load, not to the platform that sold it.
Wage benchmarks for drivers come from the BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics tables, which break estimates out by metro and industry. Use them as one input, not as a pay policy.
Business formation, permits, and insurance questions route through the SBA business guide. State insurance regulators, not this article, set required coverage. A licensed broker prices it.
Common questions
Do these companies compete with a small courier operation?
Mostly no. The crowdsourced networks sell overflow capacity, which is work a small operator can take without owning the customer. The contracted regional carriers compete directly for retail accounts, and a two-van operation rarely wins those on price.
Which model has the thinnest margin?
Crowdsourced per-job work, because the platform sets the price and the driver absorbs deadhead miles. Contracted routes pay less per stop but run denser and more predictably, which usually beats a higher rate on a scattered route.
How current is this list?
Company footprints, ownership, and service lines change within a year. Treat the table as a starting point for research and confirm current coverage, contract terms, and pricing directly with each company before you rely on any of it.
