Rethinking the Middle Mile: Strategic Takeaways from "The Near-Perfect Parcel Playbook" Webinar

The parcel market is shifting faster than at any point in recent memory. In our recent webinar, CEO Hannah Testani sat down with Chris Guggenheim, CEO and Founder of ClearJet, to discuss how shippers are rethinking their parcel strategies—and why the middle mile has become one of the most powerful levers in the modern network.

While ClearJet’s model provided a useful lens throughout the discussion, the bigger theme was unmistakable:
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Shippers now have more options, more control, and more strategic flexibility than ever before.

We're distilling the key takeaways from that conversation into a broader framework any shipper can use to assess their 2026+ parcel strategy.

1. The pandemic didn’t just break capacity. It broke old assumptions.

Hannah opened the webinar by reflecting on the industry’s major wake-up call during COVID:

“The days of having one carrier as your sole-source provider—or even two national carriers—are gone.” —Hannah Testani

Shippers who once felt secure with a single or dual-carrier strategy suddenly found themselves:

• Throttled due to lack of capacity
• Paying higher rates
• Unable to satisfy delivery promises
• Struggling to meet consumer expectations

This forced a permanent mindset shift: carrier diversification is the only way to remain resilient when the unexpected hits.

2. Why the middle mile became the new frontier for optimization

For years, the middle mile was considered too rigid, too expensive, or too complex to innovate around. But Chris highlighted the gap retailers have long struggled with:

“Even a 10-million-package shipper can’t fill three 53-footers across the country every day… The middle mile was the most underinvested area in parcel.” —Chris Guggenheim

Historically, shippers had to choose between:

• Paying premium prices for air,
• Accepting long-zone ground, or
• Expanding their warehouse footprint.

Now?
Air-enabled middle-mile networks—ClearJet being one emerging example—are removing these constraints.

The strategic takeaway is broader: Shippers no longer need to let the physics of distance dictate the cost or speed of delivery.

3. Zone avoidance is becoming a core strategy

As Hannah noted:

“Most shippers try to optimize around zone because pricing goes up, transit times go up, and customer satisfaction goes down.”

Chris’s team looks at the problem differently:

“We turn Zone 6, 7, 8 into Zone 2–3.” —Chris Guggenheim

This isn’t just about ClearJet. It highlights a more universal shift in how retailers think about network design:

Shippers are increasingly:

• Compressing long-zone shipments into short-zone injections
• Avoiding cross-country trucking
• Using regional carriers more broadly
• Reducing dependency on traditional linehaul
• Improving 2–3 day coverage nationwide

The net result?
Lower cost + faster delivery + higher checkout conversion (without new distribution centers.)

4. Carrier choice is becoming dynamic, not static

One of the most compelling themes of the discussion was flexibility. Shippers are no longer choosing a single carrier for large portions of their network; they are orchestrating many.

Chris described it this way:

“We’re carrier-neutral. We enable shippers to use every carrier—including their nationals and regionals—at the same time.”

The strategic shift is industry-wide:

Modern networks now take advantage of:

• Nationals for predictable lanes
• Regionals for cost-efficient service
• USPS for broad residential reach
• Gig carriers where density supports it
• Middle-mile partners for zone skipping

As Hannah put it:

“You allow carriers to compete—and the best carrier wins on pricing and performance.”

This creates a healthier, more resilient ecosystem.

5. Shippers are prioritizing control, not just cost

A recurring theme was control—control over cost, transit time, and capacity. Chris highlighted how retailers are using new strategies to reshape their networks:

“We’ve seen retailers go from 100% nationals to 10% national, 90% alternative carriers.”

The strategic insight isn’t that every shipper should make that shift, but that:

Moving volume intentionally between carriers gives retailers:

• More negotiating leverage
• Better SLA performance
• More accurate delivery-date promises
• Reduced exposure to labor or capacity disruptions

This aligns closely with IA’s own data-driven recommendations: shippers who diversify not only save money, they become materially more resilient.

6. Data, visibility, and AI are accelerating the shift

Hannah emphasized the importance of automation and modern tools:

“Anytime you’re doing something manually, automation is there to be your biggest winner.”

Chris described how ClearJet is using AI today, not hypothetically:

“Our goal for AI is pure automation… real-time routing, real-time carrier selection, and automated coordination.”

Across the industry, we’re seeing similar trends:

• AI-driven routing
• Predictive congestion modeling
• Automated SLA risk scoring
• Network simulations to determine the best carrier mix

IA sees these tools changing the conversation from “What carrier should I use?” to:

“What’s the optimal network configuration for every package, in real time?”

7. Planning for 2026: What shippers should already be doing

As Hannah reminded the audience:

“If your national contracts expire next June, this should be top of mind today.”

Chris offered a simple but strategic blueprint:

“Start with your data. Use regionals for Zones 2–5. Use air-enabled solutions for Zones 6–8. Keep nationals where they’re strong.”

Taken more broadly, the message is clear:

The shippers winning today are:

• Using data to drive network design
• Diversifying intelligently
• Reducing high-zone exposure
• Leveraging air + regionals + nationals as needed
• Prioritizing control and agility, not dependency

8. The bigger picture: A more flexible, competitive parcel ecosystem

The final takeaway wasn’t about any single provider—it was about the future of parcel logistics.

Hannah summed it up perfectly:

“Disruptions are real—they’re not going anywhere. But there’s great optionality now, and companies that diversify will win.”

And Chris closed with a reminder of what’s possible:

“You can build your own national network without needing to build your own infrastructure.”

For shippers planning their next parcel bid, preparing for peak, or evaluating diversification options, the message is simple:

The tools, technology, and networks exist today to build a faster, more resilient, more cost-efficient parcel strategy—and the middle mile may be the most powerful place to start.