Parcel Growth Beyond LTL
A leading outdoor power equipment manufacturer was leaving $500K in annual savings on the table by managing parcel separately. By integrating parcel into its existing freight program, it captured those savings and simplified operations in six months.
Industry: Outdoor Power Equipment Manufacturing
$500K
Annual parcel cost savings
150K+
Managed shipments per year
60days
Live with full integration
Introduction
A leading outdoor power equipment manufacturer had been a BlueGrace Managed Logistics customer since early 2023, running LTL and truckload freight under an open-book pricing model. The account was performing well on every measure. BlueGrace saw an opportunity to do more.
The company was still running its small-parcel program through a separate national carrier, with no rate competition and no visibility alongside its freight data. By expanding the relationship to include BlueGrace’s FedEx parcel program, BlueGrace delivered $500K in annual parcel savings, added 150K+ parcel shipments to the account, and consolidated all freight modes onto a single platform. The entire process, from proposal to go-live, took 60 days.
Freight Profile
LTL shipments (annual)
9,000+ loads
Annual parcel shipments
150K+ packages
ERP integration
Custom API
Parcel processing lines
10
Modes managed
LTL, TL, Parcel
Background
The manufacturer had run LTL and truckload freight through BlueGrace since early 2023 under an open-book pricing model, with 9,000+ annual shipments and full visibility into freight costs and savings. Small parcel remained outside that relationship entirely: more than 150,000 packages per year moving through a separate national carrier with no rate competition and no integration with existing freight data.
A financial analysis of the parcel program projected $500K in annual savings through BlueGrace’s FedEx parcel program. Getting there required custom work: the customer’s facility ran 10 simultaneous parcel processing lines with full ERP integration requirements, making a standard platform interface the wrong fit.
A custom parcel API was designed to match the operation exactly, giving the customer real-time parcel visibility alongside its existing freight data for the first time.
The Solution
Methodology
BlueGrace executed a five-step process to take the account from an initial proposal to a fully live FedEx parcel program in 60 days, building custom infrastructure along the way.
01
Parcel Analysis
A comprehensive financial analysis of the customer’s parcel spend projected more than $250,000 in annual savings through BlueGrace’s negotiated FedEx rates vs. the customer’s existing carrier pricing.
02
On-Site Discovery
A BlueGrace team traveled to the customer’s facility to assess the full parcel operation firsthand, identifying 10 processing lines, full ERP requirements, and daily shipping volume that exceeded standard tooling capabilities.
03
Custom API Build
BlueGrace engineering designed and built small-parcel API endpoints from scratch, integrating both FedEx Ground and FedEx Express with least cost carrier routing logic to select the best service for each shipment. Barcode scanning eliminates manual entry across all 10 processing lines, with full ERP connectivity and real-time shipping volume.
04
Invoicing Integration
BlueGrace completed a custom invoicing build and secured an approved invoice format to ensure billing matched the customer’s financial systems from day one, with no manual reconciliation required.
05
Go-Live and Steady State
BlueGrace managed all operational preparation for the go-live and remained actively engaged through the steady-state period to ensure a smooth transition across all 10 parcel lines.
The result was a fully operational FedEx small-parcel program running through BlueGrace’s custom API, live on schedule, with all 10 parcel lines processing shipments from day one.
Results
Cost Savings
BlueGrace’s FedEx rates deliver a $500K run-rate in direct annual savings vs. the customer’s prior carrier pricing. Combined with existing LTL savings, the customer is on track for $491,105 in total freight savings by year-end 2026, nearly double what LTL alone was delivering.
Faster Delivery
FedEx Ground delivers Saturday and Sunday with no surcharges, a service UPS does not offer. Transit runs up to 1.2 days faster than UPS across the Southeast. Saturday pickup at the customer’s facility means Saturday orders arrive a full day earlier than before.
Broader Coverage
FedEx delivers to 700 rural zip codes five days per week, compared to UPS’s two to three days per week. For a customer selling outdoor power equipment to rural buyers, this is a material improvement in delivery reliability and customer experience.
Unified Visibility
LTL, TL, and small parcel now run through a single BlueGrace relationship. All shipment data is consolidated in one BI tool, giving the customer a unified view across every mode for the first time and a single point of contact for the full freight program.
Results Summary
$500K
Annual parcel cost savings (run rate)
$491K
Combined LTL + parcel savings by year-end 2026
150K+
Annual parcel shipments managed
1.2 days
Faster FedEx Ground transit vs. UPS across the Southeast
700
Rural zip codes now served 5 days/week (vs. UPS 2–3)
1
Platform covering LTL, TL, and small parcel
Conclusion
What began as an LTL and truckload relationship grew into a full managed-logistics partnership covering every mode the customer ships. By expanding the relationship to include FedEx parcel and committing to a custom API build, BlueGrace delivered $500K in annual savings and nearly doubled the customer’s combined logistics savings within 60 days of go-live.
The path was not off the shelf. It required an on-site assessment, a ground-up engineering build, a custom invoicing integration, and months of coordination. That willingness to build what a customer actually needs, rather than what is easiest to deploy, is what turns a freight relationship into a managed logistics partnership built to grow.
© 2026 BlueGrace Logistics I.P. LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Login