- Last-mile delivery costs increased by 9% on average in EMEA, with 96% of companies paying more per delivery.
- FarEyeCEO Kushal Nahata presents four measures to reduce the “fragmentation tax” created by disjointed carriers and systems on each delivery.
- Last Mile Circle, LML’s year-round operating community, now extends across Asia Pacific, the Americas and EMEA.
/PRNewswire/ — Last-mile delivery costs in EMEA increased by an average of 9% last year, with 96% of companies paying more per delivery, according to the FarEye report Eye on the Last Mile EMEA 2026 emerges.
In presenting the results, Kushal Nahata, CEO and co-founder of FarEye, attributed much of the increase to the “fragmentation tax”: hidden costs of disrupted carriers, data and systems.
The report, based on over 4,000 data points from more than 500 respondents, found that 51% of fully outsourced companies cited unreliable carrier information as their top challenge, compared to 22% who cited cost.
Nahata compared last-mile fragmentation to shipping traffic before containerization, when a common standard helped reduce the cost of cargo loading from $5.83 to $0.16 per ton.
“Companies can outsource execution, but they can’t outsource cost and customer experience responsibility,” Nahata said. “The last mile is still waiting for its container moment.”
He outlined four priorities:
- Pass the control test:Know the location of each delivery, the reasons for assigning the carrier and the cost without having to make calls.
- Determine the total service cost:Record exceptions, failed delivery attempts and customer contacts as well as the transport costs per delivery.
- Sell the promise:We offer free standard shipping, scheduled delivery times, and paid express options. Reliability is the most important criterion for customers for 63% of companies, while speed is only for 11%.
- Building AI on trusted data:Standardize milestones, exception definitions, and costs while maintaining human oversight.
FarEye’s platform provides visibility across all carriers, markets and systems, including real-time delivery costs.
The event, held October 13-15 at the Mercure Amsterdam City Hotel, brought together more than 100 executives from postal, logistics, retail, e-commerce, manufacturing, automotive, telecommunications and hospitality sectors.
Slavko Ovčina, CIO of Slovenia Post, highlighted the importance of practical, open operational discussions. Sebastian Bleser, SVP Supply Chain at Autodoc, emphasized the importance of sharing insights between markets beyond the event.
Nahata introduced Last Mile Circle, LML’s year-round community for sharing and solving operational challenges. Executives from the EMEA region joined founding members from Asia Pacific and the Americas.
