Hot on the heels of our $42 million Series C raise, we have to kick off this week’s newsletter with an exciting update. We’ve just received the honor of landing on both the FreightTech 25 (No. 19) and Deloitte Fast 500™ (No. 66) lists, proving what our partners already know: The last mile delivery game is changing, and OneRail is leading the way.
Meanwhile, Target’s latest earnings report tells a revealing tale about consumer habits; Dollar General flexes its distribution muscles with a million-square-foot Colorado powerhouse; retailers nationwide confront self-inflicted holiday service wounds; and Palm Springs wrestles with its identity as warehouses march toward paradise. Let’s get started.
OneRail Races Up the Rankings: Double Recognition Rocks the Freight World
Fresh off raising $42 million in a Series C funding round, we at OneRail are riding an even bigger wave after landing at No. 19 on the FreightTech 25 and No. 66 on Deloitte’s Fast 500™. While the funding helps fuel our growth, these rankings prove we’re already disrupting last mile delivery in all the right ways.
FreightTech’s New Kid on the Block
Think of it like winning Rookie of the Year and MVP in the same season. We crashed the FreightTech 25 party and snagged spot 19, earning votes from 80 industry heavyweights who know their stuff — CEOs, academics and investment leaders who’ve seen it all. Making waves during a transportation rate slump? That’s when you know you’re building something special.
Speed Demons: Racing Up Deloitte’s Fast Lane
Landing at No. 66 on Deloitte’s Technology Fast 500 puts us in impressive company — a breeding ground for tech stalwarts like Google, eBay and Tesla. We muscled our way onto this list through raw revenue growth over three years and joined an elite club in which 82% of winners were private companies. We’re also showing everyone how technological muscle can match operational prowess in a field in which software companies grabbed 59% of the rankings.
Target’s Shopping Cart Blues: CEO Points to Penny-Pinching Shoppers After Brutal Earnings Miss
Target delivered a face-plant of a Q3 earnings report that sent its stock plummeting 21.8% — the company’s worst single-day drop since May 2022. CEO Brian Cornell painted a picture of shoppers clutching their wallets tight, even while foot traffic rose 2.4% and digital sales jumped nearly 11%.
Strikeout, Stock Shock and a Triple Miss That Stings
The numbers tell a rough story: Profits sank to $854 million ($1.85 per share) from $971 million last year, whiffing well below Wall Street’s $2.30 target. Revenue limped up just 1.1% to $25.67 billion, missing expectations of $25.88 billion. Same-store sales barely budged at 0.3%, falling way short of the predicted 1.5% gain. Supply chain headaches from port strikes didn’t help either, forcing Target to reroute shipments and eat higher costs.
The Curious Case of Cautious Customers
Cornell spotted some bright spots amid the gloom — shoppers still hit stores, digital orders kept climbing and beauty products remained popular. Yet there’s a catch: Customers now play the waiting game, holding off purchases until absolutely necessary. While they occasionally “splurge a little bit,” years of inflation have trained them to shop cautiously. Target’s outlook reflects this new normal, with fourth-quarter predictions of $1.85 to $2.45 per share falling short of Wall Street’s hoped-for $2.65.
Dollar General’s Mile-High Move: New Aurora Distribution Center Marks Major Upgrade
Dollar General’s western expansion takes flight with a massive new distribution center in Aurora, Colorado — a million-square-foot powerhouse that aims to upgrade how the retail giant moves goods across the Mountain West.
From Temporary Fixes to Permanent Power Moves
The Aurora facility stands at the heart of Dollar General’s distribution makeover, creating 400 new jobs while replacing a patchwork of temporary warehouses. CEO Todd Vasos dropped the mic during a Q2 earnings call, announcing Dollar General already shut down 11 temporary sites, with two more closures planned by year’s end. The message? Out with the Band-Aid solutions and in with the long-term muscle.
Homegrown Hauling Takes the Wheel
Dollar General’s trucking game keeps leveling up. Its private fleet doubled to 1,600 tractors in 2022, and it’s gunning for more than 2,000 in 2023. Of course, bringing more in-house shipping aims to save cash. But the real crux is that Dollar General is grabbing the steering wheel of its supply chain destiny. The new Aurora hub puts its growing fleet right where it needs it: smack in the middle of its western territory, ready to slash those costly “stem” miles and keep the goods flowing to stores across the region.
Many Retailers Are Shooting Themselves in the Foot This Holiday Season
Want to chase customers away during the most wonderful time of the year? Many stores seem to despite pouring money into holiday marketing. Retailers keep making basic blunders that appear to send shoppers running for the exits — or straight to their laptops/tablets/smartphones to shop somewhere else.
Locked Up and Logged Out: The Great Product Prison
Buying a simple bottle of shampoo from the store isn’t as easy as it used to be; 62% of shoppers face locked cases guarding everyday essentials. While most will wait for help, a frustrated 25% abandon their purchases entirely. The kicker? Young parents ditch their carts even faster when basics like health and beauty items play hard to get. Understaffing worsens everything too — fewer workers mean longer waits, pushing 21% of fed-up customers to shop online instead.
The Self-Checkout Saga: Where Did All the Humans Go?
Stores slashing staff to cut costs create their own downward spiral — 40% of shoppers say hitting the stores feels worse than before the pandemic, with 60% blaming thin staffing levels. The data adds context to the pattern: Every genuine human interaction keeps customers shopping longer and coming back more often. However, retailers obsessed with quick profits through self-checkout machines miss what 80% of holiday shoppers already know — they’ll research online first and will only venture into stores if there’s actual service waiting for them.
Paradise Lost? Palm Springs Faces Its Own Desert Storm Over 739,000-Square-Foot Warehouse
The battle lines are clear in Palm Springs, California, where pristine desert views could soon give way to towering fulfillment centers. While the Inland Empire’s warehouse boom has largely played out in places like Moreno Valley and Redlands, developers see Palm Springs as prime real estate for last mile logistics.
Wind Turbines to Warehouse Empires
PS Canyon Development wants to plant a 739,360-square-foot behemoth at Indian Canyon Drive and 19th Avenue. Its pitch? Los Angeles, Orange and San Bernardino counties have run dry on industrial space. However, former planning commissioner Peter Moruzzi sees a darker future: Palm Springs morphing into another warehouse-choked landscape that risks both health and tourism.
Desert Dreams Meet Distribution Reality
The warehouse wars already claimed one casualty nearby. Desert Hot Springs approved a massive 3.4 million-square-foot Amazon facility in 2022, only to watch it shrink to 650,000 square feet and switch from fulfillment to storage — taking millions in expected tax revenue with it. Now Palm Springs faces its moment of truth: Embrace the logistics industry’s march across Southern California or fight to keep its desert vistas free from the rumble of delivery trucks. The planning commission’s Dec. 11 meeting could determine which path the city takes.
Last Mile Innovation Takes Flight
Black Friday is days away and this week’s roundup paints a clear picture: As traditional retail and logistics models show their cracks, the real revolution is happening in the final stretch to your customer’s door. Why are we ranked among America’s fastest-growing last mile delivery companies? Here’s what’s powering our disruption:
- Unparalleled Courier Network: Place your deliveries in trusted hands by tapping into OneRail’s massive national network, boasting over 12 million vetted drivers.
- OmniPoint® Platform: Leverage OneRail’s OmniPoint Platform for automated rate shopping, smart matching and real-time visibility to guarantee timely and cost-effective deliveries.
- Exceptions Assist™: Benefit from proactive monitoring, with a dedicated team of logistics experts at the ready 24/7 to tackle any challenges and disruptions, safeguarding your on-time delivery rate.
No matter your industry, OneRail can transform your logistics strategy. Schedule a demo today to find out how.
