New data from 600 logistics leaders and fresh market volume insights from Colography reveals the trust gap is closing, and outside forces are compressing the timeline for shippers still on the sidelines.

A year ago, our first Alternative Carrier Benchmark Report uncovered a simple truth: shippers knew alternative carriers existed, but didn't trust them enough to make the move. We called it the trust gap.

This year, that gap is closing. And the market isn't waiting around for shippers to catch up.

Our new 2026 Alternative Carrier Benchmark Report, based on insights from 600 logistics leaders, shows how alternative carrier adoption is accelerating, why trust is no longer the top barrier, and what's now pushing shippers to act faster than they planned.

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Download the 2026 Alternative Carrier Benchmark Report

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The Market Has Moved

Last year, trust and reliability topped the list of reasons shippers hesitated. That's changing fast:

✔️ Alternative carriers now handle 8.5% of the U.S. carrier-addressable parcel market, up from just 2.6% four years ago
✔️ Their 4-year compound annual growth rate (CAGR) is +32.8%
‍✔️ The Big 3 (FedEx, UPS, USPS)? Contracting at -2.4% annually
‍✔️ 68% of shippers say they plan to increase their alternative carrier usage in the next two years

The takeaway? This isn't a future trend anymore. It's already reshaping where volume goes.

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Trust Is No Longer the Biggest Barrier

Our survey shows nearly every shipper knows alternatives exist, and most have tested one. But hesitation remains:

✔️ Only 43% now name trust as their top barrier, down from 54% in 2025
✔️ Tracking and visibility jumped from 8% to 17% as the top-named concern. Shippers who've moved past "can I trust this carrier" are now focused on managing it well
✔️ 87% say a centralized platform for tracking, claims, and rate management would make them more likely to adopt

The barrier isn't belief anymore. It's infrastructure.

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It's not just shippers choosing to diversify, the market is pushing them to:

The 2025 Benchmark Report unpacks the full story. It shows what’s possible when alternatives work:

✔️ 58% of shippers say they'd start routing to alternatives at an 11–15% national carrier rate increase; at 16–25%, that number hits 87%
✔️ 60% of shippers now sell on a marketplace (Amazon, TikTok Shop, or similar) that controls or influences how their orders ship
✔️ FedEx and UPS are deliberately retreating from low-margin e-commerce in favor of B2B, healthcare, and premium goods — leaving that volume for alternative carriers to capture

Shippers waiting for the nationals to come back for their volume will be waiting a long time. It's not part of their strategy anymore.

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Why This Matters for Shippers

The 2026 Benchmark Report unpacks the full story, including:

• How alternative carrier market share has tripled since 2021
• What's replacing trust as the top adoption barrier, and why it's solvable
• How rate hikes and marketplace-controlled shipping are accelerating diversification, whether shippers are ready or not
• Which alternative carriers shippers actually know, have used, and trust
• What it takes to adopt alternatives with confidence, according to shippers themselves

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Tusk Was Built for This Moment

At Tusk, we're closing the gap between shipper readiness and shipper infrastructure: no trade-offs on reliability or control:

✔️ Nationwide delivery through one integration
✔️ Centralized tracking, claims, and reporting
✔️ Transparent SLAs, pricing, and service levels

Shippers have told us exactly what they need to adopt alternative carriers with confidence. We've already built it.

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The shift is here. Are you ready to lead it?

‍Download the 2026 Alternative Carrier Benchmark Report

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