Most 2026 planning conversations start from the same place: next year is unlikely to be easier.

Volumes will stay uneven. Carrier networks will remain under pressure. Performance will continue to shift week to week across national and alternative carriers. Customer expectations aren’t easing.

Given that reality, shipping leaders are spending less time debating carrier selection and more time thinking about control.

How much flexibility exists when performance changes?
How quickly can volume move without disrupting the operation?

That’s the role a multi-carrier shipping strategy plays heading into 2026.

Why Multi-Carrier Planning Has Become a Core Requirement

Multi-carrier shipping used to sit in the category of optimization. Something to test during peak. Something to revisit when costs rose.

That framing no longer fits how networks behave.

As teams plan for 2026, a few dynamics are shaping decisions:

Ongoing volatility: Disruptions are no longer confined to peak season. Weather events, volume spikes, facility slowdowns, and carrier outages are showing up year-round.

Tighter delivery expectations: Fast delivery is expected across more regions. Consistently meeting 1–2 day delivery promises often requires greater use of alternative carriers where they perform better by lane.

Increased scrutiny on shipping performance: Shipping now sits closer to margin, retention, and customer experience. Leadership teams expect active management of risk and performance, not explanations after issues surface.

The Question Planning Teams Are Centering On

As 2026 planning takes shape, many teams arrive at the same core question:

How quickly can volume be adjusted when carrier performance shifts?

Carrier count matters far less than the ability to respond when conditions change.

What to Lock In During 2026 Planning

Carrier Strategy by Lane and Region

Strong plans start with clarity:

• Where national carriers remain the best fit
• Where regional and alternative carriers consistently perform better
• How much volume can realistically shift without creating downstream issues

Doing this work upfront reduces reactive decisions later in the year.

A Weekly Performance Rhythm

Annual scorecards don’t reflect how carrier networks behave in practice.

Teams planning for 2026 are committing to:

• Weekly on-time delivery tracking
• Monitoring next-day recovery rates
• Facility-level visibility across carriers

Early visibility creates options. Late visibility creates explanations.

Routing That Can Adjust Mid-Week

Static routing rules assume stable conditions. That assumption rarely holds.

Planning for 2026 should account for:

• Carrier outages
• Facilities that struggle under higher volume
• Situations where routing needs to change within days, not quarters

The goal is flexibility without adding operational drag.

A Single System to Manage Carriers

Multi-carrier strategies often break down when carriers are managed across disconnected tools.

More teams are consolidating around a carrier management platform that:

• Brings national and alternative carriers into one system
• Standardizes tracking and performance data
• Supports fast carrier activation
• Allows routing adjustments without engineering involvement

This simplifies execution as carrier complexity increases.

How Tusk Supports 2026 Planning

Tusk works with teams that prefer to plan ahead rather than react after issues surface.

Each week, Tusk tracks tens of thousands of parcels across a nationwide network of alternative carriers, providing consistent visibility into carrier performance.

That visibility supports:

• Earlier identification of issues
• Faster adjustments to carrier mix
• Rerouting during outages or periods of network stress
• Decisions grounded in current data

This approach leads to more predictable execution as conditions change.

2026 Planning Takeaways

• Multi-carrier shipping is becoming a baseline requirement for control
• Alternative carriers play a growing role in regional delivery performance
• Weekly visibility supports better decisions
• Static routing increases risk under changing conditions
• Platform choice shapes how adaptable a shipping operation can be

Looking Ahead to 2026

Teams that perform well next year will be the ones that adapt without disruption when carrier conditions shift.

Multi-carrier shipping planning ultimately comes down to flexibility. That flexibility depends on having the right visibility, systems, and processes in place before the network demands them.