How smart brands diversify, reduce risk, and deliver reliably when it matters most

Peak season puts every point of a shipper’s logistics operation under a microscope. Order volumes spike overnight. Customer expectations tighten. Networks get congested. And the cost of a single late delivery suddenly carries more weight.

For years, shippers tried to outrun this pressure by optimizing around one national carrier - a strategy that worked when parcels flowed predictably. Today, that predictability is gone. Brands are now expanding their options and building alternative shipping methods directly into their e-commerce playbook.

This guide breaks down the key alternative methods retailers are turning to, why they matter more during peak, and how to build a flexible, resilient delivery strategy around them.

Why Alternative Shipping Matters More During Peak

Peak season exposes the limits of a one-carrier strategy:

• Network congestion leads to missed delivery windows
• Rate hikes and surcharges stack up
• Single points of failure: a hub bottleneck, weather event, or facility outage - have outsized impact
• Customer expectations for 1–2 day delivery don’t soften just because volume is high

By contrast, incorporating alternative shipping methods helps retailers:

• Diversify risk
• Unlock faster regional transit times
• Protect margins
• Scale more predictably

1. Regional Parcel Carriers: Peak Season’s Most Reliable Workhorse

Regional carriers (like LSO, GLS, and others) are gaining ground quickly, and peak season is where they shine.

Why they perform well during peak:

• Operate smaller, distributed networks with fewer choke points
• Maintain higher on-time delivery rates across shorter geographic footprints
• Can deliver 1–2 days faster than nationals in-region
• Provide cost advantages on last-mile dense routes

For many shippers, regional carriers are now the fastest, most consistent delivery option for the ZIPs that matter most, especially during high-stress periods when nationals face volume caps and overflow.

2. Local & Same-Day Courier Networks

For metro-area customers, same-day or next-day local couriers can be a peak-season differentiator.

When to use them:

• You want to protect AOV by offering premium, fast delivery
• You serve customers in dense cities
• You need to bypass national network congestion

Couriers give retailers a way to maintain speed when longer-haul carriers slow down, and to turn “order placed today” into “delivered today,” even during holiday surges.

3. Multi-Carrier Ground Strategies

The days of routing 100% of volume through a single API are over. Shippers are increasingly adopting multi-carrier shipping strategies that automatically route packages to the optimal carrier based on:

• Destination ZIP
• Transit time
• Cost
• On-time performance
• Capacity

During peak, this approach is often the difference between a smooth season and a chaotic one. Smart routing lets retailers avoid bottlenecks, improve delivery reliability, and control against price spikes.

4. Zone-Skipping + Regional Injection

Another increasingly popular alternative method is zone-skipping: consolidating parcels and injecting them deeper into a carrier’s network.

Benefits during peak:

• Reduces total zones traveled → lowers cost
• Speeds up time-in-transit
• Gives retailers more control over downstream volume

Pairing zone-skipping with regional carriers creates a powerful combo: fast line haul + fast local delivery.

5. Hybrid Networks: Nationals + Alternatives

Most shippers won’t cut ties with national carriers. But sophisticated operators treat them as one piece of a broader network.

A hybrid model typically looks like:

• Nationals supporting long-haul, remote areas, and international
• Regional carriers owning in-region performance and fast delivery
• Couriers handling same-day and metro density
• Smart routing orchestrating it all

This reduces peak-season unpredictability and avoids the pitfalls of over-committing to any single provider.

How Shippers Can Evaluate the Right Mix

A strong alternative shipping strategy starts with four questions:

1. Where are your customers? Map density by ZIP and match it to regional carrier coverage.
2. Where are your bottlenecks? Identify where previous delays have occurred — inbound, outbound, or last-mile.
3. What’s your margin flexibility? Alternative carriers often provide cost advantages that can offset seasonal surcharges.
4. How quickly can you activate new carriers? Platforms like Tusk make adding alternative carriers simple, so retailers can diversify well before peak begins.

How Tusk Helps Retailers Unlock Alternative Shipping at Scale

Tusk’s network is built for exactly these moments: when retailers need flexibility, predictability, and speed without adding operational complexity.

Shippers get:

• Access to top regional and alternative carriers nationwide
• Unified labels and tracking
• Centralized visibility
• Performance insights for routing decisions
• Consistent peak-season reliability across tens of thousands of weekly deliveries

For shippers navigating peak, alternative shipping isn’t experimental. It’s a proven way to deliver better, and to protect customer trust when competition is highest.

Peak Season Playbook: Final Takeaways

• Alternative shipping methods are now table stakes for modern e-commerce.
• Alternative carriers consistently outperform during peak.
• Courier networks and zone-skipping provide additional speed levers.
• Multi-carrier orchestration is the most resilient way to absorb peak volume.
• Hybrid networks keep retailers agile when national networks are at capacity.

Want weekly delivery performance insights?

We publish Alternative Carrier Performance updates every week, tracking on-time delivery, peak trends, and which carriers are outperforming.

Check the blog each week for the latest numbers.