Time-in-Transit Maps for Economy Shipping: How to Choose Your Carrier

Are you choosing your shipping carriers strategically? Small savings add up, and last-mile shipping is a powerful lever you can utilize to manage your bottom line.

USPS, UPS, FedEx, Amazon Shipping… sellers have a wealth of shipping possibilities, but with so many different carriers available, all with their own unique strengths, how do you know who to choose for different packages?

In this article, we’ll cover the most popular shipping carriers available, and what we’ve noticed are their strengths and weaknesses. We have millions of data points gathered over decades of shipping packages, and we’ll include a few maps to back up our claims.

Amazon Shipping

Amazon Shipping is the new player in the game, coming in to compete with the historically undefeated USPS for ground shipping prices. With one of the largest logistics footprints in the world, it’s no wonder they’ve been able to come out of the gate with some of the most competitive prices we’ve seen for light ground packages.

When to use Amazon Shipping

As a baseline, Amazon Shipping is an excellent choice for:

• Most items under 50lbs
• Ground economy packages

What to look out for with Amazon Shipping

However, don’t turn Amazon Shipping on as a default for ground packages just yet. Here are a few scenarios where you’ll need to double check you’re using the best carrier and rate for your package.

Amazon Shipping may not be the best option for:

• Items more than 48 inches in length
• Items more than 30 inches in width
• Items more than 105 inches in length and girth
• Packages going to remote areas (look out for remote area fees)
• If you need express, or international shipping
• Shipping items to AK or HI

Analysis: Amazon Shipping economy ground SLAs

Across more than 40,000 shipments in March 2025, we found that Amazon’s average time in transit throughout the contiguous USA originating from a single warehouse in Kentucky was 3.41 Network Days*.

*Note that “network days” for Amazon is seven days a week. For other carriers, this may not include some Saturdays and Sundays, so 5 Network Days for some carriers could potentially be seven total days if delivery spans a weekend.

USPS

USPS has been known to be one of the best carriers for small, light packages. They remain consistently competitive for fast shipping even for international and AK/HI deliveries.

When to use USPS

USPS is usually great for:

• Ground packages
• Items under 1 cubic food and under 20 lbs
• International lightweight
• 2- to 3-day packages (Priority Mail)
• Lightweight parcels to AK/HI
• If you need to ship live animals

What to look out for with USPS

On the flip side of their strengths, it makes sense that USPS may not be the best option for:

• Items more than 1 cubic foot or 20 lbs
• Items more than 22 inches in length
• Any claims processes, so they may not be the best choice for high-value or unique items
• If you need a strict time in transit, since this is not guaranteed

Analysis: USPS economy ground SLAs

The map above shows time in transit data for over 6,000 shipments in March 2025. From a single fulfillment location in Kentucky, you’ll see that USPS packages reach the contiguous USA within 4.51 network days, on average, (actual days in transit may be longer if over a weekend).

UPS or FedEx

We are grouping UPS and FedEx together for the purposes of this article, because there are a lot of similarities and overlap between these two carriers. When we run our analysis, these carriers compete on many of the same dimensions, weights, and service levels to a point where it can depend on the day.

When to use UPS and FedEx

Either UPS or FedEx are usually great for:

• Any service level
  • Domestic Express
  • Domestic Ground
  • International Express/Expedited
• Items between 5 to 150 lbs
• If a customer wants “deluxe” service
• Heavy items over 20 lbs
• Items going to AK or HI
• Items over 96 inches in length or 130 inches in length+girth

What to look out for with UPS and FedEx

Like with Amazon Shipping, there are some things to look out for when shipping with UPS or FedEx as well. For example, these companies have rolling averages and tier levels for their discounts that you need to be aware of when calculating fees.

Before selecting UPS or FedEx, be sure to double check:

• Any packages over 96 inches in length or 130 inches in length + girth
• Discount tier levels you have access to
  • UPS Portfolio Tier
  • FedEx Earned Discount Tier
• Any impact on discounts from using multiple carriers
• Minimums and if applicable, any reductions to minimums you may have missed
• Any surcharges that may apply, such as peak or residential

Analysis: UPS vs. FedEx ground economy SLAs

Below you’ll find two charts showing iDrive data for several thousand  shipments using UPS and FedEx ground economy over Q1 2025. You’ll see that FedEx and UPS are relatively similar, with FedEx being slightly faster on average, in our experience.

Regional carriers

Regional carriers such as OnTrac, GLS, LSO, and similar carriers are great for certain zip codes, but don’t have the same national footprint as the carriers we’ve listed above.

When to use regional carriers

Since regional carriers don’t have the same reach, they often make up for it with price, but only in their key service areas and only on certain types of packages. For example:

• When you want to ship to certain zip codes where they have historically good cost and time in transit for your package weight and dimensions
• Ground packages with certain characteristics and within certain zip codes that these carriers serve

What to look out for with regional carriers

However, regional carriers aren’t the best choice for everyone, since:

• Not all zip codes are serviced directly by the carrier
• Regional carriers often have limited pickup locations

To learn more about regional carriers, check out our blog on everything you need to know about regional carriers.

Choose your shipping carriers strategically for speed and savings

Not all shipping carriers are created equal, and some are better than others for certain scenarios. We’ve broken down the best instances on average to use different carriers, and which situations you need to watch out for extra costs and fees. We’ve also shared time in transit maps for each ground economy carrier, based on actual internal data from Q1 2025 originating out of our Kentucky fulfillment warehouse.

If all of these considerations sound like more than you want to keep track of, work with iDrive Logistics to automatically select the best carrier for your shipments, every time. We have direct contracts with key shipping carriers, competitive rates thanks to our years of contract negotiation experience, and our platform can put together a comprehensive, multi-carrier shipping strategy for your brand.