Sent Items #206: Monday, October 6, 2025

Last week we opened applications for the second cohort of our Logistics and Leadership Retreat and the applicants have been 🌟 🚀 🔥 

If you are an e-commerce brand, a 3PL, or a logistics tech company go ahead and submit an application to attend next March 16-18 (yes, over St. Paddy's!) We are approaching 100 applications already and are only selecting 45 attendees - applications are due Nov 1 and we are accepting on a rolling basis. Be sure to apply here.

Here's a short of last month’s inaugural retreat to see what to expect 🤩 🤠

Our next MATT’S CHATS webinar is coming up on Wednesday at 12 PM EST.

MATT'S CHATS is a webinar series bringing together supply chain experts, e-commerce brands, and tech professionals for a dynamic panel discussion on the latest news in logistics, fulfillment, and beyond.

Jack Hackett (Co-Founder & Managing Director of Accelerated Global Solutions Europe)

Justin Sherlock, LCB (Co-Founder & CEO of Caspian)

Daniel Pike (President of Advanced Derm Solutions LLC (Dermeleve®))

We will be diving into some of the biggest headlines in e-commerce and logistics, such as navigating the new reality: Tariffs, Drawbacks & International Fulfillment Strategies.

One final PSA: we have some very exciting news coming for Third Person next week. Let’s just say that our offerings will be evolving and 3PL partners will soon be able to take advantage of a broader set of services. Stay tuned for announcements in this newsletter, as well as on our socials (LinkedIn and Twitter).

Here’s something new I discovered last night while generating an Amazon return: it appears the US Postal Service has replaced UPS as the default Amazon returns pickup service 👀 📦 I’m unsure if this is being tested here in Nashville and other markets or if it’s a nationwide rollout. Regardless, it’s the first time I’ve seen an Amazon return have anything to do with the USPS.

Makes sense given UPS is “firing” Amazon as a customer. I’ve also never understood why Amazon would pay UPS for a return pickup (or charge the customer $7.99) when USPS offers free at home pick-up. Sure, UPS is more reliable (trackable) but I’d suspect that 90%+ of Amazon returns end up in the landfill or sold to resellers by the $/lbs … the speed at which it gets back to the warehouse doesn’t matter. Maybe they’re finally realizing that.

Speaking of Amazon, I’m seeing them more frequently as the primary carrier for brands (and 3PLs). Then I read that Bark (i.e. BarkBox) has recently switched to Amazon for shipping (link). Bark is now using Amazon for U.S. deliveries in a bid to boost shipping speed and limit rising costs. Amazon is accepting the BarkBox owner’s products into its last-mile network for delivery seven days a week and the company has been able to significantly improve their costs, while also improving transit times from one to three days for 90% of customers.

Early last year, Bark used a combination of FedEx, the Postal Service and Pitney Bowes to deliver to U.S. customers, following efforts to consolidate its carrier mix and renegotiate shipping contracts. Bark ships over 1.1 million packages per month, but the dimensions, weight and shipping cadence of its packages are fairly consistent.

Now for some charting and data -

The Polymarket betting odds of Supreme Court ruling in favor of Trump's tariffs that I’ve been citing here remains steady at 42% (i.e. there’s a 58% chance Trump’s tariffs will be overturned).

Haven’t shown container rate data in a few weeks so here’s an update on costs of containers across the Drewry World Container Index (a composite of the most common lane), showing a precipitous decline since the summer when inventory was being rushed in ahead of new tariff policy.

Here’s a chart of the rates broken out by major route. Shanghai to LA route - a common one for US-baed DTC/retail importers, is down 58% this year.

Thanks for reading! Have a great week! And remember to apply here to be at our next retreat March 16-18, 2026.

- Matt

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