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Logistics & Supply Chain vocabulary · Distribution and Delivery

Last mile

Meaning in logistics & supply chain, with examples

nounCore term

In logistics & supply chain, last mile means: The final stage of delivery, from a local depot or hub to the customer's door, often the most expensive and complex part of the journey.

In Turkish: son kilometre teslimat, son mil teslimat, son nokta teslimatı

How it is used

A key phrase in e-commerce and parcel delivery, often used before a noun with a hyphen: last-mile delivery, last-mile costs, last-mile carriers. Common topics include failed deliveries, delivery slots, parcel lockers and electric vans.

Example sentences

  1. Last-mile delivery is the biggest part of our parcel costs.

  2. We are testing parcel lockers to make the last mile cheaper in big cities.

Common collocations

  • last-mile delivery
  • last-mile costs
  • last-mile carrier
  • the last mile
  • distribution centerA warehouse designed to move goods quickly on to stores, customers or other locations rather than to store them for a long time.
  • proof of deliveryA signed document or electronic record showing that goods were delivered, when, and who received them; often needed before an invoice is paid.
  • tracking numberA unique number given to a parcel or shipment so that the sender, the receiver and the carrier can follow its progress online.
  • fulfillmentAll the steps needed to get an order to the customer, from receiving the order and picking and packing it to shipping it and handling returns.
  • dispatchTo send goods or a vehicle off to a destination, usually after the order has been picked, packed and checked.

This word in other fields

The same English word can have a different meaning in another field:

More terms: Distribution and Delivery

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