# CarParts.com's A-Premium scaled last-mile to $50M run rate in six quarters with own delivery network *The auto-parts retailer cut carrier costs and improved NPS by building a 300,000-package quarterly last-mile operation in-house.* By **Jenny Huang Goodman MPA MSc MHSA, Principal** — The Stash Edge, Hako Shikin LLC. Published 2026-08-22. Canonical: https://www.pops4.com/stash/articles/a-premium-carpartscom-partnership-2026-08-22t00-4 Subject: A-Premium (CarParts.com partnership) Tags: last-mile, distribution, logistics, auto-parts, cost-control, carrier --- CarParts.com reported its A-Premium partnership hit a **$50 million** annualized run rate in Q2 2026, up from approximately **$45 million** the prior quarter, according to the company's earnings disclosed on Seeking Alpha. The partnership now targets **300,000 packages** of quarterly last-mile delivery capacity, a threshold the retailer frames as the infrastructure needed to reach free cash flow positive by year-end. The company operates A-Premium as a vertically integrated last-mile delivery arm for auto parts, routing orders through its own drivers rather than third-party carriers. CarParts.com began scaling the partnership in late 2024, using A-Premium to deliver bulky or time-sensitive components—brake kits, alternators, suspension assemblies—that incur high dimensional weight charges with FedEx and UPS. By controlling the final leg, the retailer cut per-package cost and improved delivery windows, both of which the company cited as contributors to rising Net Promoter Score in the same period. The mechanism works because auto parts occupy an awkward middle ground: too heavy for low-cost parcel, too irregular for LTL freight. A strut assembly ships in a 36-inch box weighing twelve pounds; FedEx bills it at thirty. Last-mile delivery with a dedicated driver eliminates the dimensional surcharge and converts a variable cost into a semi-fixed route cost. Once the vehicle rolls, adding a second drop on the same route costs almost nothing. CarParts.com likely routes A-Premium orders by ZIP density, clustering stops to amortize driver wages across ten or fifteen deliveries per shift. The **300,000-package** quarterly target suggests roughly **25,000 packages per week**, enough volume to run dedicated routes in the top fifty metro areas without leaving trucks half-empty. A small physical-product brand can run the same play at modest scale by partnering with a regional courier or gig-economy driver pool. Identify your top three metros by order density. In each, negotiate a standing daily pickup with a local courier service—not a national carrier—and offer them a guaranteed minimum of five packages per route. Price it as a flat monthly retainer, not per-package. For a brand shipping **100 orders per week**, concentrating **30 packages** into three metro routes cuts the per-package cost from eight dollars (FedEx Ground) to three dollars (courier flat rate divided by stops). The carrier wins predictable revenue; you win cost and speed. Use Shopify's carrier-calculated rates API to show customers a "local courier" option at checkout, priced a dollar under FedEx but promising same-day or next-day. Track delivery NPS separately for courier versus national carrier and expand metro by metro as order density justifies the route. The **$50 million** run rate at CarParts.com implies **$12.5 million per quarter**, or roughly **$1 million per week** in gross merchandise moved through A-Premium. At an average auto-parts order value of **$150**, that translates to approximately **6,700 orders per week**, well above the threshold where route density pays for itself. The company's quarter-over-quarter growth—**$5 million** annualized gain in three months—demonstrates that last-mile margins improve faster than revenue once the network reaches critical density, because each new package added to an existing route drops nearly all its cost to the bottom line. For a brand at **500 units per month**, the entry move is a single-metro pilot. Choose the city that accounts for **15 percent** of your orders. Find a courier willing to run a three-day-per-week route for a **$600 monthly** retainer. Route **60 packages per month** through them. Measure margin per package, customer repeat rate, and five-star review share against your FedEx baseline. If margin improves by **$3 per package** and repeat rate lifts **8 points**, you have proof of concept. Add a second metro when the first route fills to capacity. CarParts.com's playbook shows that last-mile control becomes a compounding advantage once you clear the density floor, because every incremental package lands at marginal cost while the brand still charges the customer retail shipping rates. ## The takeaway Last-mile delivery becomes profitable at density: own the final leg in your top metros and convert per-package cost to route cost. --- ## Publisher **Hako Shikin LLC** — Virginia Beach, Virginia. Founded 1997. ASI 217876 · DUNS 18-204-6339. Principal and author: **Jenny Huang Goodman MPA MSc MHSA**. - Author: https://www.huanggoodman.com/about - LLM context: https://www.pops4.com/stash/llms.txt - MCP endpoint, for AI agents: https://mcp.pops4.com/mcp - Client dashboard: https://dashboard.pops4.com/ - Catalogue: 70,000+ products, 200+ brands