Advance Auto Parts has expanded its partnership with OneRail to run AI-orchestrated same-day delivery from more than 4,000 stores. The platform coordinates both AAP’s own fleet and third-party couriers. The move makes the store, not the distribution center, the same-day fulfillment node and puts pressure on routing software to make the economics work.
How it works: OneRail’s platform routes each order across AAP’s drivers and a pool of outside couriers, picking the cheapest available option in real time. Inventory already sits in stores and market hubs instead of distant DCs, so parts are often close to the customer before the order is placed. The AI’s job is to match that inventory to the fastest and most cost-effective carrier.
“This partnership will help us leverage our growing store and market hub network more effectively,” SVP of supply chain Ron Gilbert said.
The hub math: The market hubs are the engine.
35 hubs today, scaling to roughly 60 by 2027
Each supports more than 50 surrounding stores and stocks 75,000 to 85,000 SKUs, versus about 20,000 to 25,000 at a typical store
Hub markets perform about 100 basis points better on sales than non-hub markets, CFO Ryan Grimsland told the Q1 FY2026 call
The DC network is being consolidated from 58 down to 16
Those deeper assortments are what allow AAP to promise same-day delivery on parts a thin store could never hold, and the 100-bps lift is the early evidence the model may be working.
The bet: All three major auto-parts chains now fulfill from stores, but AAP is taking a lower-cost approach. AutoZone and O’Reilly built dense in-house networks, with more than 100 mega hubs at AutoZone and hundreds of hub stores at O’Reilly, based on the idea that more physical coverage leads to better service. AAP is taking a different route. It is using a third-party AI platform to coordinate a smaller network, betting it can deliver similar results without the same level of investment.
The question for operators deciding whether to build or buy is if software can replace physical scale or simply make a smaller network more efficient. AAP will test that as it closes more than 20 DCs, relies more on stores, and tries to maintain same-day service levels.
Dig deeper:
Market Hubs In Repurposed Big Box Suites Are Fueling Store Growth For Advance Auto Parts — Jason Miller — how AAP is sourcing hub real estate from bankrupt big-box chains, with SKU-depth and hub-count data that puts the OneRail build-out in context.
Why AutoZone Should Open “Supersized” Mega Hubs — Jason Miller — the proprietary-density playbook AAP is betting against, and what it costs to win the same-day parts race through owned infrastructure.
