OnTrac is piloting a program called ‘Dynamic Savings’ that lets a shipper name a target price for spare capacity and get an instant label back, or a decline to the contract rate.
OnTrac is betting that shippers annoyed by one-way peak-season price hikes will steer spare volume toward whichever carrier lets prices move down too.
A shipper sends OnTrac a target price along with the package’s weight, size, origin and destination. Within milliseconds, the system, built on pricing technology from a startup called Onrout, returns a label at that price or tells the shipper to ship at the contract rate instead. It only applies to volume above a shipper's weekly minimum, and it requires an existing OnTrac pickup. The pilot runs with select customers this peak season. OnTrac plans to open testing to more shippers in the first quarter of 2027.
CEO Mike Brown ties the timing to shipper frustration: “I think people are really finally frustrated enough with UPS and FedEx,” he told Supply Chain Dive. OnTrac is adding 25% to 30% more capacity to its network this year.
Courier and express delivery prices are up about two-thirds since January 2019, according to the Labor Department's producer price index.
“OnTrac’s Dynamic Savings program flips the traditional dynamic pricing model in the customer's favor,” said Vijay Ramachandran, OnTrac’s vice president of marketing, product strategy and marketplaces. Most carriers’ dynamic pricing only pushes rates up during high demand. OnTrac’s own shipper survey found 98% rank price among their top two carrier-selection criteria, and 80% have already shifted some volume to a cheaper carrier in the past year.
UPS, FedEx and USPS all raised peak-season prices this fall. USPS added a 6% surcharge starting October 4. OnTrac isn’t broadly cutting either: its own peak surcharges on residential and additional-handling fees are flat this year, a pause after last year's double-digit jumps, though large-package and over-limit fees still rose. Dynamic Savings applies only to eligible bulk volume above existing minimums, not a broader price cut.
