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OnTrac

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OnTrac
IndustryLast mile (transportation)
Founded1986; 39 years ago (1986)
HeadquartersVienna, Virginia, U.S.
Number of locations
64 facilities(2018)
4 sortation centers (2018)
Area served
United States
Key people
Ali Dilmaghani, founder and CEO [1]
ServicesRegional carrier
Ground Service
Same-day Service
Weekend Delivery
WebsiteLaserShip.com

LaserShip is a regional last mile delivery company that services the Eastern and Midwest United States.[2][3][4][5] Founded in 1986, LaserShip is based in Vienna, Virginia and has sortation centers in New Jersey, Ohio, North Carolina, and Florida.[6]

As of 2016, LaserShip has 63 distribution centers and four sorting centers servicing 22 states and Washington, D.C.[7] Lasership handles deliveries for Amazon and other e-commerce retailers throughout the Eastern U.S.

LaserShip is not accredited by the Better Business Bureau, from whom it has received an "F" rating.[8]

History

File:The first LaserShip vans.jpg
The first LaserShip vans in Tysons Corner, VA, when LaserShip was formerly known as Laser Courier.

LaserShip began as a document delivery service in 1986. In the 1990s, LaserShip landed in the small parcel business during the dot-com boom. In 1999, the company partnered with Barnes & Noble to provide same-day shipping services in New York City. [3]

In March 2014, LaserShip added four states to its service area: New Hampshire, Rhode Island, West Virginia and Delaware. This expanded the LaserShip footprint by 44 percent, reaching an additional 8.5 million consumers. [3]+

Also in March 2014, LaserShip acquired Cleveland based last mile delivery company Prestige Delivery Systems, further expanding services to Ohio, Kentucky, Michigan and Indiana.

Operations

File:LaserShip's facility in Groveport, Ohio (pictured above).png
An aerial shot of LaserShip's facility in Groveport, Ohio.

A significant portion of LaserShip's business is the delivery of e-commerce residential packages. The entirety of LaserShip's operations is broken up into three areas: Residential E-Commerce Delivery, Custom Routed Courier, and Global Critical Delivery.

Residential E-Commerce Delivery

File:LaserShip's facility in Ohio.png
LaserShip's facility in Ohio

Residential E-Commerce Delivery includes same-day, next-day and two-day delivery across 21 states. LaserShip uses a hub-and-spoke network to deliver packages in residential areas from four sortation centers and 63 distribution centers.[9]

Custom Routed Courier

Custom Routed Courier includes outsourced/dedicated, same-day on-demand, and next-day services for businesses. LaserShip's Custom Routed Courier operations are located in 22 states in the Eastern and Midwest U.S. [10]

Global Critical Delivery

The Global Critical Delivery division serves the aviation, healthcare/medical, entertainment, automotive and industrial industries. Its operations include delivery to North America, Europe, Asia, Australia, and some locations in South America and the Middle East.[11]

Disputes and settlements

Package tossing

Package tossing has been an on-going issue in e-commerce delivery with national carriers like UPS and FedEx dealing with the issue for many years. The USPS has also continued to struggle with package tossing and even Amazon.com. Numerous news reports[12][13][14] backed up by surveillance camera footage depict LaserShip delivery drivers recklessly tossing packages onto customers' property. In one incident from 2016, a LaserShip delivery man was caught on tape tossing a $500 camera lens several yards onto a poured-concrete porch.[15] In March 2017, a customer caught a delivery man tossing a package containing a router on tape, damaging the contents, and reported the incident to LaserShip.

Misclassification and nonpayment of drivers

Mis-classification of independent contractors has plagued the transportation, among many other industries, for decades. FedEx has had to continue dealing with this issue, settling a case in 2017 for 227 Million. In April 2018, the California Supreme Court issued a landmark decision in the matter of Dynamex Operations West, Inc. v. Superior Court of Los Angeles ruling that the drivers were not independent contractors.

In April 2014, LaserShip reached a class-action settlement of $800,000, even though they won the court opinion on the matter, with drivers in Massachusetts who accused the company of misclassifying them as independent contractors to save money.[16] In November 2015, a class action lawsuit was filed in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York alleging that workers were denied overtime payments, were unlawfully denied earned compensation, and for other violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act.[17] The results of this litigation are pending.

Cigarette settlement

The delivery of cigarettes has been a continued issue with last mile delivery in the state of New York. In September 2014, LaserShip reached a $5 million settlement with the city of New York over deliveries of untaxed cigarettes. UPS and FedEx have both been dealing with this issue with fines totaling almost $500 million between the two companies.

References

  1. ^ "Lasership, Inc.: CEO and Executives". Bloomberg. Retrieved 2017-12-15.
  2. ^ "Parcel - May/June 2015". Nxtbook.com. Retrieved 2017-12-15.
  3. ^ a b c Abha Bhattarai (April 13, 2014). "LaserShip looks to expand to the midwest". The Washington Post. Retrieved July 31, 2014.
  4. ^ Laura Stevens and David Benoit (November 12, 2013). "Activist Investor Daniel Loeb Takes FedEx Stake". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved July 31, 2014.
  5. ^ "Hot Companies 2013". Parcel Magazine. July–August 2013. Retrieved July 31, 2014.
  6. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2015-10-01. Retrieved 2015-09-30. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  7. ^ Parcel Magazine >https://issuu.com/rbpublishing/docs/par_mayjune?e=2333928/35918877
  8. ^ Better Business Bureau https://www.bbb.org/washington-dc-eastern-pa/business-reviews/delivery-service/lasership-inc-in-vienna-va-1042152
  9. ^ "Services". LaserShip. Retrieved May 15, 2018.
  10. ^ "Services". LaserShip. Retrieved May 15, 2018.
  11. ^ "Services". LaserShip. Retrieved May 15, 2018.
  12. ^ Monfort, Ashley. "Home video shows delivery drivers throwing packages at Ashland home". Retrieved 2017-12-01.
  13. ^ "Delivery driver carelessly tosses package on driveway". Mail Online. Retrieved 2017-12-01.
  14. ^ Jeff Peters (2016-12-22), NBC 12 Interview - LazyShip (aka LaserShip), retrieved 2017-12-01
  15. ^ "Watch How Amazon Delivered a $500 Camera Lens". PetaPixel. 2016-07-25. Retrieved 2017-12-01.
  16. ^ "Meet The Real Amazon Drones". Huffington Post. April 24, 2014. Retrieved January 13, 2016.
  17. ^ Crosby and Lewis v. Lasership, Inc., Et Al., Index Number 08694-CV-2015, SDNY - retrieved through pacer.gov and http://www.fslawfirm.com/pdfs/cs/Lasership-Complaint.pdf

Further reading


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