How is it that expedite shipping exists (next-day delivery/ international expedite/ etc) in relationship to standard shipping? Its not like companies benefit or profit from the time the package is in transit. I understand its a “premium” feature but why isnt it ideal to have packages delivered in the shortest/ least time-consuming route, and if so, why arent these shorter/ less time-consuming routes the standard?
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Major shipping operations use a “hub and spoke” system. Every package travels to one central location, then travels from that central location to its destination. This takes longer than sending the package directly between the two locations, but it requires drastically fewer routes. Suppose you have 100 possible locations that could be origins/destinations. The hub and spoke system takes 99 routes (one each between every non-hub location and the hub). A point-to-point system would require nearly 5,000 routes (one for every pair of locations). This math just gets worse and worse as you add locations.
So it really is more costly to send your package as quickly as possible. When speed is the only concern, the shipping company will either organize a special point-to-point route for the package, or use much faster (but more expensive) shipping methods like planes instead of trains or trucks.
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