So this is a rather niche question so I hope it is still relevant to this group, but I was thinking. The big package transport companies(in the US this is UPS and FedEx) make most of their air cargo money on overnight packages, where the business model is pretty straightforward. Have packages fly between a small number of hubs each night so you can relatively economically cover large areas with overnight service, because each plane is as full as it can be. The better question is how the same air cargo operation can transport the same packages in two days while being so much cheaper that they can charge 1/3 the cost of overnight. I can come up with a few ways, such as driving the package to a further away airport so you can put it on only 1 flight, or trying to drive it to a big hub before flying it, but all of these business models seem questionable at best because they seem to apply to niche cases only. Does anyone with more knowledge of the subject know the answer?
The answer is logistics. That’s a very broad and boring answer, but it’s just the way it is.
UPS is one of, if not the largest airline in the world. Their package tracking and logistics framework is well developed.
UPS, in WorldPort (and FedEx from just a short distance away), have positioned a hub that allows a huge amount of freight in; for it to be sorted cheaply, efficiently, and quickly; and for those planes to get back out the same night. I forget the exact statistic, but the Louisville airport is a 2 hour flight or less to 75% of the US population in the continental US. So for a plane to fly in, unload, refuel, reload, and fly back can be done for 3/4 of every major population center in the US with a single flight crew rotation.
Sounds crazy, but WorldPort has (had?) an average package sort speed of 13 minutes. So turnaround is fast. But of it’s a two day package, it can sit for a few hours at WorldPort and take a later plane.
Then from there, as the planes return, ground transport takes over. Ground shipping can also cover a lot of area for a two day shipment, so air transit isnt always needed.
https://www.aeroclass.org/ups-worldport/
To a bit on why the cost is so different. It’s because that plane is flying overnight packages no matter what, it could be half full, 80%, or totally full. That forces the price of overnight to always be able to cover the flight. 2 day packages can allow for planes to run full more often or get placed on trucks. Since it costs negligibly more to fun a full plane than a half full plane, the 2 day packages don’t need to cover the same amount of costs.