Last mile: fleets' Achilles heel
According to an analysis by Onlogist, a vehicle transfer specialist, a vehicle unavailable at the wrong time can cost carsharing and rental operators up to 120 euros in lost revenue per day.
In major European cities, a vehicle unavailable at the wrong time can cost carsharing and rental operators up to 120 euros in lost revenue per day. The cause: a still-underestimated link in the automotive logistics chain, the last mile. According to an analysis by Onlogist, a platform specializing in vehicle transfers, the number of trips in this segment rose by nearly 50% between 2024 and 2025, revealing growing pressure on this critical phase.
A bottleneck
With the rise of flexible mobility models (subscription, short-term rental, carsharing), vehicles are changing hands more and more frequently. This shift has brought a proliferation of individual transfers, ever-shorter turnaround times and greater complexity in urban environments, linked to traffic, parking and access restrictions. Logistics is struggling to keep pace, making the last mile a major friction point: the slightest delay affects vehicle availability, disrupts fleet management and degrades the customer experience. In usage-based business models, where profitability depends directly on utilization rates, each day a vehicle is off the road represents an estimated loss of between 50 and 120 euros per vehicle.
The human factor, key to experience and performance
Beyond technological considerations, drivers' role emerges as a decisive lever. On the last mile, they are often the sole point of contact with the customer and directly embody the brand. Their professionalism, punctuality and quality of service strongly influence the user experience. To meet these demands, some platforms such as Onlogist rely on a network of independent drivers operating through their digital solution. These drivers undergo rigorous selection to ensure a consistent level of quality, while client companies can set specific training or onboarding requirements to align service quality with their own standards.
The last mile, a new strategic challenge for mobility
Underlying trends confirm a lasting transformation of the market. Boston Consulting Group and an Onlogist-Deloitte white paper anticipate 68% growth in shared mobility models by 2035. At the same time, urbanization and regulatory constraints are adding to the complexity of operations, while customer expectations around speed continue to intensify. In this context, the last mile is no longer just a matter of operational execution: it is becoming a strategic issue. The top-performing players rely on digital management tools combining dynamic planning, real-time tracking and networks of qualified drivers to reduce delays, optimize fleet utilization and improve the customer experience.
