Technology enhancements, Amazon.com and a growing roster of carriers are reshaping the US parcel market. At the PARCEL Forum 2026 conference, a panel moderated by Bloomberg Intelligence’s Lee Klaskow, Gartner’s Chris Kina, Deloitte’s Joanne Strong and Pharand Advisors CEO Andre Pharand discussed how AI and dynamic routing are shifting competitive advantage away from physical networks alone. Shippers increasingly use multiple carriers to balance cost, service and reliability, with Gartner noting some retailers now use 10-20. The panel also explored Amazon’s growing third-party delivery ambitions, rising consumer expectations, parcel lockers and why reliability is becoming more important than speed as technology helps shippers select the best carrier for each shipment.