Faster, More Affordable Delivery Through Maersk Parcel With John Kruzan From Maersk - Ep. 58
In This Episode
You probably know Maersk as a container shipping company, but the end-to-end logistics provider now has a new offering for parcel shipping: Maersk Parcel.
According to John Kruzan, this regional service is made up of a “pickup and delivery network that can move packages … at a very competitive rate, at a very competitive time in transit.”
Listen to learn what makes Maersk Parcel great for small businesses and how to get started.
The motivation behind Maersk Parcel
John starts by describing the current state of the parcel shipping industry, particularly when it comes to large carriers. Simply put, “ We've got fees going up, but we've also got services going down.”
Recognizing that rising costs and declining service quality aren’t a good combination, Maersk had an idea: “ We could take a look at the market and … change it and elevate it a little bit with a new product that does new things.”
Who should use Maersk Parcel?
Maersk Parcel is “specifically built for the small and mid-size business market,” John explains, adding that the service addresses the pain points of mom-and-pop shops, brick-and-mortar retail locations, and smaller ecommerce brands.
He mentions a few things these small businesses should keep in mind:
- Maersk Parcel focuses on shipping to zones 1-5
- It covers the top 30 metropolitan statistical areas (urban areas) in the U.S.
Benefits of shipping parcels with Maersk
The main reason to add Maersk Parcel to your carrier mix? Maersk is focused on providing a top-notch delivery experience. John notes that “relationships are the lifeblood of a small merchant,” and shipping plays a big role in developing good relationships.
John also points out some specific benefits of Maersk Parcel: competitive rates (including a sub-pound rate), fast delivery times (three days in transit), and a super simple claims process backed by Maersk customer service.
How to get started with Maersk Parcel
Interested in shipping with Maersk Parcel? Their partnership with EasyPost makes it easy! As John puts it, “It's basically turning on a switch. There is no integration, there is no waiting for contracts to be signed.”
If you’re not already an EasyPost customer, sign up here—it’s free for small shippers. Once you’ve created an account, you’ll be able to access a library of over 100 carriers, including Maersk Parcel.
Links
Transcript
Lori Boyer 00:00
Welcome to Unboxing Logistics. I'm your host, Lori Boyer from EasyPost, and today I am gonna be introducing a new regional carrier option out in the industry. I'm really excited about this because I know that in our community out there, so many of you are looking at diversifying, you are looking at additional carriers, and this is a really, really cool one.
And it's kind of a sneak peek kind of thing. They're just kidding, kicking off. You're gonna know the name when you hear it. But I have got John Kruzan here today with us from Maersk Parcel. John, can you introduce yourself and tell us a little bit about Maersk? And that name is gonna be really familiar to people, but maybe not in the parcel space.
John Kruzan 00:51
Sure. Well, good morning, Lori. Thank you for having me. Well, Maersk, I mean, if you've ever sat on a beach and looked out across the horizon and seen a, a container ship odds are that it's a Maersk vessel, but Maersk is much more than that. We're 120 year old company. We started out obviously in in container shipping or, or, or ocean carriage, but now we are a full end-to-end logistics provider.
We are in we're a global player. We're one of the top logistics services companies and we are now very excited to, to introduce our new parcel product.
Lori Boyer 01:35
I am so excited about this. So everyone today, hang in there. We're gonna talk about what Maersk Parcel does, if it might be right for you, you know, why is it different and how does it work?
And, and all of those good details that I know that you're all just dying for that tea. But before we do that, John, we've been starting this season with a great segment where we are checking AI, doing a little bit of an AI reality check AI ChatGPT specifically is what we're doing here. But AI is amazing, incredible, love it, but sometimes it might not be totally accurate. And that's why having experts on the show are giving us this, just kinda some grading. I think that it's been hitting B to B plus for most of its answers so far this season. But I have asked it, John, let's see, what do we got? What are, what does ChatGPT think are the biggest challenges in the parcel shipping industry in 2025? So I'm gonna tell you what it says. And, and you tell me if you think it's missed something, if you think it's spot on, whatever it is.
Sound good?
John Kruzan 02:47
Sounds great. Let's give it a shot.
Lori Boyer 02:49
Okay. Awesome. Perfect. Okay, ChatGPT believes the top three issues facing the parcel industry, are number one, escalating shipping costs. Says that major carriers are continuing to announce large increases in rates. And coupled with all the extra surcharges and fees and all that complexity, you know, that, that's making it it tough for people.
Number two, it says labor shortages. Ongoing labor shortages, workforce challenges that we've been seeing forever. And number three, consumer expectations. It says consumers are increasingly sensitive to shipping costs, and they're pushing back against high fees. So. Consumers, workforce, and escalated shipping costs.
Do you agree? Do you disagree?
John Kruzan 03:39
It didn't do a bad job. ChatGPT, my antiseptic old friend. It did not do a bad job. I think that obviously rates have been a concern for, for over the last decade. Right? And, you know, if you were shipping a package 10 years ago with the compounding effects of GRIs, you're, it is now 53% more expensive to ship a package today than it was a decade ago.
Lori Boyer 04:11
Wow.
John Kruzan 04:11
But I think, but one of the things I'd like to kind of hone in on, which. Because I cheat a little bit. I, I asked ChatGPT myself, and one of the things that I love to hone in on is the idea of customer or consignee expectations. And I think that's one of the things, and, and quite frankly as we go through this conversation today, is one of the reasons why we decided to build Maersk Parcel. Was that, you know, consumer expectations are not only about the sensitivity around cost. But it's also the sensitivity around how, when, where a package gets to them. And this is really becomes very important. For 30 years, we've honed in on what's the customer experience in ecommerce, but yet that that final mile, that last piece of the post-purchase experience, it's really been about the carriers doing their thing.
And I think more and more now, consumers are really starting to say, hey, wait a minute. We also wanna be part of this conversation. And we want to be able to start making some decisions about you know, when or where. And the least, you know, the, the least of which would be what cost we're paying for that parcel to get to us.
So it's, it's something I think that over the course of, at least the last decade, if not the last two decades, is something that the legacy carriers have not really leaned into enough and have not really made those considerations and potentially kind of changed a little bit of their business model.
Lori Boyer 05:59
Yeah, absolutely. That really, really fascinating. I think as consumers we are way more engaged and involved and, and want to know a lot more than I think sometimes the really, really large carriers, you know, those, those swings and changes are really slow. And, and it's a little bit hard to keep up with just a lightning fast evolution.
So what, what's the grade you'd give it, A to F?
John Kruzan 06:25
I would give a, I would give a solid B. And, you know, I'm feeling like a, you know the good grader today. Maybe a B plus.
Lori Boyer 06:34
Awesome. Love it. Okay. Another thing that we've been doing is. I have been asking everyone. This is honestly, John, just been my favorite thing so far this year.
It just makes me feel, it is just such a reminder that relationships are so key in this industry, that we work together to make all of this work. And so who is somebody that you particularly admire from the industry? It could be someone who was a mentor, it could be somebody who was in the industry and is, you know, retired since then.
Is there somebody that you really admire and why?
John Kruzan 07:08
It's a group of people, and I think they are all have kind of the same characteristics. I think that. I started, I started my career in logistics 25 years ago. So if you're thinking about a gift, it is my silver anniversary.
Lori Boyer 07:23
Oh, yay.
John Kruzan 07:23
And you know, I started with Airborne Express out of Seattle, Washington.
And, and if anybody's been around for a minute in this industry, they'll know the name Jerry Hempstead. Jerry Hempstead was the original Mr. Parcel, but he was also he was also a mentor. He, he, he taught me a lot about what those customer expectations are. And that it's not just about rate, but it's the whole package.
And then you consider people like, you know, that, that are firmly in the industry, like Satish Jindel with ShipMatrix. Here's a, here's a man who knows this industry inside and out and likes to give his opinion about it. And then you take a look at kind of the, the some of the, the, the newer companies, the newer breeds.
I, I, I'm very fascinated and I really like what Jason Murray and Shipium are doing right now. I, I love watching, watching the evolution of that product. So I think that, you know, as you start to kind of look a little bit in the rear view mirror and say, who are the people that influenced me? I think that it's, it, it's, it's the people that really kind of took the time to understand the insides and outs of this industry and are willing to share it with the, with, with, with, with, with the next generation and next group.
Lori Boyer 08:45
I, love that. I love, there are a couple of things there that really stood out to me. Some of those people you like really were the basics, the customer expectations. Some of 'em were kind of the innovators, you know, how can we push the industry to the next level? But all of it, exactly what you were saying related to listening, understanding and sharing that information. Because if you do have great insights, but you never tell anyone and you never get that point out there. Yeah, that's fantastic, John. I love that. I'm gonna look those people up on LinkedIn, see if I can follow them and, and get a little more info. So, okay. John, you teased us a little bit at the beginning.
In talking about some of the challenges and, and the issues going on in the parcel shipping industry that kind of led maybe to Maersk Parcel coming about. Let, let's talk about maybe what do you feel like are the frustrations businesses have been facing and then how does that relate back to why Maersk Parcel started?
John Kruzan 09:49
Well, I, I, I think that you, you, you take a look at, you know, kind of the, the, the, the long view, right? So the runway from where we were to where we are today, again, look at that, you know, that 10 year span of time where we've, you know, where price rate has increased. That's one thing. But I think that now we're in a different type of environment and that is really about, we've got prices going up. We've got fees going up, but we've also got in, in many respects, services going down. And the idea that we're elongating service times, or we've got some carriers are saying, hey, you know, that those rural areas really are, are really expensive for us to, to, to service. We're gonna have to change the way that we engage after a hundred years.
All those things are, you know, are foundational. But it's also about the expectation again, that the consumer has, that the shipper has that, what they're going to, you know, if they're going to give a package to a, to a carrier, that that carrier will move it along as expeditiously as possible and get it there.
So their customer, especially in the ecommerce space, that their customers are satisfied. Because that customer is the lifeblood of that merchant. And if that experience isn't good, then that customer potentially goes. All of this really combines to, you know, create a, a, an environment where we could take a look at the market and maybe we can change it and elevate it a little bit with, with a new product that does new things.
The thing about Maersk Parcel is that we are very you know, we, we were very specific on the target market that we wanted to address. Maersk Parcel isn't like a legacy carrier. In terms of we're not looking at being able to be all things to all people. We are very specifically built for the small and mid-size business market.
More pointedly, even the the SMB ecommerce market. And the reason why we did that was really twofold. Number one, we saw that these, that's the cohort that's getting really beaten up, especially, you know, with rate fees, new new charges, things like that. But I think also is that relationship, and again, this is gonna be a theme, Lori, that we're gonna go through throughout this entire webcast, is the idea that those relationships are the lifeblood of a small merchant. And if that experience isn't just spot on, then that merchant has to do more work to retain that customer
Lori Boyer 13:06
No, I love it. Okay. So there are a couple of things that I thought were huge. When you said that prices have gone up. I think that we often focus on that, but also service levels have gone down.
That was just absolutely true. And I think that small businesses have experienced that. Things have slowed down. And so it, that percentage, you said earlier, 53% more expensive, but for often, many times worse service. I think that as well, that regional kind of offering. And we're gonna kind of talk a little bit about Maersk Parcel, where you are offered and, and, and hone in on who that audience is.
This is kind of, I like to say everyone in the community out there, a little bit of a sneak peek almost. Maersk Parcel is just kicking off, barely opening up as a new carrier and will be continuing to expand. But right now is is heavily focused in specific areas. So we're gonna talk about that, John. But I think that some of it has to do with those exact consumer expectations, John, that you were talking about. The need for regional carriers, the need for these kind of more rural areas or the areas that haven't been traditionally those big, big routes has expanded as ecommerce and consumer expectations and demand for things have have grown in areas that, you know, previously weren't so huge.
John Kruzan 14:28
Most definitely, and I think that, you know, the ubiquity of ecommerce has, you know, changed the landscape you know, historically. I mean, this is, this, this is going back to, we have not seen over the course of the last 20 years or so changes to this industry. I mean, the, the, the last change that is probably applicable is when you know, UPS was, was delivering packages, in a horse drawn carriage in Seattle.
I mean. This is what, and, and the changes that have, have, have come from the ubiquity of, of ecommerce have really been, you know, foundational to how the industry worked, right? I mean, again, it's, you know, hey, it's gonna be two day service, so it's gonna be free shipping, or it's going to. Our entire lexicon, our entire expectations have changed in a very short period of time, and what I think needs, what the next phase of that is, is really being able to, especially for again, that that small mid-market merchant or that small mid-market business is to give them an alternative to what they've previously known and make sure that alternative is number one, solving their, their pain. And number two is giving real value to their customer.
Lori Boyer 15:54
Yeah, absolutely. One, one of the interesting kind of challenges I've often seen with this small business is, they're exactly what you're talking about. They're the kind of people. And if that's you out there in the community, shout out, love you. But often you as a, as an ecommerce small business get stuck using only those traditional carriers because you don't know.
And it feels a little bit scary sometimes to branch out to alternative carriers and to regional carriers and, and, and it feels complex and and scary. But that is so not what I would ever recommend for any of you. There are those opportunities. There are so many great regional carriers out there who can help you save a ton of money or have a better service level or both. That you shouldn't just be stuck using just really those specific traditional models.
So I just, I really, really encourage my small businesses out there. Don't be, don't let fear, don't let that keep you from being able to be really successful in that shipping field. One thing I love though about Maersk is the fact that you are a really trusted name. Right? Like you said, I've seen Maersk out on those shipping out in the shipping lanes, those big ships for ages. A hundred, 120 years, I think you said.
So how was it then? I guess let's, let's step back just a bit. How did Maersk decide to jump into parcel and, and, and let's really define this audience, maybe the regions you're in right now, who is it that you're serving and how does it work?
John Kruzan 17:28
I think it's, it, it's two pieces, kind of the, the, the motivation you know, and, and as I said at the beginning, you know, we are a full end-to-end logistics provider.
So the goal for Maersk is from, you know, a, a factory overseas to your front porch. And that, you know, to get it to your front porch is, you know, that piece of, it's the final mile. And this goes squarely along with, you know, what our value proposition is to our, our global customers is that, you know, we are an end-to-end provider and one of the best end-to-end providers in on the globe.
Now what we've built here is something a little different for Maersk. Because Maersk typically has been, you know, their, their, their typical customer is a little bit larger. But again, in this market in North America and in where we saw real pain points for, you know, different cohorts within the shipping community, that this is why we leaned into this.
And that doesn't not mean that Maersk doesn't have products that go farther upstream and services larger customers. But this particular product is really focused on that group. And the reason why we focused on this particular part of the market was because we realized really where a lot of those pain points were when work, when small businesses are working with kind of the legacy carriers. And, and quite frankly, again, when you're looking at rising costs, diminishing services, there becomes an opening there for us to develop something that really speaks to them.
And I believe that's what we did with, with Maersk Parcel. The way that we've built Maersk Parcel in, for this particular segment of the market is that we've taken Maersk assets and regional partner assets, and we've combined them together to build a a, a PU and D, a pickup and delivery network that can move packages for these customers to their customers at a very competitive rate, at a very competitive time in transit. And we think that that becomes a differentiator, especially given some of the chaos that's happening in other, in other parts of the market with other, other carriers.
Lori Boyer 20:06
Okay, so let's, I'll put on my hat. Let's say I'm a small business owner.
You know, why would I choose to use Maersk Parcel? You kind of gave that a little bit, but you know, I'm gonna be worried about speed and cost and reliability. I, you know, how can I feel brave enough to make that leap? Why, why is it a value to me?
John Kruzan 20:30
One of the first things out of that gate that we did, which I think is was, was needed, is we took a look at what was out there in the market.
And we made a very conscious effort to simplify this whole program.
Lori Boyer 20:43
Love that word, John. Simplify and logistics. The angels are singing.
John Kruzan 20:52
So the idea was to, hey, wait, let's just, let's just take this down to the studs for a second and then build it back up. And so what we've built is a program that has one rate that is very competitive in the market. One service, which is three days time in transit. And it is wrapped in the it, it's wrapped in the Maersk, Maersk brand and it's, but it's also backed by Maersk. So it is Maersk customer service. A very simple, we're very proud of this, very simple claims process. It is you know, when you get on the phone or you email someone, it's going to be Maersk.
That plus the development of partner ecosystems, EasyPost being one. Yeah. That allows us to get to market easier, with less cost for the, for the shipper, less cost for partners. And quite frankly it helps our, our, our, our carrier partners to be able to reduce their costs as well.
Lori Boyer 22:13
So are people locked in?
So let's say that I decided I wanted to use Maersk. Am I locked into a certain number of years if I'm wanting to try it out, or a certain amount of my volume, any of that kind of stuff?
John Kruzan 22:24
None of that, which again makes it different in the market, at least in the attitude that we're taking. Is that we understand that no carrier, and I've, again, I've been, I've, I've, I've worked for many carriers over my career.
Not one carrier can be all things to all shippers. Services can't be all things to all shippers. What we've developed here is something that specifically addresses the pain points around this certain type of shipper, which are, you know, either mom and pop shops brick and mortar retail locations, or small ecommerce brands that are looking to not only reduce their costs, but also increase their confidence that that customer experience with their, with their customer is actually going to be elevated.
Lori Boyer 23:28
Okay, so you're not saying then, John, that this mom and pop shop, 'cause you said no one can be all things to all shippers. I loved that line. That was really, really good. If anyone is telling you that they can be all things to you, please, that's a big red flag.
Step back. So no one can be all things to all shippers. So you are not saying that everyone should move all of their volume over to Maersk Parcel.
John Kruzan 23:54
No. On the contrary. We, we understand where we play, we understand where we we work and where we work effectively. Quite frankly, the way that, again, the way that we built this with the understanding that simplicity is key, and we are not all things, all people. Right now, what we, we focus on the shorter zones.
We focus on zones one through five. And why do we do that? Well, because what we, what we want to do is because we're leveraging an ecosystem of carrier partners as well as our own assets. It makes sense for us to solve the problem of those shorter zones where quite frankly, if you take a look at if you take a look at data the, the, the data are, are, are is quite clear that the vast majority of these shippers are shipping within that range up to 75%. So our attitude was, hey, let's focus on the 75%, get that absolutely locked down right, and then we will expand and start to address the, the, the outer zones. That's a 25%.
Lori Boyer 25:07
Okay, so John, that's perfect. What I'm hearing then is mom and pop stores, maybe small ecommerce, people who are in those shorter zones, zones one through five.
That's kind of our sweet spot there. Are there any other characteristics maybe that I'm missing that maybe is a, a, a big green flag of, hey, Maersk Parcel could be the right solution for you right now?
John Kruzan 25:32
Again, looking at. How do we want to build a product and how do we wanna take it to market, and how do we want to address this particular cohort?
We are coming out with a first for the SMB community, a commercialized sub pound rate. So we will also service from eight ounces to 15.9999 ounces.
Lori Boyer 25:59
What if it's 15.9999?
John Kruzan 26:02
Yes. It's a trailing nine, but yes.
Lori Boyer 26:04
Okay. Oh good. Oh good. All the nines.
John Kruzan 26:07
So, and, and again, this is there, there's been a few carriers that have kind of come out and said, hey, we'll do sub pound.
That and, and a lot of carriers I know from, from even my days. Yeah. We'll, we'll, we'll do a sub pound package, but we'll, we'll charge you for a pound. This is the first time that we are coming out with a outside of the, obviously outside of the USPS, where we will come out with a commercialized marketable sub pound rate for the SMB shipper.
Lori Boyer 26:39
Okay. So, perfect. So. Thank you for adding in that weight. Eight ounces to 15.9, just under 16, under the pound. We could get that. Mom and pop, zones one through five, shorter routes. Anything else that we're missing?
John Kruzan 26:55
I think that again, one of the ways that we are taking this to market is really geographically.
And it's, that, again, is a, a, a bit of a differentiator. In my old, in, in some of my older roles, you just open it up to every, everyone and let everybody start to participate. The way that we've built this though, really lends itself to rolling it out into geographies. Now, which is interesting in retrospect. As we, we were doing this, we thought we were being very innovative, but apparently apparently a lot of other people had the same idea. So if you take a look at what Amazon's doing right now, they basically create a regional infrastructure. You take a look at what the USPS is trying to do right now, they are creating a regional infrastructure.
And so although we kind of, we developed these ideas almost in a vacuum that we are coming out with a regional strategy that really leverages our carrier partners, our channel partners and then our then, then another piece of this is our retail partners, and I'll get into that in a, in, in a moment.
But you take all of those together and then what we are for this first year, we will really target kind of the, the top 30 we call it, you know, MSAs, metropolitan statistical areas. Top 30 urban areas. And then from there we will expand expand outward. Now the top 30 urban centers in, in, in the U.S. Represents half the GDP and half the U.S. population.
It also includes the top nine, enough fingers here, the top nine, ecommerce states, ecommerce shipping states, which, you know, is, is fairly obvious. It's really anything that's on the coast. So by focusing on these markets first and really starting to prove out the product and to be able to start to you know, service the, the, the, those shippers, then what we really do is we have a great foundation, not only to expand our geographical footprint, but that foundation also allows us to build other products and services on top of it.
Lori Boyer 29:37
Yeah, absolutely. And I, I think that it actually is a testament to the, the vision of Maersk and, you know, Amazon and USPS and everyone else. We're seeing this need to build region to region so that, sometimes when we open the doors to everyone, a lot of stuff falls through the cracks, and so you can just really hone in on what is super important in those areas. And, and I think that's really, really critical for our audience. I really admire that that's what the way you're doing it. So you talked about it evolving over time. So let's talk, so, you know, I guess, how do you see it in six months, a year?
Again, knowing these are predictions. No, nobody's locking you in John.
John Kruzan 30:18
Right. But he's lock, I remember when you said that, six months a year.
Lori Boyer 30:22
That's right. Somebody's gonna be like, John.
John Kruzan 30:24
You know, I, the, the way that, as I said, the way that we built this was to create a foundation that then we could add more products and services on top of that. We also built out a retail network of retail, brick and mortar. We're starting in the pack and ship industry, so if you've ever gone to a store to go ship a package, that's where that's where we're focused today in that particular retail vertical. We've got a great partner in a company called Package Hub, Brandon Gale, who I think you just had a conversation with, so we're, we're starting there.
Now, why are we doing retail? Well, for a number of reasons. Same reason FedEx does it. Same reason UPS does it. Same reason USPS does. It is because when you are starting to deal with small shippers. The incremental shippers, the, the, the, the, the, the type of merchants may be that they're getting a couple of orders a week or a couple of, a couple of orders a day, which translates to a couple of shipments a week or a day.
And so to be able to have them cons, be able to take those to a very local store, be able to consolidate those there, not only saves the shipper money because now they're not, you know, they're not paying pickup fees, but it also helps to lower our partners' costs as well.
So our carrier partners and Maersk, obviously we want to be more efficient as we pick up and deliver these packages, and one of the ways that we do that is by consolidating these incremental shipments together so they look like they're larger shipments. So really we have three different ecosystems that are working together. We have a carrier network.
We have a channel network, which are small business merchants. And then we have a retail network. And they, the way that this is built is that they were all built to work in harmony together. So we actually are able to lower costs for both the shipper and the carrier and be able to increase that that, that customer service.
Lori Boyer 32:54
Okay. So what I'm hearing as if I were a small business owner is that we're taking Maersk's influence and power and those relationships we've talked about in the industry to trickle that down to me. So I may not be able to get the best rate or the best carriers or the best you know, options out there as just this little small mom and pop business. But Maersk can negotiate and get some good rates and make sure that I have that sort of power of the, the Maersk name and, and those relationships that have been built in there, in place at, with your channel partners, your carriers, and your retailers.
And, and then I can kind of get a little bit of an advantage of that. Is that, am I saying that wrong John?
John Kruzan 33:38
I think you're absolutely absolutely spot on. I think things that given what we've built, you know, a lot of people are very quick to say, oh, they're just an aggregator, or just a reseller, or they're, they're a hybrid, or they're this, or they're that.
One of the, the, and I think this is where the Maersk brand and the Maersk infrastructure really comes into play, and this is a differentiator. Is that you can be a small shipper and you can go to regional carriers, you're gonna have all these different contracts, that's fine. But the i, the idea that this whole product is wrapped around the, the Maersk infrastructure really makes it different.
And so when we start talking about, you know, customer service. Hey, do you have someone that you can talk to? Yes. Is it easy to get to? Yes, it is. We talk about claims, let's simplify this process. We don't need we don't need a three panel judge to adjudicate if a claim is valid or not. You know? How do, you know, how do we simplify billing as as much as possible? How do we simplify adjustments as much as possible. This is what Maersk as as, as the, the, the tip of the spear really brings to this whole transaction. And I also think that that also gives shippers the confidence in us if they try us once or twice to say yes, I can see this as a viable carrier for my parcels.
Lori Boyer 35:13
One last thing I want us to talk about before we end here. I know we're almost out of time, but EasyPost loves partnering with Maersk Parcel. You have been an incredible partner for us. Can you explain a little bit about that EasyPost Maersk relationship and how that would work if I am a mom and pop store?
John Kruzan 35:30
So it again, going back down to blocking and tackling simplicity, simplicity, simplicity. When we decided to build this, we could have spent you know, six months tinkering in our lab and built APIs and done all of this, but we already had a relationship with EasyPost. My relationship with EasyPost goes back since the founding of the company.
But from a Maersk perspective, we already were working with, with you. And one of the things that we decided pretty early on was that we would build this entire product inside of EasyPost. So it allows not only EasyPost customers, but as importantly, EasyPost partners to be able to access us very easily.
It's basically turning on a switch. There is no integration, there is no waiting for you know, contracts to be signed. There is just just be able to, in a few steps, be able to start to consume the, the Maersk Parcel value offering very quickly. And that has, I think, it turned out to be fairly prophetic.
I think that it's one of the things that we looked at and said, yeah, this would be nice to have, but once we did it, it became something like, oh, this makes a lot of sense. And it allows us, Maersk and EasyPost to go, you know, to go to market in many ways, to go to market together, shoulder to shoulder, but it also allows for access to this new product from from EasyPost customers very, very easily.
Lori Boyer 37:20
Yeah, absolutely. As an EasyPost customer, I know a lot of our community, our EasyPost customers already, you know, we have over a hundred carriers that we work with, tons of carriers. Maersk Parcel is just really top tier and I, I can't emphasize that enough. They're easily found within our systems, and you can, it's just sort of a plug and play.
Just get in. Try them out. Use them for a portion of, you know, zones one through five, what you've got going there. All those characteristics John laid out for us earlier. So, absolutely, and again, if you are a small mom and pop, if you're not an EasyPost customer, it is totally free to sign up. You can jump in and, and access.
We've done all of that legwork to create those APIs for you so you don't have to have a thousand different APIs. John, anything else you wanted to say there?
John Kruzan 38:07
Very easy to see as we start to grow out our network and grow out our footprint. You can check with Maersk. You can check with EasyPost, you can check with our package hub partners and if we are not quite there in the place that you are, we will be very soon.
Lori Boyer 38:26
Very soon. So keep your eye out. I want John for you to come back in about six months. Let's check in, see how we've expanded, see what we're learning. Do you commit to coming back?
John Kruzan 38:36
Yes.
Lori Boyer 38:37
Awesome. I love it.
John Kruzan 38:38
Wouldn't miss it for the world.
Lori Boyer 38:39
Great. John, if anyone has any questions for you or wants to follow you or anything, how should they do that?
John Kruzan 38:44
You know, they can go through you know, my email address, which will provide.
Lori Boyer 38:51
Happy to share.
John Kruzan 38:52
And, and they also, obviously go through EasyPost as well. And you know, we are, we are, easyPost and Maersk talk every day. So I'm sure that if you need to get a hold of us or want to know, get more information, there's a number of ways that you know, that a company can do that.
Lori Boyer 39:12
Yeah, well, we are just really excited over here on the EasyPost side for this really amazing new offering from Maersk Parcel. So give it a chance, take a look at it and see how it works for you. But John, thanks again for being here and.
John Kruzan 39:26
Thank you. This has been, this has been a blast.
Lori Boyer 39:28
So fun. So fun and everybody, we will see you next time.