First mile

The first mile is the opening leg of a shipment, moving goods from the shipper’s premises to a consolidation point, depot, or port of loading. In container trade it is the pre-carriage that feeds the main ocean leg; in parcel and e-commerce networks it is the pickup from the seller or the warehouse into the carrier’s sortation hub. First-mile performance sets the baseline for the whole chain: a late or mis-scanned pickup propagates downstream, and accurate first-mile data feeds track-and-trace and customs pre-lodgement. It is the mirror of the last mile, which delivers to the final consignee.