OneRail launches Nvidia-powered AI platform to speed up retail delivery decisions

The platform, called OmniStar, allows retailers to use AI to evaluate all of their delivery options and identify the best one for each individual order, using OneRail's proprietary data. The last-mile delivery company told CNBC that the platform will enable smaller companies to deliver at scale and improve margins to compete with retail giants such as Amazon and Walmart.

As e-commerce grows, retailers have had to keep up with surging demand and invest in flexible supply chains to optimize efficiency, but manual processes are often fragmented across retailers and logistics businesses. OneRail CEO Bill Catania said, "If you don't have the ability to make lightning-fast decisions, you're giving up margin. Last-mile fulfillment is expensive." Where choosing the best routing for a package might previously have taken 20 minutes, OneRail said its platform can do it in two and a half minutes using AI. Catania added that the saved time means retailers can operate larger, faster and more precise supply chains.

David Daeschler, OneRail's head of AI, said the company began partnering with Nvidia three years ago to explore ways to incorporate AI into the logistics process. "That's where the artificial intelligence comes in. It's making those kinds of decisions extremely rapidly, and so to do that, that's where the Nvidia hardware and the software comes in and really makes this thing work at scale," Daeschler said. Azita Martin, Nvidia's vice president and general manager for retail and consumer packaged goods, said the result is a real-time decision layer that can route an order to the right carrier and delivery mode at the right cost, rather than relying on static rules or manual planning.

OneRail's proprietary data includes a network of more than 12 million drivers and over 1,000 logistics partners. Catania said this data is used to train the AI on the most efficient routes and delivery options. Daeschler noted that the system benefits both OneRail and its clients: "We operate more efficiently. They save money and provide a better customer experience."

The platform has already been deployed with some customers. OneRail told CNBC that a large tire distributor using OmniStar saved a run rate of $40 million over three years by using its resources more efficiently. The company also estimates the platform will surpass $6 billion in gross merchandise volume in the fourth quarter.

Martin said the platform allows retailers to evaluate more scenarios, respond more quickly as conditions change and improve delivery economics without sacrificing service. OneRail announced a partnership with FedEx earlier this year to bring same-day delivery services to all its customers. Catania said that partnership will now allow OneRail to work better with smaller businesses as well.

Daeschler compared the platform to recent advances in AI. "We're kind of doing for delivery what ChatGPT and Anthropic have done for words – it all works the same way," he said. "They give people more access to knowledge. We're giving people access to being able to do delivery in a way that's affordable. … That's all done based on original models, training on data that we have, just like words on the internet."