With the new year underway, you may be feeling the burden of the latest round of carrier rate and surcharge increases hitting parcel costs. In order to understand and mitigate their business impact, you need to arm yourself with information. How can you measure the net impact of these changes? It all starts with good, accurate data.
While the USPS gets tossed around like a political football and threatens insolvency without more federal aid, the agency continues to report poor results as already lower mail rates have fallen through the floor due to coronavirus. Meantime, Trump ally, donor and fundraiser Louis DeJoy will be the new Postmaster General.
Stamps.com, which had been struggling since ending its long-term partnership with the U.S. Parcel Service in February, has been buoyed by a new deal with UPS. As part of the deal, Stamps.com’s 740,000 shipper customers can get discounts up to 55% off standard UPS rates and relief from surcharges.
The U.S. Postal Service is calling for rate increases of up to 6.3% for its parcel shipping products in 2020, which are being reviewed by the Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC). The USPS is hoping increased rates will partially offset volume declines as UPS, FedEx and Amazon are all diverting volume to their own networks to save costs.
The Postal Regulatory Commission has approved a range of postal rates for smaller packages originating from overseas to the United States, part of an effort to level the playing field for U.S. merchants and manufacturers disadvantaged by international postage rules.
As he reviews the report from his U.S. Postal Service task force and weighs next steps including possible privatization, President Donald Trump has now set his sights abroad in pursuit of more equitable international postage rates from the Universal Postal Union or UPU, according to media reports.
ShipRush offers a midmarket web tool that gives merchants a real-time view of parcel rates across multiple carriers, including UPS, FedEx and the USPS. See what it features and what competitors offer.
The USPS is requesting a Priority Mail rate increase of 3.9% and 3.3% for Priority Mail Retail. This compares to increases of 4.9% for both UPS and FedEx. See what prices are being proposed across all of its parcel products.
FedEx announced a 4.9% increase in FedEx Ground, FedEx Express and FedEx Freight, effective January 5, doing so for the first time ahead of rival UPS.
The presentation, which is entitled Get It Delivered For Less: World-Class Strategies for Sourcing Global Parcel Transportation Rates & Contracts, provides advanced procurement strategies for shippers looking to reduce global parcel costs through contract negotiations.