Just ahead of the holidays, the U.S. Postal Service is testing a new program that offers major retailers Sunday delivery for orders placed on Saturday, a service mostly involving Amazon shipments until now.
With an estimated $3 billion left on the table each year in unclaimed refunds from major carriers for errors such as late or wrong deliveries, a software company has figured out how to automate the claims process and win some of that money back for its shipper clients.
Effective Dec. 24 (yes, you read that correctly), rates for UPS Ground, UPS Air and International services as well as UPS Air Freight rates within and between the U.S., Canada and Puerto Rico will increase an average of 4.9%. Here’s an analysis of UPS’s changes and the impact they will have on parcel shippers.
FedEx announced it has acquired inventory management provider Northwest Research, adding technology to help with its ecommerce fulfillment capabilities. The companies said Northwest will provide “new approaches to inventory management issues, including specialized research to maximize successful outcomes for challenging shipments.”
Jeff Bezos and the innovation teams at Amazon seem to have cornered the market on far-out ideas that push the envelope for ecommerce distribution, from delivery drones to blimp warehouses to even an undersea DC. That is, until Elon Musk and his hardy band of rocketeers at SpaceX came along and shot the moon – or Mars.
Ahead of the holiday season, FedEx has expanded same-day delivery service to 1,800 cities in 30 regional markets through its FedEx Office division. The deliveries are made by uniformed FedEx drivers in branded vehicles, and the service includes a mobile app to track delivery status including alerts on estimated arrival time.
Once again raising the specter of cutting out more business to UPS and FedEx, Amazon is reportedly testing a program that involves making local deliveries from the warehouses of retailers selling on its marketplace. See what the move entails, and what else Amazon has been doing to beef up its logistics and delivery capabilities.
FedEx Corp. announced it will increase shipping rates on FedEx Express, FedEx Ground and FedEx Freight by an average of 4.9%, effective Jan. 1. See how the numbers break down and how they will impact various FedEx products.
Both FedEx and UPS have announced new, temporary peak holiday season surcharges that will impact shipping costs for ecommerce businesses this holiday season. This detailed layout of charges from the major carriers will help you make wise business decisions as you lay out your strategy for handling the surge in seasonal shipments.
FedEx Corp. announced that the company will add residential holiday season surcharges for packages that require additional handling, are oversized or unauthorized. Here is what the company is saying and what the announcement will mean for both retailers and customers.