UPS has announced its annual general rate increase for 2017, an average of 4.9% that goes into effect on Dec. 26. Other changes will be announced Nov. 18. See what else has changed in UPS rates and what this means in terms of its competition with FedEx.
As increased shipping costs for bulky items mount, does this spell the end of the line for ordering big-ticket items online? Certainly not, and here are some options that shippers can consider to address the issue.
Following on the heels of FedEx’s move earlier this year, UPS plans to update its fee structure for larger parcels, decreasing the size of items that incur an extra $10.50 handling charge. Under the new rule, packages with a long side of 48″ or more will be subject to the charge as of June 6. The previous threshold was 60″.
Continuing its relentless push into logistics to shore up carrier network capacity issues, Amazon has struck a deal with major air transport firm Atlas Air of Purchase, NY, leasing 20 of its Boeing 767-300 jets and taking up to a 30% stake in the company. Atlas is also a supplier of transport planes to UPS.
A final hurdle to FedEx’s proposed $4.8 billion acquisition of Dutch carrier TNT Express NV has been cleared via an unconditional approval from the Chinese Ministry of Commerce. The deal has already been blessed by authorities in the EU and Brazil, after an initial challenge last fall by the former. The deal will bring FedEx close to parity with UPS in Europe, or possibly launch it into second place behind EU market leader DHL.
FedEx Trade Networks, the international freight forwarding arm of FedEx Corp., has announced the re-launch of Bongo International as FedEx CrossBorder. The announcement highlights the FedEx investment in expanding its international ecommerce offerings.
FedEx told analysts on a third quarter call that Amazon was simply addressing capacity issues with its own assets a la other major retailers, so they weren’t worried about the business. For the quarter, FedEx’s net income fell 19% to $507 million, while Ground revenue was up 30% to $4.41 billion. However higher costs due in part to network expansion and peak season demand caused the segment’s operating income to drop from $559 million to $557 million.
Surprising no one, Amazon ended months of speculation by announcing it was leasing 20 Boeing 767 cargo jets from Air Transport Services Group Inc., while at the same time taking a 20% stake in the Wilmington, OH-based company. See what others are saying about this move.
In a move aimed at better understanding the inner workings of the same-day delivery model, UPS has purchased a stake in crowdsourced delivery startup Deliv. Just how UPS will leverage this relationship and what it learns remains to be seen, but it surely has its eye on the burgeoning same-day delivery space, including competitor FedEx’s service for Neiman Marcus and others.
Three years after having its acquisition of TNT snagged on EU regulatory concerns, UPS has filed an appeal of the FedEx-TNT deal. Will this latest move hang up the $4.8 billion deal for its main rival, announced last April? Stay tuned for the next installment.