FedEx has announced its general rate increases for 2019, bumping up its ground, express and home delivery services by an average of 4.9% as of Jan. 7, while also adding some holiday season surcharges and increasing others next year. Rival UPS has yet to announce its 2019 rates.
UPS has been telling customers to be prepared in case the Teamsters union votes down a tentative five-year contract with its UPS Freight less-than-truckload (LTL) division later this month, giving them a cutoff calendar for freight shipments starting today.
UPS has put in place tools and processes to handle an expected peak season volume of 800,000 packages between Thanksgiving and Christmas, up from 750,000 last year, announcing price increases in the form of over-max and special handling charges to offset the investments.
Understanding the fuel surcharges from the major carriers can be a tricky proposition. While FedEx has yet to make a grand announcement, both carriers reserve the right to regularly review their fuel pricing. How much are your fuel charges increasing? Learn how the new rates from FedEx stack up vs. main rival UPS.
The USPS is proposing a number of rate changes that would be effective on Jan. 27 including an average 9.3% increase in its Parcel Select service for packages weighing more than 1 lb., as it looks to recover rising costs and deals with stiff competition from major carriers.
While the majority of UPS workers represented by the Teamsters union voted against a new contract, negotiations will continue as turnout was low and the no votes didn’t meet the threshold for killing the deal.
If you’re looking to revamp your warehouse processes to drive faster fulfillment, don’t forget that an efficient returns process is just as important in driving a better customer experience. Let’s take a look at how you can master reverse logistics and make the process count toward your bottom line this peak season and beyond.
Parcel shipping volume grew 17% in 2017 across 13 major geographies tracked by Pitney Bowes, from 64 billion to 74 billion items shipped, with China the largest shipper at 40 billion items, followed by the U.S. (12 billion) and Japan (10 billion). See what other key data was pulled out of the annual survey.
UPS has filed a U.S. patent application for a technology that would use blockchain and its shared distributed ledgers to more efficiently track and manage packages shipped within its network as well as those handed off to other carriers worldwide.
Because of all the changes with UPS and FedEx and the complexity in today’s carrier contracts, you need to do your due diligence in terms of shipping volumes, the value of your freight to the carriers and contract terms. These steps will help you better manage the negotiation and contract process to get the best terms possible.