Freight pricing specialists AFMS, CEO Mike Erickson, gives an inside track on best practices to negotiate best-in-class shipping rates with major carriers in North America and beyond.
For a copy of the full video, please email info@afms.com or call 800-246-3521.
For more detailed information, see articles below: FedEx is raising its shipping rates - CNN Business FedEx Earnings Miss, Guidance Cut Amid Labor, Supply Chain Woes - Investor's Business Daily FedEx, UPS rate rises are making online shopping more expensive - FOX Business  FedEx remains inundated with elevated parcel volume stemming from continued online shopping resulting in longer delivery times, service blunders and upset customers. According to ShipMatrix, from March through mid-April, about 87% of FedEx Ground shipments arrived on time, compared with 95% for the similar service at UPS.
 FedEx has kept commerce moving and delivered critical shipments throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.
The impact of the virus continues to generate elevated volumes, high demand for capacity and increased operating costs across our network. We wanted to let you know that effective June 21, 2021 until further notice, the per-package charge for the Peak-Additional Handling Surcharge will increase. Surcharge details can be found here. This surcharge increase will allow us to continue providing our customers with the best possible service during this challenging time.  The global parcel shipping industry is experiencing a transformation as e-commerce and online services rush to adapt to changing consumer needs and behavior. In the last decade, the global parcel volume has more than tripled. In 2019, the parcel volume reached 103 billion parcels, up from 87 billion units delivered in 2018.
FedEx rings in New Year by adding Resi-Surcharges, DAS realigned UPS makes good on extending Peak Surcharges FedEx, announced additional changes to their 2021 lineup of surcharges on January 15th. The changes will apply to larger volume, or “Enterprise” type shippers, and E-commerce on February 15, 2021. While the latest set of carrier charges should not be an epiphany to anyone within the shipping community, they can pose significant challenges for some customers. Especially, after what shippers had to endure in 2020. Clearly, all carriers have established a pattern. Many deploying a strategy that is designed to assist in “hedging” for the rising costs of an expanding E-Commerce marketplace, stem the tide of continued constraints on network capacity, as well as protect shrinking profit margins. FedEx, UPS, and the USPS have all made a concerted effort to charge more for the same packages. Levying a series of charges and fees that started back in the Spring of 2020 applied to shipments travelling through their ecosystems. Good news is that AFMS has been working behind the scenes to assess the impact of all these increases to companies like yours. Don’t’ simply accept these charges without understanding their impact and if you can have these charges reduced or even waived. Given the fact that nobody really knows which of these line items may become “permanent” and that many of these fees are negotiable, a wrong decision could have costly long-term effects. Federal Express Any FedEx shipper who averages 30,000 packages per week starting January 4th, 2021 will be expected to pay an additional $.30 per/pkg. that will be applied to both Express and Ground Residential packages beginning February 15th, 2021. FedEx SmartPost and One Rate Services are exempt. When one considers the previously announced 2021 Express/Ground Residential GRI and adds it to this latest surcharge, shippers could be looking at impacts ranging from 12.51% (Express Delivery Residential Surcharge) to 15.64% (Home Delivery Residential Delivery Charge) when compared to 2020. While we mentioned the reshuffling of both carrier’s DAS zips (back in December), FedEx has re-arranged their DAS lineup. Making up for lost time by adding and shifting zip codes to gain parity with UPS. While from a pure numbers perspective this may be true, there are “unique” zip codes that add to the dynamics of these changes. Making it increasingly important to understand the differences between these two carriers. (see table below).  United Parcel Service
Although UPS announced late last year, that they would be re-instating Pre-Peak surcharges, many Peak surcharges were set to either expire (most on January 16th, 2021) or go “until further notice”. UPS has effectively given notice and extended several pertaining to certain Ground Residential, SurePost, Additional Handling and Large Packages. Effectively re-setting the clock… Peak Surcharge – Applied to UPS® Ground Residential and UPS SurePost® Packages A Peak Surcharge will apply to certain UPS Ground Residential and UPS SurePost packages, for all U.S. domestic shipments, for qualifying customers who have shipped more than 25,000 packages during any week following February 2020. The Peak Surcharge will apply in the amounts set forth below to the indicated service levels during the specified Peak Period. Service Levels Peak Period: January 17, 2021 until further notice UPS Ground Residential $0.30 per package UPS SurePost $0.30 per package Peak Surcharge – Applied to Additional Handling and Large Packages A Peak Surcharge will apply to packages that require Additional Handling and Large Packages, for all U.S. domestic, U.S. import, and U.S. export shipments, for qualifying customers who have shipped more than 1,000 total packages, or more than 10 packages that require Additional Handling or Large Packages, during any week following February 2020. The Peak Surcharges will apply in the amounts set forth below during the specified Peak Period. Other Charges Peak Period: January 17, 2021 until further notice Additional Handling $3.00 per package Large Package $31.45 per package AFMS will continue to monitor and provide updates to our customers as changes become available. Contact AFMS for a detailed analysis of how these changes can affect your organization at 800-246-3521 or visit us at www.afms.com.  Read this article on the site it originally appeared.
On a sequential week-over-week basis, it would appear that FedEx Corp. (NYSE:FDX) and UPS Inc. (NYSE:UPS) are holding their own in delivering holiday packages on time. Year-over-year, as might be expected, is a different story.  2020 has brought so many surprises, but late holiday presents don't need to be one of them! Follow these guides from the largest shipping carriers to make sure your loved ones get their gifts on time.
 Did you know that more than $2 billion, in the form of refunds and credits, are unclaimed every year by U.S. businesses? This means that it is especially important to be aware of parcel shipping costs and how your carrier could be impacting expenses. From UPS refunds to avoiding GSR waivers, you should always make sure to stay up-to-date on ways to save. Keep reading to see some of the top ways to negotiate shipping rates with FedEx and UPS in 2021.
 Did you know that every single second, approximately 2,760 packages are shipped? With ever-increasing parcel shipping, it has never been more important to stay up-to-date with parcel pricing and have reliable and easy-to-use parcel contract optimization. Recently, FedEx announced that service levels will soon increase, beginning in early January of 2021. Keep reading to find out about all of the changes underway.
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