​UPS has once again reinstated its money-back guarantee after suspending the program at the beginning of the pandemic due to unexpected market changes. As a greater number of Americans began working remotely and staying home to reduce the spread of COVID-19, e-commerce has seen a major surge. Compared to the 13 billion parcels shipped in the U.S. in 2018, there were up to 14.7 billion parcels shipped in 2020. Amazon packages alone made up 1.9 billion of those parcels.

It's no secret that your company needs to be strategic when it comes to parcel shipping. After all, the U.S. is the biggest market in terms of parcel spending. Choosing the right carriers is essential to making sure you're not overpaying for parcel shipping costs.

However, your bottom line isn't the only thing you need to worry about when it comes to carriers. You also need to be concerned with brand reputation. Customers who receive late packages or don't receive their packages at all won't be shopping with your business again. That angry customers will be sure to leave a trail of bad reviews so other customers know not to shop with your business, either.

According to NBC26, FedEx and UPS ship more than 34 million packages every day. All these items attract charges that range from a few bucks to hundreds of dollars. If you have a big shipment coming in through the usual carriers, here are must-know tips you can use to lower the applicable charges.

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.

With UPS and FedEx announcing a General Rate Increase (GRI) for 2021, it may be time for your business to consider entering into a new parcel contract negotiation to determine the best possible shipping rates. Unfortunately, your parcel shipping contract may not be as cost-effective as it could be: it is estimated that over $2 billion in credits and refunds go unclaimed every year by businesses in the United States.

In 2018, approximately 13 billion parcels were shipped in the United States. With shipping rates set to increase in 2021, the cost of shipping these millions of parcels is set to go up significantly for you and your business.

The FedEx and UPS General Rate Increase (GRI), may have a significant impact on the shipping industry moving forward. This is why it is important to consider employing a third party pricing expert to determine the best available shipping rates for your business. Below are the best reasons to use a third party with inside pricing knowledge to assess your pricing needs—and find you the most cost-effective solutions.

Rates in the $320-to-$360 billion truckload market will continue their sharp rise this year because of surging demand in some sectors to replace depleted inventory as well as sharply rising costs for carriers.
Read the original post on Logisticsmgmt.com

By John D. Schulz · February 15, 2021Rates in the $320-to-$360 billion truckload market will continue their sharp rise this year because of surging demand in some sectors to replace depleted inventory as well as sharply rising costs for carriers.
That’s what leading TL executives and analysts are telling LM as they assess the freight market’s largest sector this year. ​

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.

An erratic peak season gives way to the proliferation of same-day logistics startups and an emerging new hierarchy among shippers.