UPS Increases Price for Shipping to Small Towns

Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin may believe that the best of America is in small towns but UPS is going to charge more to ship a package there in 2009. UPS provided details on their January price increase and a new charge will apply to residential destinations deemed “extended”. The wonderful little pockets of the real America include 19,251 zip codes. It will cost an additional $2.65 to ship to one of these small towns compared to the big cities!

If you are familiar with the term, Delivery Area Surcharge, or DAS, than you know that the parcel carriers already charge more for some zip codes. The new pricing now has two charges–$2.40 more to residences in the rural areas and $2.65 for the super rural areas.

According to my friend, Doug Caldwell, EVP of ParcelPool.com, “More than 75 million people now live in a ZIP Code subject to at least one of these “rural” area charges—over 25% of the US population. And nearly 50 million of those people are now subject to the new, 25-cent “Extended” charge.

While most of these ZIP Codes are in truly rural areas, others are decidedly not. (Take ultra-chic Malibu California 90265, home to Tom Hanks, Barbara Streisand, Dustin Hoffman and scores of other stars—yes, it’s now on the “rural” list. And how about Washington DC 20041—this “rural” ZIP Code is actually in the area of Ronald Reagan airport in downtown DC—one of the most densely populated urban areas in the country!)”

If you use a computerized shipping system to process your packages, make sure that you will have these new charges

UPS Rate Increase May Be Higher Than You Think!

On October 17, UPS announced a price increase of 5.9% for Ground packages to take effect on January 5, 2009. Last Friday, they provided the details. FedEx will probably match this increase as it has in the past. Rumors are that DHL may not even offer a ground service next year, which is probably why this is one of the highest increases in history.

Upon examination, the price increase for most shippers is significantly more.

Let’s look at an example: the new base rate* (without the fuel surcharge) for a one-pound package shipped to a business in zone 2 is $4.57 compared to $4.20 today. That is an increase of 8.8% which is 50% higher than the announced 5.9%.

If that package is going to a residence, the base rate goes from $6.15 to $6.62. If you add the current fuel surcharge of 8.25%, you will pay $7.17 to ship that package next year.

What are you going to do about it? Please comment and provide your strategies and I will share them in this blog.

*Based on the UPS Daily Rates, which are 30% lower than the Retail Rates. Shippers qualify for the lower Daily rates by having a UPS account number and paying a weekly service charge of $9-$18

Warning: Don’t Make This Mistake When Shipping Internationally or You Could Go to Jail!

If you ship packages internationally, you need to know about the new regulations that went into effect on of October 1, 2008.

The US Census Bureau now makes it mandatory to electronically file your export information.

Paper submissions will be a violation.

Is your shipping system compliant?

Many shipping systems will let you ship a package internationally without warning you about the new rules; you could unknowingly violate the regulations.

If you have not received an upgrade recently, check with your shipping system vendor now. Make sure your system is helping you avoid making a serious mistake.

The new law carries tougher penalties for non-compliance.

Penalties, both civil and criminal, may be imposed per violations from $1,100 to $10,000 for delayed filing, failure to file, or false filing of export information.

Go Green by Shipping Online

 

The US Post Office has a calculator on their website that figures out how much you can reduce your carbon footprint by shipping online. It is pretty cool. I figured out that if I drove two miles to the Post Office five times a month that I would save the planet from 230.7 pounds of CO2 and save $41.35 in fuel.

In addition, shippers that ship online save an average of 3.5% on Priority Mail and get free Delivery Confirmation! So, if I shipped just one Priority Mail envelope for each of those trips, I would save 15% on postage($.65 on Delivery Confirmation and $.05 on a one-pound envelope)

 

So, save yourself some money and help the planet by shipping online.