I’m Jay Kent, managing director of SLB Performance, a consulting firm that helps companies reduce supply chain costs, implement BI tools, and improve in-stock and customer service. After 25 years of leading some of the most complex supply chains in the industry, I began advising companies in multiple industries and verticals. To mitigate costs and improve efficiencies, it’s important to understand the market. So, twice a month, I’ll share parcel news and thoughts. Be sure to hit the subscribe button to receive the latest newsletter in your LinkedIn notifications.
FedEx and UPS 2024 rates and surcharges are now out, and as Mark Solomon of Freightwaves wrote last week, they look similar. However, the devil is in the details, so shippers trying to decide should pay attention to the details that will likely impact their shipping costs and service levels.
Once more, both carriers provided a long list of zip codes that will impact Delivery Area Surcharges. Be careful, though…as Max Garland of Supply Chain Dive wrote last week, UPS shipments in certain ZIP codes are spending an additional day in transit as part of an efficiency move on behalf of the company. However, critical healthcare deliveries through UPS Premier are not affected.
Saturday deliveries are important for each carrier, but UPS’ Saturday surcharges were a bit of a 🤔:
- Saturday on-call stop charge will increase from $3.20 to $6.00
- Saturday scheduled stop charge will increase from $9.00 to $12.00
- Saturday smart stop charge will increase from $6.00 to $8.00
Also, additional handling changes from both FedEx and UPS impacting international shipments:
- Effective Jan 15, FedEx will assess additional handling surcharges and oversize charges per eligible package for international multi-piece shipments instead of per shipment.
- Effective Dec 26, UPS will assess additional handling fees to international shipments weighing 55 pounds or more.
Curious to learn more? Send me a LinkedIn message, I’m always happy to chat.
In other news…
- Blue Yonder acquired Doddle– The deal expands Blue Yonder’s services with “full-circle expertise encompassing final mile, returns management and reverse logistics solutions.”
- Bringg launched the Route Optimization and AutoDispatch (ROAD) module, designed to manage internal fleets and automate the last-mile delivery journey for drivers, dispatchers, and customers.
- Project44’s report found that 85.1% of last-mile deliveries met their service commitments in August. That compares to 78.3% in the first quarter of 2023 and 83.8% in August 2022. The report also found that shippers are using more carrier partners to manage last-mile deliveries. In October 2020, the typical shipper used 4.2 carriers in last-mile delivery. By August 2023, that number had climbed to 6.1 carriers on average.
- Amazon now has 10,000 electric delivery vans from Rivian — with a range of up to 150 miles — on roads in the U.S. covering 1,800 cities. The fleet, launched last summer, is now double the size that it was in July. That’s it for now. Comments are always welcome. Let me know what I missed. Stay tuned for the next newsletter on Oct 18, and don’t forget to hit the subscribe button to ensure you receive it in your LinkedIn notices.– Jay