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. It’s important to understand the market to mitigate costs and improve efficiencies. 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.
- It’s been a busy two weeks – FedEx announced 2024 peak season surcharges. The increases start Sept. 30 for packages that are oversized, unauthorized or require additional handling. Then, on Oct. 28, demand surcharges take effect for shipments across various FedEx delivery services. The peak season fees end Jan. 19, 2025.
“So from a peak season perspective, we had a really phenomenal peak last year. That’s going to be hard to top… From a collaboration and insight, we are actually getting further integrated with our largest retailers, so we have even better information than we have ever had,” FedEx Chief Customer Officer Brie Carere told analysts in June.
FedEx had a “really phenomenal peak” last year because of higher rates and surcharges. 🤷♂️
- Meanwhile, UPS has introduced some more surcharge changes. Effective August 19, Address Correction, Additional Handling, DAS, Demand, Confirmation and more will have a fuel surcharge application. In addition, a surge fee will go into effect September 15 for all shipments originating from APAC countries such as China, Australia, Hong Kong, Singapore and Vietnam (See chart for additional origins)with destinations in the US. The surge fee is subject to the fuel surcharge and additional surcharges and the surge fee will apply based on the billable weight of the shipment.
This surge fee is likely due to tight market capacity and especially anticipated high demand for cross-border ecommerce, likely from UPS’ customer Temu and possibly Shein, as we head into peak season. Let’s be honest, the fee is also probably a way to help recoup some of the profit UPS has lost by adding Temu and possibly Shein as customers.
For more on the surge fee, check out Max Garland‘s story: UPS plans surge fee for all China-to-US imports
In other news….
Congratulations to ShipBob and Veho!
- ShipBob announced that three of its fulfillment centers near Toronto, Canada and one in Tijuana, Mexico are now fulfilling Section 321-compliant orders bound for consumers in the U.S.
- Veho announced it is expandingits last-mile delivery services to Columbus, Ohio and Detroit, Michigan.
Goodbye to Pitney Bowes’ Global Ecommerce Group
- To understand what happened, check out Supply Chain Dive’s article – Charting Pitney Bowes Global Ecommerce’s path to bankruptcy The ecommerce market is a difficult one to profit in. An interesting bit from SCD’s article – The company ultimately didn’t receive any binding bids for the GEC unit at a price it found acceptable. Pitney Bowes did manage to make some GEC-related sales beforehand, however. It sold the fulfillment portion of its business to Stord in July for $1.25 million. GEC also sold $500,000 worth of robotics equipment and chargers to healthcare company Medline the same month.
FedEx Office welcomes Inmar Post-Purchase Solutions
- Inmar Post-Purchase Solutions, a joint venture between Inmar and Doddle, Inc., a part of Blue Yonder, announced the addition of nearly 2,000 return drop-offs at FedEx Office locations. Ryan Kelly, vice president of commercialization at FedEx, said, “We are excited to team with Inmar to bring more convenience to the returns experience for their customers. We provide an exceptional label-less, package-less experience at FedEx Office and we are always looking for ways to help merchants solve their most pressing post-purchase challenges.”
At one time, FedEx Office had a similar agreement with Happy Returns but as we all know, UPS acquired Happy Return last year.
Best Buy develops delivery tracking system
To please customers, Best Buy is rolling out an artificial intelligence (AI)-powered delivery tracking system that promises minute-by-minute updates. The company aims to satisfy customers who are increasingly frustrated with vague delivery windows and limited order visibility.
With that, that’s it for now. Comments are always welcome. Reach out if you’d like to learn how to lower or even possibly eliminate any parcel fees. Stay tuned for the next newsletter on Sept 4. Don’t forget to hit the subscribe button to ensure you receive it in your LinkedIn notices. In addition, if you like what you’re reading, sign up to receive additional insights and analysis via emails twice a month – DM me for more info.
-Jay