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.

Happy 2025! LinkedIn was abuzz at the start of the new year about UPS’ SurePost. Without any notice it was rejecting packages with a P.O. Box or an APO/FPO Box and SurePost packages to Alaska, Hawaii or Puerto Rico deliveries.

It seems UPS’ negotiations with the USPS did not go well.

In an Industry Alert poston Jan 7, the USPS noted, “As a result of our new approach, some businesses negotiated new agreements with us, and some have not. We concluded our negotiations in December 2024. Our Parcel Select product still exists and any business can use it now at our published rates.”

Stay tune for any response from UPS. Keep in mind that it significantly raised its SurePost (effective Jan 13) and Mail Innovations rates for this year. Shippers may want to consider other solutions such as USPS’ Ground AdvantageFedEx’s Ground Economyor a number of other solutions from other providers.

Meanwhile….

  • UPS has been building a health-care empire to offset stagnating revenue in its core package-delivery business according to a Bloomberg story. UPS has said the operating margin for its health-care business is in the high-teens, compared with 10% for the overall business in 2023.
  • FedEx, UPS and the U.S. Postal Service are warning customers of potential delivery delaysacross the central and eastern U.S. due to Winter Storm Blair.
  • FedEx aims to create “a seamless transition” for customers as it gears up to spin off its less-than-truckload unit FedEx Freight, President and CEO Raj Subramaniam said on an earnings call Dec. 19. The spinoff is expected to happen within the next 18 months with FedEx Freight retaining its current name, according to an announcement of the plan. It will also continue to cooperate with FedEx via commercial, operational and technology agreements.
  • Now that UPS has taken over the USPS’ US air mail business from FedEx, FedEx plans to focusmore on the global air freight market.
  • pilot program to test USPS’Regional Transportation Optimization plan, which requires mail to sit overnight at post offices instead of being collected each evening for transportation to a processing center, caused mail to be delivered more slowly without any associated cost savings according to a report from the USPS Inspector General.
  • The USPS will raise the pricesof most shipping services starting Jan. 19, 2025. In addition, people who live in rural areas or further away from a USPS regional hub may have to wait longer to receive their mail, reportedly due to changes in some processes.

More on what to expect from USPS this year.

That’s it for now. For more, be sure to sign up for our twice a week email newsletter. 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 January 22. 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