A Look at the FedEx and UPS Rate Increases
By Brandon Staton www.parcelindustry.com
Benjamin Franklin once said: “The only things certain in life are death and taxes.”
It’s safe to say that Ben didn’t ship small parcels. If he did, surely he would have added FedEx and UPS annual rate increases to his short list of life’s inevitable occurrences.
As is customary, both major parcel carriers will increase the price for their services as we enter a new calendar year.
How much those prices will rise, however, is far less certain, and heavily dependent upon a parcel shipper’s unique package characteristics.
Each carrier announced an average increase of 4.9 percent on ground services, derived from a 5.9 percent base increase, minus a one-percentage-point reduction in fuel surcharge. UPS air services…