Skip to content
Search AI Powered
Human content, AI powered search.

Latest Stories

newsworthy

UPS' SurePost customers to get hit with holiday surcharge

Users to face 36-cent-per-package levy for part of peak season.

Mark Solomon
By Mark SolomonJun 22, 2017
Mark Solomon
Mark Solomon joined DC VELOCITY as senior editor in August 2008, and was promoted to his current position on January 1, 2015. He has spent more than 30 years in the transportation, logistics and supply chain management fields as a journalist and public relations professional. From 1989 to 1994, he worked in Washington as a reporter for the Journal of Commerce, covering the aviation and trucking industries, the Department of Transportation, Congress and the U.S. Supreme Court. Prior to that, he worked for Traffic World for seven years in a similar role. From 1994 to 2008, Mr. Solomon ran Media-Based Solutions, a public relations firm based in Atlanta. He graduated in 1978 with a B.A. in journalism from The American University in Washington, D.C.
See Full Bio

Users of UPS Inc.'s popular "SurePost" product, which it operates in conjunction with the U.S. Postal Service, will face a new 36-cent charge for each residential package delivered during part of the upcoming peak holiday shipping season

Under SurePost, UPS inducts packages deep into the postal system, which serves every U.S. address, for last-mile deliveries to residences. Atlanta-based UPS benefits from the USPS service by avoiding the time and expense of sending drivers and equipment to countless residential addresses. SurePost is priced cheaply for UPS' customers, which in this case are mostly merchant shippers. The low prices reflect the incremental costs passed on by USPS, which accepts UPS packages only after they've been moved most of the way to their destination, and whose letter carriers must serve all addresses anyway.

Earlier this week, UPS announced that, for the first time, it would impose surcharges on deliveries of peak-season holiday traffic. However, no surcharges will be levied during the two-week holiday midpoint from Dec. 3 to Dec. 16. Surcharges on air and "3-Day Select" services will apply only during the last week of Christmas. Surcharges on UPS ground deliveries will be imposed from Nov. 19 to Dec. 2, and during the week before the Christmas holiday.

UPS has mulled the imposition of peak-season surcharges for some time to offset escalating costs that only occur during the holiday period. The company moved a record 712 million packages last peak season.

UPS' chief rival, Memphis-based FedEx Corp., has not announced whether it will follow UPS' lead on peak surcharges, although it is weighing its pricing options. The companies tend to act in tandem on initiatives of this type, with one typically following the other. FedEx has a similar venture with USPS called "SmartPost."

UPS does not break out SurePost volumes for any period. For financial reporting purposes, SurePost traffic is included in UPS' domestic package segment, which is the largest of the company's three operating units. SurePost volumes are believed to be growing at a double-digit pace year over year. However, it is a relatively low revenue producer for the company.

Jerry Hempstead, a former top U.S. parcel executive and now a consultant, said the SurePost surcharge would be "huge" for UPS if it sticks throughout the holiday period. The company has done an effective job over the years in motivating shippers to migrate their residential deliveries from traditional "UPS Ground" to SurePost, Hempstead said in an e-mail.

ArticleTruckingTransportation
usps - united states postal servicehempstead consultingfedexups
ArticleTruckingTransportation
usps - united states postal servicehempstead consultingfedexups

The Latest

photo of truck on highway
Regulation/Government

Trucking groups cheer California move to abandon zero-emission plan

photo of containers at port of montreal
Ports

Port of Montreal says activities are back to normal following 2024 strike

More Stories

autonomous tugger vehicle

Cyngn delivers autonomous tuggers to wheel maker COATS

Autonomous forklift maker Cyngn is deploying its DriveMod Tugger model at COATS Company, the largest full-line wheel service equipment manufacturer in North America, the companies said today.

The deal was announced the same week that California-based Cyngn said it had raised $33 million in funding through a stock sale.

Keep ReadingShow less

Featured

warehouse worker managing inventory
Reverse Logistics

DHL Supply Chain acquires returns specialist Inmar Supply Chain Solutions

warehouse robot in racks
Robotic Picking and Loading

Symbotic buys Walmart’s robotics arm to develop its in-store e-commerce centers

frigo-trans truck hauling healthcare cargo
Parcel & Postal Carriers

UPS acquires two German healthcare logistics specialists

aerial photo of port of miami
Ports

East and Gulf coast strike averted with 11th-hour agreement

drawing of warehouse for digital twin
Simulation/VR/Digital Twin

Kion Group teams with Accenture and Nvidia to design intelligent warehouses

Study: Industry workers bypass essential processes amid mounting stress

Study: Industry workers bypass essential processes amid mounting stress

Manufacturing and logistics workers are raising a red flag over workplace quality issues according to industry research released this week.

A comparative study of more than 4,000 workers from the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia found that manufacturing and logistics workers say they have seen colleagues reduce the quality of their work and not follow processes in the workplace over the past year, with rates exceeding the overall average by 11% and 8%, respectively.

Keep ReadingShow less
photo of a cargo ship cruising

Project44 tallies supply chain impacts of a turbulent 2024

Following a year in which global logistics networks were buffeted by labor strikes, natural disasters, regional political violence, and economic turbulence, the supply chain visibility provider Project44 has compiled the impact of each of those events in a new study.

The “2024 Year in Review” report lists the various transportation delays, freight volume restrictions, and infrastructure repair costs of a long string of events. Those disruptions include labor strikes at Canadian ports and postal sites, the U.S. East and Gulf coast port strike; hurricanes Helene, Francine, and Milton; the Francis Scott key Bridge collapse in Baltimore Harbor; the CrowdStrike cyber attack; and Red Sea missile attacks on passing cargo ships.

Keep ReadingShow less
diagram of transportation modes

Shippeo gains $30 million backing for its transportation visibility platform

The French transportation visibility provider Shippeo today said it has raised $30 million in financial backing, saying the money will support its accelerated expansion across North America and APAC, while driving enhancements to its “Real-Time Transportation Visibility Platform” product.

The funding round was led by Woven Capital, Toyota’s growth fund, with participation from existing investors: Battery Ventures, Partech, NGP Capital, Bpifrance Digital Venture, LFX Venture Partners, Shift4Good and Yamaha Motor Ventures. With this round, Shippeo’s total funding exceeds $140 million.

Keep ReadingShow less
Cover image for the white paper, "The threat of resiliency and sustainability in global supply chain management: expectations for 2025."

CSCMP releases new white paper looking at potential supply chain impact of incoming Trump administration

Donald Trump has been clear that he plans to hit the ground running after his inauguration on January 20, launching ambitious plans that could have significant repercussions for global supply chains.

With a new white paper—"The threat of resiliency and sustainability in global supply chain management: Expectations for 2025”—the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals (CSCMP) seeks to provide some guidance on what companies can expect for the first year of the second Trump Administration.

Keep ReadingShow less
Copyright ©2025.