Salt Lake City, UT – Companies large and small will soon be seeing a rate increase for ground shipments using major U.S. carriers. By 2015, both FedEx and UPS will be implementing dimensional weight pricing, or “dim pricing” for all ground shipments, meaning the cost of shipping will now be based on an item’s volume. Currently, an estimated 15% of ground shipments—those 3 cubic feet or greater—are subject to these charges. Early predictions say that once the new pricing goes into effect, more than 30 percent of all ground shipments will be affected.
Looking to more efficiently use the cargo space available in their ground fleet and reduce fuel and transportation costs, FedEx and UPS are hoping dimensional weight pricing will prompt companies to reduce excess packaging materials and overall package size. This shift is due in part to last year’s holiday meltdown. Even with their monstrous fleets, carriers saw shipping delays when they were unable to keep up with the increased volume of shipments, many of which were un-necessarily over packed which added further stress to an already stressed out system. UPS and FedEx don’t foresee a reversal of that trend with their current pricing structure, and hope the implementation of dim pricing will necessitate change in shipping departments nationwide.
The shift for UPS will occur on December 29th and on January 1st for FedEx but businesses will need to start re-evaluating their shipping practices well before then. Unishippers Logistics, LLC, the nation’s first and one of the largest small package and freight shipping resellers, has compiled the following tips for business owners to decrease their cost of shipping:
• Recycle, Reduce and Reuse: From the package to the packing materials, using recycled materials can help reduce cost and overall waste, not to mention helps the local community. Shop around for sources for recycled materials to find the best deal. At the same time, reducing the amount of packaging materials means less waste and smaller package dimensions. Note that before reusing, ensure that the boxes are sturdy enough to survive transit and meet the requirements for making claims.
• Product Design: If you are able to redesign the product or the packaging around the product, this can make the difference between fitting more of your products into one package. The package is a puzzle which your products fit into as a whole. Consider making your products more durable (paint, materials, etc.) to accommodate for the decrease in packaging materials.
• Package Sizes: You may need to add more package size options to your shipping department. This will mean a more efficient process and less unused volume per package. Once you have more options, consider cartonization logic software to evaluate the contents of an order to determine the number and size of each shipping carton required for the order. The UPS Package Design and Test Lab or its shipping solution partner Packsize can also help customers optimize the size and density of their package to control costs.
Kevin Lathrop, President of Unishippers, sees an opportunity for businesses to embrace the new shipping landscape, “With this shift to dimensional weight pricing, I believe we will see more conscientious shipping practices among businesses and Unishippers franchisees are dedicated to helping their customers identify ways to save on their shipping.”
About Unishippers
Founded in 1987, Unishippers has grown to the largest reseller of shipping services in the nation with more than 290 franchise locations. Headquartered in Salt Lake City, UT, the Unishippers concept is simple – work with major carriers including UPS®, Saia®, Estes®, YRC Freight™ and UPS Freight® to handle the pickup, transport and delivery of customers’ shipments. All the while, local franchisees work to provide customers with service and support. By leveraging the combined shipping volume of all its customers, Unishippers gets deeply discounted rates from its carriers, resulting in lower shipping costs. Unishippers serves more than 50,000 small to mid-sized businesses, and has been recognized as a top freight broker by Transport Topics and a top franchise by Entrepreneur, Franchise Times and the Inc. 5000. For information on Unishippers, including information on franchising opportunities and price quotes, visit www.unishippers.com.
Looking to more efficiently use the cargo space available in their ground fleet and reduce fuel and transportation costs, FedEx and UPS are hoping dimensional weight pricing will prompt companies to reduce excess packaging materials and overall package size. This shift is due in part to last year’s holiday meltdown. Even with their monstrous fleets, carriers saw shipping delays when they were unable to keep up with the increased volume of shipments, many of which were un-necessarily over packed which added further stress to an already stressed out system. UPS and FedEx don’t foresee a reversal of that trend with their current pricing structure, and hope the implementation of dim pricing will necessitate change in shipping departments nationwide.
The shift for UPS will occur on December 29th and on January 1st for FedEx but businesses will need to start re-evaluating their shipping practices well before then. Unishippers Logistics, LLC, the nation’s first and one of the largest small package and freight shipping resellers, has compiled the following tips for business owners to decrease their cost of shipping:
• Recycle, Reduce and Reuse: From the package to the packing materials, using recycled materials can help reduce cost and overall waste, not to mention helps the local community. Shop around for sources for recycled materials to find the best deal. At the same time, reducing the amount of packaging materials means less waste and smaller package dimensions. Note that before reusing, ensure that the boxes are sturdy enough to survive transit and meet the requirements for making claims.
• Product Design: If you are able to redesign the product or the packaging around the product, this can make the difference between fitting more of your products into one package. The package is a puzzle which your products fit into as a whole. Consider making your products more durable (paint, materials, etc.) to accommodate for the decrease in packaging materials.
• Package Sizes: You may need to add more package size options to your shipping department. This will mean a more efficient process and less unused volume per package. Once you have more options, consider cartonization logic software to evaluate the contents of an order to determine the number and size of each shipping carton required for the order. The UPS Package Design and Test Lab or its shipping solution partner Packsize can also help customers optimize the size and density of their package to control costs.
Kevin Lathrop, President of Unishippers, sees an opportunity for businesses to embrace the new shipping landscape, “With this shift to dimensional weight pricing, I believe we will see more conscientious shipping practices among businesses and Unishippers franchisees are dedicated to helping their customers identify ways to save on their shipping.”
About Unishippers
Founded in 1987, Unishippers has grown to the largest reseller of shipping services in the nation with more than 290 franchise locations. Headquartered in Salt Lake City, UT, the Unishippers concept is simple – work with major carriers including UPS®, Saia®, Estes®, YRC Freight™ and UPS Freight® to handle the pickup, transport and delivery of customers’ shipments. All the while, local franchisees work to provide customers with service and support. By leveraging the combined shipping volume of all its customers, Unishippers gets deeply discounted rates from its carriers, resulting in lower shipping costs. Unishippers serves more than 50,000 small to mid-sized businesses, and has been recognized as a top freight broker by Transport Topics and a top franchise by Entrepreneur, Franchise Times and the Inc. 5000. For information on Unishippers, including information on franchising opportunities and price quotes, visit www.unishippers.com.
