As shipping carriers continue to add new fees and surcharges to their perpetually increasing rates, it’s crucial to do what you can to trim your business’s costs. In this article we’ll share some of the best tips for decreasing single parcel packaging costs, while reducing your impact on the environment at the same time.

Before you can optimize your shipping costs or really just understand them, it helps to know how FedEx & UPS Shipping rates are calculated. Many people believe that the small parcel carrier shipping rates are simple. But it’s not so simple, and here’s why.

We’ve already begun to see them: peak season surcharges. This relatively new fee applies to packages that are shipped during the busy holiday season. Why? Because they can.

UPS just announced a notable increase in shipping rates. Find out the details and how it might affect your shipping profile.

The introduction of the Third Party Billing Fee will affect many industries who already see low-margin profits.

Parcel Auditing is the act of going through all your shipping bills, analyzing what you have been charged for, and applying for refunds. Find out more!

Why is this a concern for your business? Well, in combination with recent UPS and FedEx increases, DIM weight pricing can have a substantial impact on your shipping costs.

Generally, when one of the carriers announces a rate change, you have to dig into the details to figure out exactly how it will impact your shipping profile. This year – with a few exceptions – it’s pretty straight forward. Though FedEx announced the 2018 rate changes in several bullets in their press release (we’ll include their language below), it boils down to a simple 4.9% hike on Freight, Home Delivery, Ground, and Express services.

If your company ships items like high value package goods, pharmaceuticals, firearms, or alcohol, you may or even need to consider utilizing the carriers Signature Required delivery services. Signature Delivery options are available for an additional fee from both UPS and FedEx.

The FedEx Additional Handling Surcharge is the somewhat nefarious charge that FedEx first announced on June 1st of 2016, only to be followed about a week later by a similar announcement.