Is it just me? Or does the recent change to UPS’s latest Additional Handling surcharge make some of my packages look heavier?
It’s not just you. Effective October 21, UPS has replaced its Dimensional Weight with a Minimum Billable Weight for certain kinds of packages. As a result, packages that meet any one of the following three criteria will now be billed at UPS’s 40-pound rate, even if they actually – or dimensionally – weigh considerably less:
- More than 48” long
- More than 30” wide
- More than 105” in combined length plus girth
Uh oh! My company ships a lot of long, lightweight products.
You mean items like televisions, pipe conduits, water skis or folding tables? We feel your pain, because this new change is clearly aimed at shippers like you – or more specifically your wallets.
When did UPS announce this change?
October 8, 2024. And yes, that does mean that shippers had less than two weeks to prepare for this potentially hard-hitting additional expense. In fact, many probably didn’t see it coming.
How much could this affect my company’s shipping bills?
Obviously it depends on a lot of factors. Excluding all surcharges and discounts, let’s say that you ship a lot of 15-pound items in packages that measure 49” X 10” X 6”. Prior to the Minimum Billed Weight surcharge going into effect, those packages would have been billed at a DIM weight of 22 pounds. As a result, you would have been charged $21.32 to ship Ground from Dallas, TX, to St. Louis, MO. Now you’ll pay $33.44 instead – a 57% increase.
Or suppose that you’re a print shop that ships tall banners in 49” X 6” x 6” boxes – and that your customer has asked you to ship something that weighs ten pounds via Next Day from Chicago, IL, to Washington, DC. Before the new Minimum Billed Weight surcharge policy, you would have been billed at a DIM weight of 13 pounds, which would have cost $175.54 to ship. Now you’ll pay $352.79 instead – a 100% increase!
So all in all, it sounds like we’ll be paying even more to ship our long, lightweight packages than we did when UPS was charging us DIM rates.
Exactly. And unfortunately, it’s also not something that your company can easily “negotiate away,” because unlike parcel carriers’ new services or surcharges, new policies like this tend to be much more rigid.
With that in mind, it’s essential that you start getting your hands around this policy’s precise potential impact to your bottom line ASAP.
Where can I go to learn more?
For a more detailed breakdown of how the Additional Handling changes will work, go to page 129 of the UPS Service Guide.
Meanwhile, if your company would like some advice about how to mitigate the effect that this new provision – and other recent UPS rate changes – will have on your business, drop us a line to see if we can be of help.
We know that trying to understand and navigate carriers’ latest rules, rates and surcharges for large products can be hugely confusing and time-consuming. And we have a full complement of data scientists and veteran parcel experts and analysts who are ready to help.
