In 2021, FedEx and UPS introduced zone pricing for Additional Handling costs, diverging from their previously uniform cost across all zones. By January 2024, once the latest parcel rates have taken effect, some of these surcharges will have doubled in the last 25-months with the minimum increase reaching 35.29%. The larger the zone, the higher the increase.
For additional details on how UPS will apply Additional Handling fees in 2024, click here.
For additional details on how FedEx will apply Additional Handling fees in 2024, click here.
Accounting for these increases is critical to your forecasting and budgeting, but with proper planning, you may be able to mitigate the cost. For example, check to see if you can change your packaging so that it does not qualify for Additional Handling costs. You can also analyze the cost difference between splitting certain items into two packages instead of combining them into one.
AFS can help you strategize ways to reduce the impact of rising costs for oversize parcel shipments. Feel free to drop us a line.
-Micheal McDonagh, President of Parcel
