You can get a parcel delivered almost anywhere these days and on your terms whether you want a proof of delivery or a Saturday pickup. But you can also expect to pay for it.
Michael Erickson is president of AFMS Inc., a consulting company that specializes in negotiating shipping contracts and service terms. He can be reached at (800) 246-3521 or via the company's Web site, www.afms.com.
It's a scene repeated countless times each day in offices and shipping rooms across America. There's a tap at the door and in walks a UPS or FedEx delivery person. As he (or she) drops off the package, the driver either runs a scanner over the label or requests a signature on that handheld device he or she carries before heading out the door.Whichever the case, it's clear that package delivery these days isn't just a matter of moving a parcel between two points; it's about creating a full electronic record of a parcel's whereabouts every step of the way.
The benefits of collecting all this information are undeniable. Access to tracking and tracing data can prove invaluable to a manager frantically awaiting an urgent shipment. And the signatures collected as proof of delivery have settled many a dispute. But there's unquestionably a downside as well. Shippers may not realize it, but the information being captured in those innocuous-looking devices is also affecting the prices they pay for small-package service.
With several years' worth of detailed data on their expenses, carriers from Airborne to FedEx now know exactly what it costs to deliver each package. They know who's likely to give them shipments that are relatively cheap to handle on a per-package basis, like half a truckload of parcels delivered to a single city block near one of the carrier's major hubs. They also know which shippers are more expensive to serve, the ones that routinely send parcels to impossibly remote locations or request a lot of extras. They know what it costs to collect a signature. They know what it costs to provide a photocopy of the airbill. And they know what it costs to make a detour for an unscheduled pickup.
Armed with specific cost-toserve information, carriers are no longer shy about recouping those costs, generally in the form of service charges or accessorial fees. Just a few years ago, no tariff contained more than a handful of accessorial charges.
Today there are fees for everything—around 80 at last count. Need a shipment picked up on a Saturday? That will be $2.50 (on top of the regular charges). Want to change the terms of a COD collection? That will be $7. Need a written proof of delivery? That will be $5.How about a residential delivery? Figure on paying an extra $1 to $1.75. Want a verbal confirmation of delivery? $2. Address correction? $5 for ground and $10 for air shipments. Whatever the service, it's no longer safe to assume it's included in the price of the delivery.
No more package deals? It's easy to understand why carriers like those fees. First, collecting surcharges allows them to recoup the added costs they incur for hard-to-deliver shipments. And more to the point, in a competitive marketplace, collecting fees and surcharges allows carriers to raise revenues without announcing huge rate increases. But there's more to the small-package pricing shift than a few fees. Though many shippers aren't aware of it, carriers are also using their enhanced costto- serve data when drawing up contracts with customers.
In the past, small-package rate setting was a pretty straightforward matter. Pricing was based on a fairly simple formula that factored in zones, volume, weight and seasonality. Discounting was a straightforward process as well. When a carrier offered a shipper a discount, it was for all the shipments in that service field from zone 2 - one pound to zone 8 - 199 pounds.
Not any more. Look at a contract today and you'll likely be in for a shock. Carriers have taken all the data collected by their drivers over the years, wrestled it through their computer systems, and developed sophisticated cost-toserve models that bear little resemblance to pricing schemes used in the past. Gone are simple rates based on zones and volumes. Instead, carriers are using complex algorithms based on at least 10 often obscure factors, such as rolling averages, cell-by-cell pricing and revenue tiers.
Granted, it's complex, but it's not necessarily cause for dismay. Nor is it a sign that you should enroll in law school or dust off your old calculus textbooks.What you do need to understand is what the carriers consider profitable and unprofitable in terms of package characteristics and where your freight fits in. In the end, that's what will determine the rates and discounts carriers are willing to offer you.
You also need to be able to decipher the new terms that are cropping up in contracts with increasing frequency. Here's a little quiz: Can you identify the following 10 terms?
Net minimums
Matrix pricing
Cell-by-cell pricing
Revenue tier
Rolling averages
Product group (portfolio) pricing
Ramp-up period
Delivery codes
Accessorial charges
Delivery density
These are important to know. Though not every term will appear in every contract, it's a good bet you'll encounter some or even most of them the next time you read through a contract. Here's a brief explanation:
Net minimums – Minimum rates set by the carrier, typically a set figure or the gross cost of a one-pound, zone 2 package, which ensures the carrier a minimum revenue for delivering that package.
Matrix pricing – Pricing based on discounts that may change by weight or zone for each service. There may also be a bonus offered as an incentive for meeting a certain revenue threshold.
Cell-by-cell pricing – A pricing formula under which specific rates apply to specific weight and zone combinations.
Revenue tier Carriers will assign you to a specific revenue tier or band, depending on the weekly average revenue you provide them. These tiers are then used to determine discounts.
Rolling average – Carriers use rolling averages to determine the average weekly revenue levels you provide them. Rolling averages are recalculated each week—the oldest week's worth of data are dropped and the most recent week's are added on—so that they reflect the most recent 13- week period.
Product group (portfolio) pricing – In an effort to capture all of your business— air, ground, home deliveries, and so on— a carrier may offer a "product pricing" package with discounts that max out only if you give it all of your business.
Ramp-up period – The grace period for target discounts before the contract goes into effect.
Delivery codes – Carriers use these to classify delivery destinations as rural, super rural or urban. Extra charges will apply for deliveries to rural and super rural areas.
Accessorial charges – Ancillary charges being applied to the cost of a shipment for various reasons, such as oversize and dimensional weights, address changes or residential deliveries.
Delivery density – The number of pieces being delivered at one time to one place. Obviously, the higher the delivery density, the lower the carrier's per-package costs.
Knowledge is power If you didn't know half of these terms and you ship packages under contract with a carrier like UPS or FedEx, you need to reeducate yourself. Ignorance could end up costing you thousands of dollars weekly. You might want to consider getting expert advice to help you evaluate how these charges and costing methods affect your business.
In the meantime, find out as much as you can on your own. Attend some industry trade shows, talk to some experts and get some help figuring out these new contracts and what's behind them.
Too many companies negotiate in the dark. Don't be one of them. Do your research, pay attention to the details, and focus your efforts on steps you can take to make your freight more attractive to carriers. They've gone to the trouble of collecting all the data and using it for their own benefit; now it's time to see if you can't turn it to your advantage as well.
Nearly one-third of American consumers have increased their secondhand purchases in the past year, revealing a jump in “recommerce” according to a buyer survey from ShipStation, a provider of web-based shipping and order fulfillment solutions.
The number comes from a survey of 500 U.S. consumers showing that nearly one in four (23%) Americans lack confidence in making purchases over $200 in the next six months. Due to economic uncertainty, savvy shoppers are looking for ways to save money without sacrificing quality or style, the research found.
Younger shoppers are leading the charge in that trend, with 59% of Gen Z and 48% of Millennials buying pre-owned items weekly or monthly. That rate makes Gen Z nearly twice as likely to buy second hand compared to older generations.
The primary reason that shoppers say they have increased their recommerce habits is lower prices (74%), followed by the thrill of finding unique or rare items (38%) and getting higher quality for a lower price (28%). Only 14% of Americans cite environmental concerns as a primary reason they shop second-hand.
Despite the challenge of adjusting to the new pattern, recommerce represents a strategic opportunity for businesses to capture today’s budget-minded shoppers and foster long-term loyalty, Austin, Texas-based ShipStation said.
For example, retailers don’t have to sell used goods to capitalize on the secondhand boom. Instead, they can offer trade-in programs swapping discounts or store credit for shoppers’ old items. And they can improve product discoverability to help customers—particularly older generations—find what they’re looking for.
Other ways for retailers to connect with recommerce shoppers are to improve shipping practices. According to ShipStation:
70% of shoppers won’t return to a brand if shipping is too expensive.
51% of consumers are turned off by late deliveries
40% of shoppers won’t return to a retailer again if the packaging is bad.
The “CMA CGM Startup Awards”—created in collaboration with BFM Business and La Tribune—will identify the best innovations to accelerate its transformation, the French company said.
Specifically, the company will select the best startup among the applicants, with clear industry transformation objectives focused on environmental performance, competitiveness, and quality of life at work in each of the three areas:
Shipping: Enabling safer, more efficient, and sustainable navigation through innovative technological solutions.
Logistics: Reinventing the global supply chain with smart and sustainable logistics solutions.
Media: Transform content creation, and customer engagement with innovative media technologies and strategies.
Three winners will be selected during a final event organized on November 15 at the Orange Vélodrome Stadium in Marseille, during the 2nd Artificial Intelligence Marseille (AIM) forum organized by La Tribune and BFM Business. The selection will be made by a jury chaired by Rodolphe Saadé, Chairman and CEO of the Group, and including members of the executive committee representing the various sectors of CMA CGM.
The global air cargo market’s hot summer of double-digit demand growth continued in August with average spot rates showing their largest year-on-year jump with a 24% increase, according to the latest weekly analysis by Xeneta.
Xeneta cited two reasons to explain the increase. First, Global average air cargo spot rates reached $2.68 per kg in August due to continuing supply and demand imbalance. That came as August's global cargo supply grew at its slowest ratio in 2024 to-date at 2% year-on-year, while global cargo demand continued its double-digit growth, rising +11%.
The second reason for higher rates was an ocean-to-air shift in freight volumes due to Red Sea disruptions and e-commerce demand.
Those factors could soon be amplified as e-commerce shows continued strong growth approaching the hotly anticipated winter peak season. E-commerce and low-value goods exports from China in the first seven months of 2024 increased 30% year-on-year, including shipments to Europe and the US rising 38% and 30% growth respectively, Xeneta said.
“Typically, air cargo market performance in August tends to follow the July trend. But another month of double-digit demand growth and the strongest rate growths of the year means there was definitely no summer slack season in 2024,” Niall van de Wouw, Xeneta’s chief airfreight officer, said in a release.
“Rates we saw bottoming out in late July started picking up again in mid-August. This is too short a period to call a season. This has been a busy summer, and now we’re at the threshold of Q4, it will be interesting to see what will happen and if all the anticipation of a red-hot peak season materializes,” van de Wouw said.
The report cites data showing that there are approximately 1.7 million workers missing from the post-pandemic workforce and that 38% of small firms are unable to fill open positions. At the same time, the “skills gap” in the workforce is accelerating as automation and AI create significant shifts in how work is performed.
That information comes from the “2024 Labor Day Report” released by Littler’s Workplace Policy Institute (WPI), the firm’s government relations and public policy arm.
“We continue to see a labor shortage and an urgent need to upskill the current workforce to adapt to the new world of work,” said Michael Lotito, Littler shareholder and co-chair of WPI. “As corporate executives and business leaders look to the future, they are focused on realizing the many benefits of AI to streamline operations and guide strategic decision-making, while cultivating a talent pipeline that can support this growth.”
But while the need is clear, solutions may be complicated by public policy changes such as the upcoming U.S. general election and the proliferation of employment-related legislation at the state and local levels amid Congressional gridlock.
“We are heading into a contentious election that has already proven to be unpredictable and is poised to create even more uncertainty for employers, no matter the outcome,” Shannon Meade, WPI’s executive director, said in a release. “At the same time, the growing patchwork of state and local requirements across the U.S. is exacerbating compliance challenges for companies. That, coupled with looming changes following several Supreme Court decisions that have the potential to upend rulemaking, gives C-suite executives much to contend with in planning their workforce-related strategies.”
Stax Engineering, the venture-backed startup that provides smokestack emissions reduction services for maritime ships, will service all vessels from Toyota Motor North America Inc. visiting the Toyota Berth at the Port of Long Beach, according to a new five-year deal announced today.
Beginning in 2025 to coincide with new California Air Resources Board (CARB) standards, STAX will become the first and only emissions control provider to service roll-on/roll-off (ro-ros) vessels in the state of California, the company said.
Stax has rapidly grown since its launch in the first quarter of this year, supported in part by a $40 million funding round from investors, announced in July. It now holds exclusive service agreements at California ports including Los Angeles, Long Beach, Hueneme, Benicia, Richmond, and Oakland. The firm has also partnered with individual companies like NYK Line, Hyundai GLOVIS, Equilon Enterprises LLC d/b/a Shell Oil Products US (Shell), and now Toyota.
Stax says it offers an alternative to shore power with land- and barge-based, mobile emissions capture and control technology for shipping terminal and fleet operators without the need for retrofits.
In the case of this latest deal, the Toyota Long Beach Vehicle Distribution Center imports about 200,000 vehicles each year on ro-ro vessels. Stax will keep those ships green with its flexible exhaust capture system, which attaches to all vessel classes without modification to remove 99% of emitted particulate matter (PM) and 95% of emitted oxides of nitrogen (NOx). Over the lifetime of this new agreement with Toyota, Stax estimated the service will account for approximately 3,700 hours and more than 47 tons of emissions controlled.
“We set out to provide an emissions capture and control solution that was reliable, easily accessible, and cost-effective. As we begin to service Toyota, we’re confident that we can meet the needs of the full breadth of the maritime industry, furthering our impact on the local air quality, public health, and environment,” Mike Walker, CEO of Stax, said in a release. “Continuing to establish strong partnerships will help build momentum for and trust in our technology as we expand beyond the state of California.”