By Jeff Berman / www.logisticsmgmt.com / August 7th, 2020
As the level of COVID-19-related e-commerce activity continues to head in one direction—up—so, too, do peak surcharges for the shipping of orders made online. That was seen today, with Atlanta-based global freight transportation and logistics bellwether UPS announcing today it is implementing a new set of peak surcharges.
This is not the first time UPS has issued a COVID-19-based peak surcharge in recent months. In late May, it announced that it would implement peak surcharges that went into effect on May 31, for certain international shipments from all origins to all destinations, including the U.S.
And it added at the time that the Peak Surcharges applied to certain international shipments will continue to apply. Peak surcharges are subject to change and Peak Periods may be extended or otherwise changed.”
The company added that Peak Surcharges would apply to packages shipped during the specified Peak Periods for the origins, destinations, and service levels, adding that they apply in addition to all other applicable charges.
The new peak surcharges will be particularly painful for larger shippers, based on a UPS customer advisory issued today.
UPS said a peak surcharge will be applied to certain UPS Air Residential, UPS Ground Residential, and UPS SurePost packages, “for all UPS origins and destinations, for qualifying customers who, at any point during the Peak Period, ship more than 25,000 packages per week.” These peak surcharges will be in effect from November 15, 2020 through January 16, 2021.
For UPS SurePost and UPS Ground Residential these charges range from $1 per package (for 110% to 200% of February volume, $2 per package for 200% to 300% of February volume, and $3 per package for 300% or more of February volume. And for UPS Next Day Air Residential and All Other UPS Air Residential, these charges range from $2 per package (for 110% to 200% of February volume, $3 per package for 200% to 300% of February volume, and $4 per package for 300% or more of February volume.
UPS added that there will also be a peak surcharge applied to “large packages that are over maximum limits and also packages that require additional handling, for qualifying customers who at any point during the Peak Period ship more than 1,000 packages per week or ship more than 10 packages per week that otherwise qualify for any of these Peak Surcharges” and will apply to all U.S. domestic, U.S. import, and U.S. export shipments, for all origins and destinations, in the amounts set forth during the specified Peak Period.”
These peak surcharges will take effect from October 4, 2020 through January 16, 2021 and are comprised of: an additional handling charge of $5 per package; $50 per package for large package; and $250 per package for over maximum limits.
UPS officials were unavailable for comment on these peak surcharge increases.
But when the company announced its previous peak surcharges in May, a company spokesman told LM that UPS routinely adjusts its commercial terms to reflect changing market conditions, the costs it incurs to serve customers and other factors.
“The Peak Surcharges reflect the current dynamic market conditions and uncertainties caused by the Coronavirus, which is impacting available capacity and market demand,” he said. “These surcharges are designed to balance our network to provide the best possible service for all customers, and have been constructed based on our customers’ unique package volume characteristics.”
Detailed Overview of UPS COVID-19 and Peak Surcharges
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It appears that UPS, a global freight transportation and logistics company, has announced new peak surcharges in response to the increased e-commerce activity and shipping demands during the COVID-19 pandemic