The NEW UPS Term PSS

Have you heard the new term PSS buzzing around the ecommerce industry? Well it is UPS’s new announcement of their Peak Season Surcharge for 2017. What does this mean for ecommerce business owners? Let us tell you. From the Parcel website there is an article titled “An Analysis of the UPS Peak Season Surcharge” that we want to break down for you and help you figure our what to do. In this article it says, “UPS’s announcement comes as a surprise to many shippers, but to industry analysts, carriers finding new ways to make things a little more expensive and a little more complex surprises n one.” We are not surprised either.

For example, from the statistics shown in this article the UPS Peak Season Surcharges are not affecting:

 Residential Shipments (including to businesses operating out of homes)

·Next Day Air services: $0.81/package (December 17-December 23)

·2nd Day Air/3-Day Select: $0.97/package (December 17-December 23)

·UPS Ground: $0.27/package (Nov 19-Dec. 2 AND Dec. 17-Dec. 23)

Large Packages (see article for more details)

Over Maximum (see article for more details)

Imports (see article for more details)

“UPS is taking action based on what they see in clients’ shipping data and their respective cost models. The dramatic rise in e-commerce sales is creating a surge in residential shipments – especially during holidays.” We all know that is true, especially around the holidays, Black Friday and Cyber Monday.

Do you already have a plan for when the prices will rise? Is it going to affect your business? The article also says, “Most shippers will either eat the surcharge or pass it on to their customers via price increases. Others might attack the PSS head on.” What we want you to know is our core products at FirstMile are not going to have any additional fees and we will not be accessing additional fees anytime. Is that a relief? We hope so! We have said it before, we will say it again, let us help you. If you have any questions as a current customer or future customer we will answer those questions.

Last but not least Parcel tells us, “Regardless of what we think about the peak season surcharge, we must remember that UPS is simply acting on the data. For shippers to remain competitive, it’s only wise for them to do the same. Remember that audit tools are particularly insufficient and ineffective during the holiday season…But as is the case in most instances, proactivity wins the day.”

Lets be proactive together!