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FedEx Increases Peak Additional Handling Surcharge

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Effective June 21, 2021, FedEx will be increasing their Peak Additional Handling Surcharges.

FedEx, in their announcement last week stated they have been keeping package volume moving throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, which they certainly have.  FedEx also stated that “the impact of the virus continues to generate elevated volumes, high demand for capacity and increased operating costs across our network. To provide our customers with the best possible service during this challenging time, the following surcharge increases are being implemented:”

The surcharges that will be affected by these increases are as follows:

  • Peak Oversize Surcharge
  • Peak Additional Handling Surcharge
  • Peak Residential Delivery Surcharge
  • International Surcharges which were formally named “Temporary Surcharges” and are now named “Peak Surcharges.

Full details are available by clicking the link below which will take you to the official FedEx announcement.  As we have stated over and over again, controlling these continually spiraling shipping costs MUST become an immediate priority for every company regardless of their size.  If you need help determining how to control shipping costs, please contact us immediately as we continually help our clients improve their bottom lines during these very difficult times.

Need help making sense and clarity on FedEx Surcharges?  Contact us today to learn more!

Importers Will Need to Shell Out Even More Money in June!

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Effective June 15, 2021, a General Rate Increase (GRI) has been filed for all cargo imported from Asia ports of loading, to the USA, Canada, and Mexico ports and ramps of discharge.  This will be the second General Rate Increase scheduled to become effective in June, the first one is scheduled to take effect on June 1st.  Not until consumer demand slows down, (and there are no indications it will in the foreseeable future), will we see any rate relief for North America Importers.

The proposed increases are as follows:

USD     900 / 20′

USD   1,000 / 40′

USD   1,125 / 40′ HQ

USD   1,125 / 40′ Reefer

USD   1,266 / 45′

USD   1,600 / 53′

Need help controlling your shipping costs?  Give us a call today and we’ll help you get your costs under control.

importers

Ocean Rates Continue to Rise With No End in Sight!

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Asia- North America ocean rates are continuing their rise, (as expected by the way), and with no end in sight, (also as expected).  Effective June 1, 2021 a General Rate Increase (GRI) has been filed for all cargo imported from Asia ports of loading, to U.S.A., Canada, and Mexico ports and ramps of discharge.  Logisticians and Supply Chain executives will continue to be “financially challenged” when it comes to explaining to corporate management that their original freight budgets, (budgets planned more than 6 months ago), will be way off target.

These same logisticians and Supply Chain executives, must also let management know that price increases to their ultimate consumers may be the only way to offset these continuing increases. That will be a very tough discussion to nave by the way.

The proposed increases are as follows:

USD     900 / 20′

USD   1,000 / 40′

USD   1,125 / 40′ HQ

USD   1,125 / 40′ Reefer

USD   1,266 / 45′

USD   1,600 / 53′

Need help navigating these new increases?  Our international shipping consulting services is for you.

USPS logo

USPS Resumes Network Consolidation Project

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The United States Postal Service announced on April 27th that it will resume its Network Consolidation efforts that were suspended back in 2015 after outcries from mailers and consumers that service would suffer from more cutbacks.

The movement of mail processing operations at 18 postal facilities was previously paused in 2015. Those select moves will follow USPS’ existing contractual process and are expected to be completed by November 2021. Due to a decline in mail volume, the USPS said they will relocate or remove unnecessary letter and flat sorting equipment as appropriate to make space for much needed package processing equipment. Moving, removing, and repurposing mail processing equipment and operations or “operational mail moves” is an ongoing Postal Service strategy dating back decades that allows for more efficient, timely delivery of mail and packages.

The USPS also announced accelerated investment and procurement of 138 package processing sorters that will be operational ahead of the 2021 Peak Holiday Shipping Season, with plans to purchase additional processing machines over the next 18 months as package volume continues to grow. As USPS expands its role in the e-commerce marketplace, it said it would deploy and maintain a diverse suite of package sorters and material handling equipment to optimize processing throughputs. Just in March alone, USPS’ customer demand for package deliveries grew 28 percent over last year.  There is no reason to believe that this trend will not continue as more and more on-line shopping with residential delivery requirements is here to stay, at least for the foreseeable future.

USPS also announced that it will lease an additional 45 annex facilities located near processing centers in key locations to support surges and overflow of packages.

The Postal Service has a national network of mail processing facilities that processes and sorts nearly 430 million pieces of mail and packages to 161.4 million addresses at least six days a week. In 2020, the Postal Service delivered more than 129.2 billion pieces of mail and packages to customers located in every state and territory, county, city, town and rural area in the nation.  With their delivery network, they are uniquely well positioned to be a major player in the delivery of packages to US and global consumers.

Shipping with USPS?  Contact us today to see how ICC can help you with the best service terms and rates.

Amazon Truck

Amazon Reports Staggering First Quarter Financial Results

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Amazon reported its best first quarter financial results ever with its earnings more than tripling the company’s results from the first quarter of 2020.  While comparing first quarter 2020 financial results with first quarter 2021 financial results is like comparing apples and oranges when it comes to on-line retail sales, Amazon’s financial results are still quite impressive as noted below.

  • Net income increased to $8.1 billion in the quarter ended March 31, or $15.79 per diluted share, compared with $2.5 billion, or $5.01 per diluted share in the first quarter of 2020.
  • Amazon’s profits in the year since the pandemic started have now exceeded $26 billion, more than the previous three years combined
  • Operating income increased to $8.9 billion, compared with $4.0 billion last year.
  • Net revenue increased 44% to $108.5 billion
  • Year-over-year net sales growth was 40% in North America, compared to 29% in the year-ago period, and 60% growth internationally, up from 18% last year
  • Amazon’s Web Services growth was pegged at 32%.
  • North American e-commerce sales in the quarter totaled $64.37 billion, up from $46.13 billion a year ago
  • Operating profit from North American sales totaled  $3.45 billion, up from $1.31 billion the year before
  • First-quarter international sales totaled $30.65 billion, up from $19.11 billion a year ago
  • Amazon posted operating profit of $1.25 billion from international sales, after reporting a loss of $398 million in the year-ago period.
  • Amazon’s cloud-computing business, AWS, remains a major profit center. It posted net sales of $13.5 billion in the quarter, up 32% from last year.  AWS operating profit was  $4.16 billion, up from $3.08 billion a year ago.

With the continuing growth of on-line sales we expect Amazon to continue to achieve these incredibly impressive financial results.  Amazon in fact expects their net sales in the second quarter to fall between $110.0 billion and $116.0 billion, or to grow between 24% and 30%, compared with the second quarter of 2020.

Not sure if there is a coincidence in timing here, but Amazon released its first-quarter earnings on the same day it revealed that it would spend $1 billion to increase the pay of its more than 500,000  U.S. operations employees.

Are you an Amazon partener company?  Contact us today to learn how we can help support your business.

ICC breaking news

Postmaster General, Union Leadership Form Joint Task Force on Service Performance

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In an article published in The Official Mail Guide, the US Postmaster and the Letter carrier union leadership have created a joint task force seeking to find solutions to ongoing service issues at the US Postal Service.  We believe this will be a great endeavor, as it brings together ALL of the key stakeholders to work collaboratively to find long term, real solutions to ongoing service issues.

Postmaster General, Union Leadership Form Joint Task Force on Service Performance

The following Joint Statement was issued March 23, 2021 by:

Postmaster General and Chief Executive Officer Louis DeJoy

Fred Rolando, President of the National Association of Letter Carriers

Paul Hogrogian, National President of the National Postal Mail Handlers Union

Daniel Heins, National President of the United Postmasters and Managers of America

Mark Dimondstein, President, American Postal Workers Union

Ronnie Stutts, President National Rural Letter Carriers’ Association

Brian Wagner, President National Association of Postal Supervisors

WASHINGTON, DC — “Recognizing that issues in certain facilities across the country continue to hamper service performance, we have come together to form a National Joint Task Force on Service Performance to identify and craft solutions to improve service at specific locations within the network. Members of the Joint Task Force will work together on making necessary changes to strengthen service reliability, share best practices and stay vigilant to any emerging issues.

“The National Task Force will also ensure resources are allocated, lines of communication are open and concerns that are not resolved locally are escalated quickly.

“Maintaining strong service performance is a process, not a destination; through weather, natural disasters and a holiday season in the midst of a pandemic. Mail never stops flowing through our system. If bottlenecks occur it can have a cascading impact on the network. Addressing issues early can make all the difference.”

The National Task Force held their first meeting on March 22.