UPS plans heavy vacations amid coronavirus-related crashes

(Reuters) – United Parcel Service Inc plans to impose large fees on large skippers who ship significantly more packages through their system during the holiday season amid the coronavirus pandemic, according to a new compensation scheme released on Friday issued.

The new outbreak of coronavirus has disrupted operations at UPS and other large delivery companies – overcoming their networks with everything from food to furniture, while putting the brakes on profitable shipments between companies.

UPS said the new fees could earn a total of $ 3 a package for shipping land and other shipping options for lower price and up to $ 4 a package for air shipments tied up for residences. The walks were first reported by the Wall Street Journal.

UPS said the surcharges will be valid from mid-November to mid-January and are designed to apply only to customers who ship more than 25,000 packages per week.

Charges escalate as customers ship 110%, 200% and 300% more than their average weekly shipping volume in February.

“This may be the last we see of free shipping,” said Cathy Morrow Roberson, founder of Logistics Trends & Insights.

She said the price increases are still a blow to wrestlers from retailers, who have seen retail sales plummet in the pandemic. Higher shipping costs for holidays could force them to take up the extra fees, stop free shipping or increase prices.

UPS declined to say what percentage of its customers will be affected.

Amazon.com, UPS’s largest customer and a growing delivery rival, declined to comment.

UPS and rivals FedEx Corp and DHL have each taken steps to curb the boom in lower-margin e-commerce deliveries, which has forced them to add labor and secure more space on planes, trucks and trains.

The US Postal Service, which also supplies large numbers of parcels, is also struggling with a significant increase in volume.

“They have no infinite amount of capacity,” Morrow Roberson said of U.S. parcel carriers.