UPS has introduced a new peak charge for residential, large and oversized items during selected weeks in November and December this year. The charge will only apply to US deliveries and will offset some of the expenses incurred by UPS when handling peak parcel volumes.
To meet peak demand, UPS temporarily acquires additional facilities, sorting and delivery personnel, and air and truck cargo capacity, often at shorter-term premium rates. Furthermore, large, heavy, or unconventionally shaped items create even greater operational complexity during high-demand periods.
From November 19 to December 23, UPS will apply peak surcharges to large packages and packages that exceed maximum size limits. These charges are in addition to the usual surcharges applicable to such packages and can range from US$24 to US$249. Ground residential deliveries will also incur a US$0.27 charge between November 19 and December 2, and then again from December 17 to December 23. UPS Next Day, 2nd Day and 3 Day deliveries will also incur charges from December 17 to December 23, ranging from US$0.81 to US$97.
Alan Gershenhorn, chief commercial officer, UPS, said, “We’re focused on helping our customers achieve success during some of their most important selling seasons. To meet their requirements, UPS flexes its delivery network to process near-double our already massive regular daily volume, and that creates exceptional demands.
“Our goal is to help every customer obtain the delivery capacity they need, combined with the predictable and timely service they count on from UPS, even when there is limited capacity in the UPS network.
“With the new peak charge, per-package costs for many shipments will only marginally increase during this very busy time of the year.”
During the 2016 holiday season, UPS’s average daily volume exceeded 30 million packages on more than half of the available shipping days. In contrast, on an average non-peak day, the company ships more than 19 million packages. The company hired about 95,000 seasonal employees during the 2016 peak shipping period.
To view a complete list of the new charges, click here.