10/03/2023

UPS, FedEx Customers Regain Upper Hand in Delivery Price Battle

This is a sharp reversal from 2021 and the first half of 2022

For the first time in more than four years, U.S. retailers and other delivery customers are easily winning discounts from United Parcel Service and FedEx, according to industry data and interviews with seven professionals who advise shippers in price negotiations.

That's a sharp reversal from 2021 and the first half of 2022, when UPS and FedEx–awash with volume from the early COVID-19 pandemic's online shopping surge - rebuffed discount requests and cherry-picked the most profitable customers. Now, those same companies are fighting to fill trucks as demand shrinks.

Excluding the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) and Amazon.com, UPS and FedEx dominate the U.S. doorstep delivery sector with a share of almost 50 percent and combined annual revenue of $191 billion. They have pushed through annual general rate increases of more than 30 percent from 2019 to 2024, and are often nearly lock step on pricing.

Please select this link to read the complete article from Reuters.