"China Post Express": This is the peak shopping and express season in the United States. Although express companies say they have improved the efficiency of land transportation, observers and consumers still believe that as the number of packages reaches unprecedented heights, delays are inevitable .
Recently, UPS announced that it will reduce its ground transportation time in Phoenix, Las Vegas, Salt Lake City, Seattle and Portland by one day. According to a report on the Loadstar website, the ground delivery time for the above-mentioned markets is generally 1-3 days. Since the first week of November, United Parcel has launched the "fastest ground transportation" upgrade service to create a service faster than its competitors. Therefore, the company has invested 750 million US dollars in advance and originally planned to invest next year. But analysts believe, express delivery companies are still unable to avoid speed courier companies due to excessive pressure and delay the knot fruit.
According to the above report, according to a report, UPS and FedEx have been coordinating the lack of transportation vehicles and seeking support from contractors to purchase or lease more vehicles. According to the research of LMCAutomotive Automotive Market Forecast Service, one of the reasons for the car shortage is due to the suspension of car production. In October, the number of new cars in the United States decreased by nearly 1 million compared with the same period last year.
Amazon, the e-commerce giant, is also struggling with the surge in the number of packages. Many customers have reported that it usually takes a week or more to send a package for one or two days. So Amazon encourages customers to choose other delivery methods instead of home delivery. Cathy Morrow Roberson, principal analyst at the consulting firm LogisticsTrends&Insights, believes that this means that Amazon cannot deliver on time by default. During the seasons, the time limit is never guaranteed. She noticed that as early as the beginning of the lockdown after the outbreak in the United States, the delivery company's service guarantee commitments had been suspended.
According to a report published by LateShipment, an e-commerce package tracking company, on the Loadstar website, according to the results of the United Parcel and FedEx delay survey, California has the longest express delivery delays during the Christmas season in 2019, with major express delivery delays exceeding 12% . During this year’s outbreak, the two major express delivery giants also experienced a delay rate of about 10% in key cities such as California and New York. Robertson predicts that courier companies may prioritize hot-selling and profitable categories, while other shippers who want to ensure that products are delivered on time will need to pay additional fees to large courier companies because they have no choice of crowdsourced delivery.
There are also some retail companies looking for other outlets during the outbreak. They cooperate with Instacart and DoorDash to provide same-day delivery services to their customers. Robertson said the demand for home delivery has risen sharply this year, while last year consumers were more inclined to place orders online and pick up goods from stores. It is expected that in the coming weeks, retailers will look for alternatives to large courier companies. It is reported that although the number of consumers choosing express cabinets has increased, Americans still prefer to deliver them to their door.
It is reported that the United States Postal Service will increase the price of transportation services from January 24, 2021, but it still needs to obtain the approval of the Postal Administration Committee, the postal price control agency. Among them, priority mail will increase prices by 3.5%, and priority mail express will increase prices by 1.2%.
The U.S. Postal Service stated that the increase in postal prices is mainly based on changes in the consumer price index, while changes in postal service prices are mainly adjusted in accordance with changes in market conditions. "In industrialized countries, the U.S. Post's letter service is cheaper. Unlike other carriers, the U.S. Post does not charge fuel surcharges and door-to-door delivery or traditional Saturday delivery surcharges. Therefore, the new regulations increase letter fees. It can maintain the competitiveness of postal services and bring in more revenue.
According to the CEP-Research website, the price of United Parcel and FedEx in the U.S. land transportation increased by 4.9% in 2021. Since December 27 this year, non-contractual customers of UPS in the United States have to pay an average of 4.9% more for the ground, aviation and international services provided by it. FedEx will increase most of the U.S. express and land freight charges from January 4, 2021, by 4.9%.
At the beginning of December, Pitney Bowes, a provider of e-commerce, transportation and mail service solutions in the United States, also announced that starting from January 3, 2021, US domestic parcels weighing no less than 1 pound or cross-border exports to 207 countries or regions Courier services will increase prices by 5.9%, and domestic return services will increase prices by 4.9%.
In addition, according to foreign media reports, there will be a huge winter storm in the northeastern United States, which will delay the delivery of UPS, FedEx and USPS .
