Peak...er, DEMAND Surcharges 2023 - Who's In? Who's Out?
USPS - Out
In the past, the United States Postal Service weathered the holiday season with the help of tens of thousands of temporary workers. However, since January 2021, USPS has moved 150,000 pre-career employees into career positions. With a consistent employee roster, USPS plans to hire only 10,000 seasonal employees nationwide instead of the 51,000 engaged in 2021.
This strategy is a win-win for the carrier and clients. USPS Executive Vice President and Chief Commerce and Business Solutions Officer Jakki Krage Strako said, "If we're not going to incur a hyper-expense, like we have in past seasons, we had the opportunity to make sure that we were not charging the demand fees, as our competitors call it."
Amazon - One foot in. One foot out.
Last year, Amazon introduced peak surcharges, following in the footsteps of UPS and FedEx. This year, it's doing things a little differently. While Amazon plans to keep its Holiday Peak Fulfillment Fee for its Fulfillment by Amazon service, it will not impose a surcharge on its shipping ground service. During the peak season, third-party sellers can expect charges between $0.20 and $2.50 per package, which will cover "increased fulfilment and transport operating costs during the busy holiday shopping season."FedEx - In
In FedEx's Q1 2024 Earnings Call, FedEx doubled down on its holiday pricing strategy, with Executive Vice President and Chief Customer Officer Brie Carere stating, "from a pricing strategy perspective, we're committed to our strategy, which does include peak surcharges."The good news for most FedEx customers? They won't be affected. Carere explains, "The vast majority of our customers actually do not pay a peak surcharge because their volume just doesn't flex up enough to qualify for the peak surcharge." However, customers at the enterprise level who ship more than 20,000 total FedEx Express and FedEx Ground U.S. domestic packages in a calculation week could pay between $1.35 and $7.40 per package in demand surcharges.