UPS Rate Hike…Again

Last week I shipped a 6x4x4 box weighing 1lb from Baltimore to NYC via UPS ground and it cost $17.59!
Yes - that is outrageous.
What service did you use?

Here's pirateship.com WI to Baltimore; 2lbs $7.00

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I unloaded UPS trucks as a second/third job maybe 30 years ago. Start at 4am, finish between 7am and 8am (whenever the last trailer was unloaded).

Supervisors would come by with a stopwatch to make sure that a package was leaving the trailer every 3 seconds or less.
I do special lighting projects. For example, the quick assembly racks at the Vegas Grand Prix.

If not for the effort and reliability of you guys I’d be out on my can in a second.
So, thank you. All these posters think that commerce starts and stops with the pedal I bought with free shipping.
 
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UPS is a solid union employer that pays great wages, with top notch healthcare and a pension plan.

Fedex is mostly contract workers.

I will criticize UPS for closing their customer service centers at their sorting hubs recently though. I wouldn't care if you could redirect shipments to a UPS store for free, but they tried to charge me 10 dollars for that. That's not a customer friendly business decision.
 
As a shipper, I loved it a few years back when UPS kept hitting me with a fuel surcharge even after gas had gone down to $1.75

I called my rep and asked him how low gas would have to go for him to quit hitting me with a surcharge. He laughed a nervous laugh.

When they go to an EV fleet, there will be a voltage surcharge.

My favorite UPS living memory: a brown truck is winding its way through lower Manhattan around Prince, Spring, Broome, Thompson, etc.
The driver hops out in front of an auto repair shop run by generations of an Italian family.
The UPS driver and the guys in the shop immediately start yelling at each other in street Italian.
Including the classic opening salvo from the guys in the shop: "HEY, UPPA-U-S...UPPA-U-S!"
 
It's worth remembering that there's no such thing as free shipping.

Amazon, Musician's Friend and all the other retailers that offer low cost or free shipping have negotiated below rock bottom rates with the carriers.

The carriers are getting hammered at those rates and are only able to make it work via the sheer volume of parcel traffic.

Someone has to make up for those near zero margins.

We are that someone.

In the early 2000's, I could ship a bass coast to coast for around $15.00 at a walk-in pack and ship center. Which was a retail rate, no discounts.

To get to a balance point, you have to compare how much stuff comes to you with free shipping versus how much you ship out at asphyxiating rates.
 
I did winter delivery help. Very hard work, driver busted it as well. I have my gripes concerning their lack ofb package insurance coverage, but the workers are great.

Hardest part was getting my union dues back as a seasonal helper. The union rep that answered the phone wasn't the friendliest when they ascertained that I wanted my earned money back.
 
Their service and reliability are outstanding. I rely on them every day for my projects. And of the hundreds of packages my office ships daily to “just in time” installation projects I haven’t had a single missed delivery or lost shipment issue in 3 years.

And if you’ve ever seen the guy with the clip board and the ticker walking behind your driver, that supervisor is counting steps. Anyone who would ever accuse a UPS employee of underperforming has never seen a UPS employee.

Those drivers want and deserve a raise, just like you do. But I don’t hear any drivers or sorters or loaders complaining about you wanting your fair wage.

FWIW most residential parcel deliveries by UPS, FedEx, USPS are loss to break-even unless you live in a congested high rise with consolidated receiving.

ps
More than half your friends and family rely on UPS for their own job.

Worth it.

I'm all for fair wages, but they're closing their customer care counters, eliminating the one thing about UPS I like. Of all the carriers I deal with, UPS is hands down the worst in terms of reliability. Given a choice, I will use any other service.
 
Retailers, financial markets, and others have been anticipating inflation and high interest rates since tariffs were first mentioned months ago. In an environment where prices of major items go up, mysteriously, the prices of everything increases. Why is that? Because they can. The ones who will do best are those who don't need to increase prices, and do it anyway.

Late 70's - 80's showed us how it works. Runaway inflation was decimating Americans personal wealth, and they kept raising interest rates to cool the economy. The two seemed to feed on each other. It was an opportunity for investors, miserable for everyone else. Money Market funds did well.

I skipped to the end without looking to see how many other members have suggested that we're in for an expensive future; I'd bet there are a few.

Tom
 
take it easy. my brother is a proud UPS driver and provides top-rated service to all his customers. he breaks his tail 12 hours a day so people like YOU can get the stuff they buy all the time
I too have friends at UPS….however they don’t deliver to my area. The ding-dongs that do deliver late, leave packages that reek of pot and have a general disregard for their job.
 
Their service and reliability are outstanding. I rely on them every day for my projects. And of the hundreds of packages my office ships daily to “just in time” installation projects I haven’t had a single missed delivery or lost shipment issue in 3 years.

And if you’ve ever seen the guy with the clip board and the ticker walking behind your driver, that supervisor is counting steps. Anyone who would ever accuse a UPS employee of underperforming has never seen a UPS employee.

Those drivers want and deserve a raise, just like you do. But I don’t hear any drivers or sorters or loaders complaining about you wanting your fair wage.

FWIW most residential parcel deliveries by UPS, FedEx, USPS are loss to break-even unless you live in a congested high rise with consolidated receiving.

ps
More than half your friends and family rely on UPS for their own job.

Worth it.
That’s YOUR experience. Assuming it is everyone else’s is just plain short sighted and ignorant.
 
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As huge fan of F1, thanks!
I wish that was enough to get flown out. Which is weird because I’ve gotten passes to games and concerts before from stadiums.
That’s YOUR experience. Assuming it is everyone else’s is just plain short sighted and ignorant.
They deliver 22 million packages per day safely and on time. Assuming that is anything less than spectacular is just plain short sighted and ignorant.