UPS raised rates for its SurePost service and will no longer use the US Postal Service to deliver any of those parcels. The UPS Teamsters union was concerned enough about the resulting surge in volume its workers would have to handle that it warned its members to guard against the possibility of excessive overtime. “So far, the addition of millions of Surepost packages has meant that post-peak layoffs have gotten off to a slow start,” it wrote on January 15th.
Last month, Supply Chain Dive offered a comprehensive explanation of how UPS SurePost works (UPS hands some – but not all – SurePost parcels to the US Postal Service for final-mile delivery), and why UPS raised SurePost rates (because the USPS hiked its rates for carriers using its small-parcel residential-delivery service for programs like UPS SurePost and FedEx SmartPost).
Supply Chain Dive also reported this month that UPS SurePost will no longer deliver to addresses outside the contiguous US, and according to MassLive, “the contract’s end means that UPS will no longer deliver packages to post offices for individuals with P.O boxes.”
The Teamsters shared the following additional information about the changes to UPS SurePost:
“It remains to be seen what will happen to volume in the wake of Surepost. Some customers may move away to low-cost carriers as UPS raises prices. Other customers, especially the big volume ones, will want to stick with UPS because of service and reliability.
“UPS is creating a new service called UPS Ground Saver. This lower-cost service comes with a catch: “The time and date of any package tendered for UPS Ground Saver is not guaranteed.”
“The company’s UPS Ground Saver agreement says that final delivery of packages can be done by UPS or the USPS. This leaves the door open for UPS to reach a future agreement with the postal service. But for now, UPS has confirmed that its agreement with the USPS is terminated.”
A shipping service provider called PirateShip that is popular with smaller sellers noted that the UPS Ground Saver option is the most affordable UPS service that PirateShip offers and described it fully on the PirateShip website.