Summary of Important 2009 Changes by the Major US Parcel Carriers

Now that the dust has settled on this year's shipping updates, here is a summary of major changes by each carrier. UPS and FedEx changes were effective 01/5/09 with the US Postal Service® changes effective 01/18/09. I've also listed any changes in our CPS™ shipping software that go along with the carrier changes.

For FedEx® Express, FedEx Ground and FedEx Home Delivery shippers, there are new prices for 2009. This includes new rates for shipping and for services like COD, etc, as well as new rural surcharge areas. In addition to adding these changes, CPS includes an updated, smoother end of day closeout procedure for FedEx.

For UPS®, there are new prices 2009 UPS rates and services. UPS also has new rural and extended area surcharges. International UPS shippers will benefits from new shipment validation of international shipments, plus the UPS international Paperless Invoice (a contracted service) is also updated. CPS adds all of these plus an updated end of day closeout for UPS.

Those using the US Postal Service must consider several important changes. There are new domestic package rates and new discount classifications - Commercial Base and Commercial Plus. Commercial Plus is the highest discount category. Only those shipping the highest volumes (100,000+ per year) can take advantage of the Commercial Plus discounts. Starting 1/18/09, if you manifest you must use USPS® Commercial Base domestic rates. Retail rates are no longer accepted on the manifest. If you use a manifest, each of these Commercial price groups provides better prices, but it's only for domestic US shipments.

International USPS shippers also have a rate discount category, Commercial Base. However, Commercial Base rates for international shipping are only available when using an online postage service like Endicia. With discounts up to up to 10% for some services, this is a great option for international shippers.

Finally, a new small flat rate box is now available for domestic and international shippers. All of these money saving rates, requirements, etc., are in the newest CPS.

The newest rates for the regional carrier SpeeDee Delivery are also included in CPS. SpeeDee added a new account format which is also support in the 2009 version of CPS.

That's what's new so far. Coming up are changes for USPS shippers that will be effective on 05/11/09. More info on those as it's available.