Making the Most of Carrier/USPS Hybrid Services

This might become the year of the hybrid delivery services. What is a “hybrid” service? No, it’s not a package delivered only by an electric car. The hybrid services are those that involve pickup and billing by the carrier while using the US Postal Service for final delivery. The rates can be attractive, especially for lower weight packages that are being shipped to residential addresses. But how do these services work and how are they different from the other carrier services?

Generally, there is a contract with the carrier for the hybrid services. The contract might include information about when and how the packages will be picked up, what package weights can be shipped, obviously your rates for the hybrid service, plus other aspects of the service as it applies to your business. In addition to the contract terms, be sure to find out where your packages will go after they leave your door. The carrier aggregates packages shipped with the hybrid service then transports them to the post office location that will make the final delivery. How far a package has to travel during the aggregation process can affect the ultimate delivery time. How long it takes for package delivery can definitely affect your customers’ satisfaction with your company. Also, check the carrier’s liability for these packages. It may be a lower coverage limit than their standard delivery services or there might not be any package insurance available at all.

After you are satisfied that the service will be beneficial for your company, the next step is to decide on the shipping system that will work best for the hybrid service. To use the hybrid services to their best advantage, a multiple carrier shipping software system really makes the difference. Here is how this works in the CPS shipping software.

Since CPS provides the ability to ship with multiple carriers, including hybrid services for both FedEx and UPS, you are able to take advantage of the RateBot feature in CPS to ensure that the most efficient and economical choice is made automatically according to business rules you create. CPS also maintains the rates for the carriers and services used for shipping. This means you can use the hybrid service any time you want it, plus you can use “best rate and service” shopping tools so that CPS can make the best selection automatically. You can instantly ship any package with any carrier or service, so you control your shipping process including how much you pay for each package. Adding this aspect to the hybrid services puts you firmly in charge of your shipping, which is important more than ever today where EVERY dollar counts.

Consider all of these aspects when you are investigating the hybrid delivery services and you can come out ahead with every package. For more information about our shipping software solutions, visit http://www.HarveySoft.com/.