UPS Rate Change Effective Dec 29, 2014

Effective December 29, 2014, dimensional weight will be used to calculate the billable weight of all UPS Ground packages.

This is not good news for anyone using an online shipping system. Dimensional Weight is about how you pack your order and not the total order weight. I have a call into my UPS Account Manager for clarification now. The UPS Dimensional Weight usually only applies to shipments where the package volume is larger than 5,184 cubic inches. The above statement seems to contradict that.

More to follow after my call is returned....

Fedex has also confirmed that Dimensional weight tariff structure will apply to all ground services beginning Jan 2015.

well so much for any online system being able to handle shipping costs accurately. Dimensional Weight is its own nightmare for that.

I have a solution for this but it takes time to "teach" your shipping system how to pack orders. I have it working in a rough format currently but I have really not had the time to fully develop it. Quite frankly, I have modified most of my store prices to include ground shipping with quantity discounts for items shipped together. This has worked so well, I have not looked at my old solution anymore.

Found the announcement...and no, my account rep has not returned my call yet :( I have sent an email to their Public Relations Department (not that it will do any good) explaining how they are increasing their profits directly out of my pocket with this new plan.

http://www.pressroom.ups.com/Press+Releases/Archive/2014/Q2/UPS+Announces+Dimensional+Weight+Changes

Fedex was the first to announce this change. Then UPS followed suit. USPS for now has said that they are not going to change their criteria. However, USPS will also eventually do the same as their is a partnership between them to get packages delivered. But I would say this is a smart move as lightweight items in a big box takes away from other shipments. Going purely on size will maximize capacity at the appropriate costs. While it may be a negative for shippers you have to realize that they no longer want to give away space as its not cost-effective.

yaritai:

Fedex was the first to announce this change. Then UPS followed suit. USPS for now has said that they are not going to change their criteria. However, USPS will also eventually do the same as their is a partnership between them to get packages delivered. But I would say this is a smart move as lightweight items in a big box takes away from other shipments. Going purely on size will maximize capacity at the appropriate costs. While it may be a negative for shippers you have to realize that they no longer want to give away space as its not cost-effective.

I agree in general as it is their business call and my letter to UPS specifically acknowledged that it would promote more efficient packing. However, most folks do not understand that no online store shipping software can handle this (at least that I know of). For some online retailers, you could be under quoting your shipping by up to 50% ESPECIALLY for 2nd Day and Overnight shipments. This will be a major hit for my shipping calculations and I think we need to get a solution in place quickly

g2ktcf:

I agree in general as it is their business call and my letter to UPS specifically acknowledged that it would promote more efficient packing. However, most folks do not understand that no online store shipping software can handle this (at least that I know of). For some online retailers, you could be under quoting your shipping by up to 50% ESPECIALLY for 2nd Day and Overnight shipments. This will be a major hit for my shipping calculations and I think we need to get a solution in place quickly

I thought the dimensional change only related to ground shipments. It will ultimately boil down to the wording of the tariff document

RixStix:

I thought the dimensional change only related to ground shipments. It will ultimately boil down to the wording of the tariff document

This new change that is going to take place for Fedex and UPS is targeted to their ground shipments. However, the air shipments are already being charged as dimensional weight.

But for those who are unaware you should be talking with a account manager to setup your negotiated rates. While ground shipments do not get much savings, the air shipments get hefty discounts. We use the difference between retail and negotiated to self-insure our shipments for the last 6 years which has been a profitable business on its own merit.

I already get charged dimensional weight by UPS for ground. If I ship a 10 lb Item in a 12x12x12 box, it costs more than a 12x12x6 box. I have always found that zc quotes more that the actual cost, so I have never really cared much about it.

vanhorn_s:

I already get charged dimensional weight by UPS for ground. If I ship a 10 lb Item in a 12x12x12 box, it costs more than a 12x12x6 box. I have always found that zc quotes more that the actual cost, so I have never really cared much about it.

You should be talking with your account manager. USPS goes by 1 cubic foot while UPS Ground currently is at 3 cubic feet before dimensional weight kicks in.

vanhorn_s:

I already get charged dimensional weight by UPS for ground. If I ship a 10 lb Item in a 12x12x12 box, it costs more than a 12x12x6 box. I have always found that zc quotes more that the actual cost, so I have never really cared much about it.

This is only due to how you have your account setup with your carrier and is not a function of Zen-Cart. Your account info as submitted by UPS for example can be setup to quote via retail rates, base commercial rates or your negotiated rates (yes there are that many differences and price differences can be 20% or more even for UPS Ground). This can be changed by your account manager.

If your business is using the retail rate quotes, then you are probably ok as the fat in those numbers will cover you. However, you will be paying more for your shipping and your profits will DECREASE. Think about it like this: Your software overcharges and your customers pay -> you pocket the difference which goes directly to your bottom line as PROFIT. Now you will remove this increased cost from your profits. The money must come from somewhere.

However, if your business is like mine where every shipping dollar is questioned, then you have to deal with the information I originally posted. My customers are extremely sensitive to shipping costs. I do not mark them up so this is critical to my business. Also, as more brick and mortar stores start to fight back for their sales....expect your shipping costs to be examined much more carefully.

Keep in mind this is not an argument...this is about getting information out there that CAN affect your business. That does not mean that it will in all circumstances.

yaritai:

You should be talking with your account manager. USPS goes by 1 cubic foot while UPS Ground currently is at 3 cubic feet before dimensional weight kicks in.

and that 3 cubic foot limit will be dropped at the end of the year. This changes my dimensional weight shipments from 15% to almost 50%.

The real difference with USPS is that they do not always apply dimensional weight. It is only used when the DW is larger than the Actual Weight and the shipping destination is Zone 5 or higher. See http://pe.usps.com/businessmail101/rates/weight.htm

yaritai:

which has been a profitable business on its own merit.

and this is purpose of this post! It is all about YOUR profits! :smile:

To avoid entering sizes, and modifying the module (or using a different UPS module) you could take the dimensions of your box for the product. and use the following formula:
the cubic of the inches of the box divded by 155 is equal to the dimension weight in lbs.
or for those more visual

W x L x H
155

This only applies to USA domestic shipments, International you divide by 139 for lbs

bislewl:

To avoid entering sizes, and modifying the module (or using a different UPS module) you could take the dimensions of your box for the product. and use the following formula:
the cubic of the inches of the box divded by 155 is equal to the dimension weight in lbs.
or for those more visual

W x L x H
155

This only applies to USA domestic shipments, International you divide by 139 for lbs

well that is part of the problem is that the calculations change depending on the shipping method. Now if you replace Actual Weight with Dimensional Weight, you will hurt yourself as well. Some items (I also sell rolls of wire...1 cu ft and it is 28 pounds) will not work with Dimensional Weight and mixing the two numbers in one cart is not realistic either.

The real question to everyone is this..."how many shops are in need of a solution?" "how much do you think Dimensional Weight changes are going to change your bottom line". I am not thinking of any "for fee solution" but trying to gauge interest so that I get some folks together in a team to implement something I have partially done already (and seem to have lost but the algorithm is solid).

You would just put in the greater of the dimensional or actual weight into the cart.

There is this module that does what you are looking for, and even takes it a step further to figure out which of the boxes you should ship the order in.

http://www.zen-cart.com/downloads.php?do=file&id=1826

It includes an older version of USPS and UPS XML. Numinix will probably update it to use the newer UPS version. And it also works with FedEx Webservices and UPS Webservices

bislewl:

You would just put in the greater of the dimensional or actual weight into the cart.

There is this module that does what you are looking for, and even takes it a step further to figure out which of the boxes you should ship the order in.

http://www.zen-cart.com/downloads.php?do=file&id=1826

It includes an older version of USPS and UPS XML. Numinix will probably update it to use the newer UPS version. And it also works with FedEx Webservices and UPS Webservices

His stuff is great...but one of the shortcomings is there is no real description of how this works. There is no support thread either. I will dig into it and see how it handles things. Anyone have any input on this module and how it works?

g2ktcf:

His stuff is great...but one of the shortcomings is there is no real description of how this works. There is no support thread either. I will dig into it and see how it handles things. Anyone have any input on this module and how it works?

The "Shipping Boxes Manager" appears only to manage a db of shipping box size and dimensions. This would be a useful tool in what I am planning but it is not the complete solution.

g2ktcf:

More to follow after my call is returned....

I am beginning to wonder about customer service now. I have tried getting in touch with my account rep everyday since this post. No returned messages at all.

About a month ago, I signed up with FedEX and spoke with a very polite lady in the commercial department. After a 30 minute conversation about my shipping volume she says my account is too large for her department and she will have a local account executive get back with me. That was 6 weeks ago. I even called 2 weeks later to ask why I have not gotten a return call. This particular agent was quite short with me saying that she can only forward a message to them.

Has all customer service been lost with these guys? I cannot even get my local Postmaster to return my calls.

g2ktcf:

The "Shipping Boxes Manager" appears only to manage a db of shipping box size and dimensions. This would be a useful tool in what I am planning but it is not the complete solution.

It not only manages the boxes you have but it also keeps track of your items, so it determines what size box they can go in additionally. You can select an item to ship in it's box, to skip looking for a box.

Also it has the ability to nest products. So lets say you are selling wire. and you know that 10 gauge wire is 10 inches around and has a 5 inches whole. The module can calculate the amount of space in the middle of the wire (5 inches) along with the available space between the round wire and the square corner of the box. Quite handy.