Shipping Carriers

[rctoyhouse]

What kind of shipping software or solution do you use?

We're tired of paying high rates for USPS priority mail. Although it ships fast, we want a more cost-effective solution.

Any suggestions?

[crankydave]

I'm guessing that what you ship is generally over 1 lb because at 1 lb or less USPS is still a great option.

Check with either integrating with UPS or FedEx. Both of them are more than happy to set you up with an account. Both have ground shipping options which are reasonable.

Dave

[jestep]

USPS is the cheapest I have found for most sized packages. But USPS can be a hassle and their tracking system is completely worthless.

We normally use DHL for our shipments. We have negotiated with UPS and Fedex a lot, but they haven't been able to come within 50% of the price for DHL, so we stick with them. DHL's reliability can be questionable in some rural areas, so UPS may be more appropriate for some shipments.

[toroandbruin]

For heavier packages we ship UPS ground. UPS is reasonable, tracable, and they really do deliver within 5 working days.

For letters we always ship First Class rather than Priority Mail (when a piece is light enough to go via First Class) because we've found delivery is about the same.

If you are sending a lot of heavier catalog-sized pieces, you might design to fit perfectly in the flat-rate Priority Mail envelope so as to get the most weight sent for the least amount of postage.

Past that, the only way I know of to get cheaper rates is to have mailings which qualify for bulk rates or library rate.

[ron angel]

Originally Posted by rctoyhouse

What kind of shipping software or solution do you use?

We're tired of paying high rates for USPS priority mail. Although it ships fast, we want a more cost-effective solution.

Any suggestions?

I receive more packages then I send. I am in london uk Fedex I have found are very good, same guy comes along each time.Royal mail were foolish enough to loose the contract of one of the biggest supplyers of
trade elecrical eqipt a few years ago to them by not delivering in central london on time. I dont know prices as the other lot pay and delivery is included above a certain spend.but very good service.
www.ssrichardmontgomery.com

[toolameforyou]

We use UPS, FedEx, DHL and USPS. Priority mail is the cheapest but (like someone already said) the tracking is no good. DHL came in with some good rates but they can't handle some of our package sizes. UPS is really good for shipments going to businesses but for residential delivery in the continental US, FedEx is kicking everyone's butt here. Their "Home Delivery" service is now mature and their Air shipments are awesome.

FedEx & UPS both put shipping computers in for us and DHL just pointed us to a website (we don't ship as much volume with DHL though).

How many packages per day do you ship, what is the average weight/size, and where do most go? These are all important questions... And, do you pay for the shipping or does your customer?

[rctoyhouse]

Thanks for the responses.

We ship around 100 packages/week, so about 13-15/ per day. We ship primarily to residential addresses.

Packages range fom 5-12 pounds, and most are domestic. We are fine using Airmail for international shipping, but if anyone has an alternative suggestion, i'd love to hear as well.

It seems like Fedex Ground home delivery is the best option, and DHL isn't bad either. What kind of quantity do we need to ship to get bulk rates?

[toolameforyou]

We ship around 100 packages/week... Packages range fom 5-12 pounds, and most are domestic.
It seems like Fedex Ground home delivery is the best option, and DHL isn't bad either. What kind of quantity do we need to ship to get bulk rates?

Based on these numbers, it's going to be tough to get a really competitive rate out of Fedex or DHL. One nice thing about USPS is that they don't require volume (it's a level playing field).

Considering the package weight (and guessing at how hungry your local sales reps might be) I would think you'd need to double your shipping average to get decent rates. This op is based on what we've seen in our area- I'm sure the shipping companies approach different areas with varying degrees of sales pressure.

Still, it doesn't hurt to ask. I would probably talk with sales reps from FedEx & DHL (and let them know that they are competing for my business). I would also let them know that their current entrenched competition is the USPS. Then I would provide them with a business plan for future growth and try to get a rate quote with that in mind. The shipping rates you end up with will still be higher than USPS but the added customer service and insurance should more than make up for it (the majority of our customers don't mind paying a few bucks extra for FedEx... and it really is only a "few bucks" in most cases). Shipment tracking that actually works is worth $2.00 to me- esp. if my order total exceeds $50.00.

Good luck with all this.

[davidmg]

We use USPS for orders under 1lb and we use Fedex for everything else. We ship between 150-200 packages daily and UPS and DHL haven't come close to the rates that Fedex offers. We also have considerably less damage and loss with Fedex. UPS we consistantly had damage. The software Fedex ship manager is easy to use. Orders from all our websites are downloaded to our shipping dept and labels are generated. Fedex is more than happy to send out a programer free of charge if needed to collaborate with your software needs.

[bathgems]

We ship bathroom fixtures domestically, mostly to residential. About 200 packages per week. UPS gave us Worldship software which is nice because you can print the laser labels and then track the shipments. You can also search through the entire database by name, zip, etc so when a customer calls up you can trace their shipment by searching for their info in Worldship and then hit the track button and it will tell you where it is.

Steve

[StevenAllen]

Just a FYI for Webpro memebers. EmerchantsGroup has been in negotiations with UPS and FedEx for preferred rates for our 600+ members. Once we have 1,000 members in our group we are eligible to receive some of their BEST rates.