Are You Ready for Small Business Saturday?

11/20/2015 — Leah Palnik

Mark your calendars! Small Business Saturday^® this year is November 28th. Since 2010, this day has been dedicated to supporting small businesses and local communities across the country. Last year, 88 million people got out to Shop Small^®, making this "small" day a pretty big deal. 

If you own a small business be sure to take advantage of the free marketing materials you can use to promote the day and encourage shoppers to visit your business. The more you do to promote it, the more customers you'll see come through your door. 

If you're interested in shopping small, click here to find participating businesses for dinning, shopping, entertainment and more. You'll find a great tool to search for local merchants in your community that you can help support with your loyalty over the holiday shopping season.

Not only is PartnerShip a small business, but we also actively support thousands of other small businesses across North America with discounted shipping services and unique, value-added shipping solutions. We're glad to support this annual event which is sponsored by American Express. For more information on PartnerShip services and how we can help support your small business, click here to contact us.

Understanding the UPS and FedEx Small Package Rate Increases

11/13/2015 — Leah Palnik

Every year small package carriers FedEx and UPS evaluate their shipping rates and make adjustments that can have a substantial effect on you and your business. The UPS rate increases will be effective December 28, 2015, while the new FedEx rates take effect on January 4, 2016. As always, how much more expensive your particular small package shipments will be in the new year largely depends on many factors, including shipment volumes, sizes, weights, and modes.

Here are some quick facts: 

• FedEx Express package rates are increasing an average of 4.9% for U.S., U.S export, and U.S. import services. 
• UPS Air and International package rates are increasing an average of 5.2%. 
• FedEx Ground and FedEx Home Delivery rates are increasing an average of 4.9%. 
• UPS Ground rates are increasing an average of 4.9%.

The important takeaway when thinking about your shipping expenses in 2016 is that the announced average increases paint an inaccurate picture of the true impact these new rate increases could have on your business. If you find yourself confused by rate bases, average increases, surcharges, and DIM weight pricing — rest assured that PartnerShip is here to help. Our small package shipping experts have dug into the details and analyzed the new rate tables to assess the true impact to shippers and help you make sense of these increases. Learn more about how the 2016 rate increases will affect your shipping costs by downloading the free white paper at PartnerShip.com/RateIncrease.

Download: Understanding the 2016 Small Package Rate Increases

LTL Freight Rate Increases

11/11/2015 — Matt Nagel

Over the past month or so, freight carriers have been announcing general rate increases (GRIs) for this fall/winter. We’ve already provided some information about the small package increases but now PartnerShip has compiled some details for your benefit so you can make well-informed, money and time saving decisions about the best way to handle your freight shipping.

Let’s start with defining GRIs. GRIs are just what they sound like — increases in freight rates. There are many reasons why these increases are necessary, but the main reason is a sharp increase in costs that carriers face every year due to things like fuel, maintenance, insurance, labor costs, and driver shortages.

Listed to the right, we've compiled GRIs for five of the larger national LTL freight carriers, the percentage at which their rates will be increasing, and the dates these increases will go into effect. One important thing to remember is that these rate increases are only averages across all origin and destination ZIP code combinations served by each individual carrier. The effect of the rate increase will vary for individual customers and shipments based on geography, product classification, lane, weight, and dimensions.

Remember, PartnerShip is here to help you offset these increases. We've negotiated with carriers on your behalf to bring you the best rates in the industry with the most reliable national and regional carriers. In addition to great rates, PartnerShip brings a dedicated freight team, free money-saving services like invoice auditing and inbound management, and easy-to-use online freight tools ... all designed to save your company time and take the guesswork out of freight shipping (click here to create a PartnerShip.com account if you haven't already).

If you would like more information on these GRIs, please contact PartnerShip at 800-599-2902 or email sales@PartnerShip.com. Click here for a free, no-obligation shipping analysis to help you determine which carriers and which lanes will save you the most money on your freight shipping.