A shipping firm needs to ensure various things. For instance, the things must travel safely without any safety hazard and have to obtain a compatible price. Hence, it becomes crucial for the individual to investigate and choose a shipping carrier service that fulfills all the above conditions.
There are three prominent options available in his regard: USPS, UPS and FedEx. Nevertheless, which one of the three is better to go with? Keep on reading; the upcoming content will introduce all the crucial information you need about shipping carrier services. So, without wasting time in the discussion, let us look at the content. Let’s start
USPS vs UPS vs FedEx- a basic overview
It is always essential for a newbie to look upon the basic overview to ensure better understanding. Please have a look.
USPS
USPS is an abbreviation for United States Postal Service and is an agency providing Post Office U.S Mail or Postal Service.With over 516 636 carrier employees, The USPS is one of the few good government agencies authorized and legalized by the United States Constitution.
The firm was also the first postmaster general that served the Kingdom of Britain’s colonies. Today it is one of the world’s most reputed and trusted postal services.
UPS
Launched on august 28, 1907 by James Casey, UPS- aka United Parcel Service is an international shipping and receiving supply chain management firm having its roots set in the USA (the United States Of America. The firm has grown to become a Fortune 5000 company and is one of the world’s most extensive shopping courier services by revenue, with an annual profit of 85 billion dollars in 2020. People use the service to send almost anything from heavyweight inventory to delicate and fragile items worldwide.
FedEx
FedEx, which stands for Federal Express corporation, is another American multinational conglomerate holding organization providing services related to transportation and courier. For those who don’t know much about the organization, it has been used from 1973 to now as one of the world’s most efficient and cost-effective air courier services.
In addition, the firm was one of the initial organizations to offer customers overnight delivery as a flagship service. Since then, FedEx has decided to expand their services to a higher level. Hence they started to offer various other services such as FedEx Ground, FedEx Freight, FedEx supply chain, and the list.
Shipping carrier cost
Shipping carrier cost is the primary and most important thing for a customer. Here are details of each of the three service’s shipping carrier costs
USPS
Ground: starting at 7.01 US dollars
3-day express: starting at 3.01 dollars
Overnight: starting at 22.75 US dollars
UPS
Ground: starting at 8.76 US dollars
3-day express: starting at 12.35 US dollars
Overnight: starting at 32.09 US Dollars
FedEx
Ground: Starting at 8.76 US dollars
3 DAY EXPRESS: starting at 17,82 dollars
Overnight: starting at 29.05 US Dollars
However, keep in mind that some other costs are included in the carrier costs. Find details below
Other costs are included in USPS.
1. Scheduled pickups: USPS offers customers free packaging pickups they can schedule on their official websites. These pickups are based on availability. Hence do not forget to check for your desired slots to ignore every kind of unease.
2. Free tracking: the customers are provided with the facility of door-to-door tracking with timely updates. That means you get to scan our parcel at every stage of shipment.
3. Free insurance for customers: Priority mail express and priority mail packages provides the customers with insurance worth: 50 dollars if you buy postage at the post office.
4. Volume discount: USPS offers nominal and minimal possible rates to shippers using shipping software and applications to access commercial pricing rates. You can avail this opportunity if you are a partner with ShipBob or any other fulfillment provider.
UPS carrier cost includes
Free tracking: with UPS, the customers are enabled to get door-to-door tracking.
Free insurance under 100 dollars: UPS covers the package’s cost content and postage cost for up to a hundred dollars in the event of a missing or damaged shipment
Commercial discount: UPS grants huge discounts to high-volume shippers based on case-by-case negotiate
ions.
FedEx carrier cost includes
Free tracking: FedEx provides the service of door-to-door tracking to all of its customers.
Free insurance for anything under 100 dollars: FedEx claims to cover the cost of the content of packages and postage costs for up to a hundred dollars in the event of a damage or loss shipment. The policy is excellent for people who want to send fragile and sensitive items through postage.
Commercial discounts: FedEx claims to provide heavy discounts on high-volume shipments on a case-by-case negotiated basis.
Ways to cut shipping carrier costs
No one wants to bear some extra bucks for shipments. You can cut a lot of shipping carrier costs by following tios mentioned below.
1. Ask for discounted shipping rates.
Saving money is all about taking advantage of all the available opportunities. Therefore, try to maximize the “Economies of scale”. In other words, the higher the volume you ship, the higher the amount of negotiated discount.
Nevertheless, entering into such negotiations may seem a complex task. You must go through the proper channels. The same is why working with a third party-logistics makes more sense.
2. Ship from closer shipping zones
Whenever an online business starts, one of their priority is to do inventory on hand to fulfill the orders. Nonetheless, it may create problems when you factor distance into the shipping equation.
The shipping carriers make use of shipping zones in the United States. The location for order shipments is the point of origin in zone 1. And the address to which the order is supposed to get shipped is the destination zone.
3. Switch to poly mailers
Poly Mailers require less space than ordinary boxes on trucks. Plus they obtain a lesser weight as well. As a result, each carrier prices them lower than any other three-dimensional parcels.
We agree this isn’t the best option for sending delicate and fragile items such as glasses and decor pieces. However, you can still utilise them for stiff inventory.
USPS, UPS, & FedEx: Which is best for different use cases
UPS, USPS and FedEx provide pretty similar business services. However, there still are some variants in terms of cost and other things that diversify the usage. Below is our observation in different cases.
Small packages
Looking for a courier service to ship small packages? Well! Go with the USPS. It is the premier carrier the small packages and proffers lowest possible costs simultaneously. Letter carriers drop off these types of packages on their regular mail routes.
Havier packages
Go with UPS for havier packages as it offers the best rates for heavy packages and terrific discounts.
Overweight shipping
If you want a service to ship heavily overweight items, go with FedEx, as there are different periods you can choose from. Plus, the prices are pretty nominal as well.
Flat rate shipping
For flat rate shipping, we suggest going for USPS. The reason behind this recommendation is the cheap rates provided by the service.
Having flexibility in carrier options is critical.
Most successful businesses grow to a point when they have to optimize their online shipping strategy. If your business is also at this point, it might be the time to partner with ShipBob or any other 3PL service .
The case gets even more crucial if you send various packages to locations around the country. The 3PL allows you to efficiently serve your customers by meeting their demands from the most optimal locations.
USPS vs UPS vs FedEx FAQs
Which service is the cheapest among the three options: USPS, UPS or FedEx?
USPS is typically considered the cheapest option among all. After that, UPS comes second, followed by FedEx.
However, remember that you may have to pay an equivalent amount to what you have saved to deal with the delayed deliveries and other problems.
Which is the best and cheapest shipping carrier option for ecommerce?
There is no definte answer to this question, as it all depends upon you and the needs of your business. However, many online brands and businesses usually opt for USPS.
How Many containers can a cargo ship carry?
a cargo ship can carry about 24000 containers.
What’s better: ups or fedex?
It depends on your needs.
Which carrier is cheapest for shipping? / who is cheaper for shipping
USPS is said to be the most reliable company.
Is it better to use USPS or UPS?
Again, there are no precise answers to this question either. All of the services have different aspects. Hence determine the needs of your business to find the better option for yourself/
Wrap up
On the bottom line, USPS, UPS, And FedEx are the three most effective and popular options when it comes to carrier ship. Hence, it becomes crucial for an individual to conduct a proper investigation before you select an option.
The same is why we have formed this article for your help that will help you decide on a better option for yourself. Plus, there are some essential questions answered as well. So, make sure to read very carefully.