Carriers are bracing for unprecedented volumes as the normal holiday shop and ship hysteria meets the abnormal nine-month surge in e-commerce as consumers continue to avoid stores due to the coronavirus pandemic. Small to midsize customers that typically pay higher rates throughout the year will be exempt from the surcharges unless their volumes exceed thresholds that would be hard to reach even during the holidays. At UPS, the surcharges kick in at 25,000 parcels per week from a combination of air and ground residential deliveries, as well as its SurePost service with the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) where parcels are inducted deep into the USPS network for last-mile deliveries. At FedEx, the threshold is 35,000 parcels shipped weekly by air or ground for residential and commercial deliveries. The FedEx surcharges will apply only to residential deliveries, however.
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