How to Save Money on Shipping - Part 1: Service Levels

Any company that does any business is engaged in some sort of shipping - either sending or receiving, and often both.  Subsequently, shipping is a major expense.  There are many ways to reduce your shipping expenses without dramatically altering the way you do things.  These posts will focus on UPS shipping in particular, but should translate equally to FedEx or any other small package carrier.

Can it get there in this?

Parcel carriers have multiple shipping levels - Ground, 3rd Day, 2nd Day, and Next Day.  Each service level gets progressively more expensive.  One of the easiest ways to reduce your shipping expenses is to know the transit times from you to your customer.  It is a waste of money to send something 2nd Day Air when it gets there in one day via Ground service anyway.  Essentially, you're paying more for it to take longer to get there.

The confusion with this stems from what the carriers will "officially" guarantee.  3rd Day, 2nd Day and Next Day Air are all guaranteed accordingly - 3 days, 2 days or 1 day transit.  Ground, however, is guaranteed in 1-5 business days.  This does not mean your package will take anywhere between one and five business days to get to its destination.  It means that the carrier doesn't know where your shipment originates and where it's going, and therefore can't tell you how long it will take to get there.  A shipment from Atlanta to Jacksonville, for example, is a guaranteed one-day Ground transit, while Atlanta to Denver would be three days, and Atlanta to San Diego would be a five-day transit point.  The only other difference is that Ground shipments are not time guaranteed.  They will get there whenever the consignee/receiver gets their usual delivery, while the air services are guaranteed by a certain time.

Or does it require this?

For example, if you have a 10 lb package that is going from Atlanta to Jacksonville and you need it there the next business day, you have two options (prices quoted are from UPS posted daily rates):

UPS Ground - $9.41
UPS Next Day Air Saver - $49.45

Both of these shipments are equally guaranteed to deliver the next business day.  The only difference is that the Next Day Air shipment is time-guaranteed and the Ground shipment is not, but both are guaranteed to deliver on the same day.

The web sites for both UPS and FedEx will let you determine transit times and freight estimates for any shipment.  Use these, or print the transit-time maps, to know when you need to upgrade the service level and when you can ship Ground.  This alone can save you significantly.

UPS Calculate Time and Cost	UPS Transit Map
FedEx Calculate Time and Cost	FedEx Transit Map

Choosing the appropriate service level and using Ground services where applicable instead of air services will offer significant savings.  Web sites for both UPS and FedEx will help you, and there is no charge for using either.  Choose wisely.  Pay less.

For additional information on how to save money on shipping, look at the next post in this series, How to Save Money on Shipping - Part 2: Bundling and Shipments and Part 3: Surcharges and Other Charges.

Shipping in the Extreme Cold

With most of the United States experiencing the coldest winter in recent history, it’s important to take a look at how extreme cold can affect shipping and how you can accommodate these conditions.

 

Cold weather affects your carton sealing efforts primarily in two ways – it affects the adhesive on the tape, and it affects the surface of the box.  Bear in mind that, when shipping, your product will be exposed not only to the environment at your location, but at the destination and also everywhere in between (which, depending upon where it’s going and whether it is shipping ground or air, may not be a very direct route).

The Effect of Extreme Cold on Carton Sealing Tape

There are three types of pressure sensitive (as opposed to water activated) carton seal tape – acrylic, hot melt, and natural rubber.  Each type has its own strengths and weaknesses.  Regardless of the type of tape you choose, each of these must be applied in an environment where the temperature is at least above freezing (32 degrees Fahrenheit, and 35 degrees or higher for hot melt tape).  Application in a temperature below these limits will not guarantee a good seal and could lead to problems as your package transits to its destination.

Once the tape has been applied, the different tapes have different temperature tolerances.  Acrylic and natural rubber tapes are rated to hold their adhesion in temperatures as low as -30 degrees Fahrenheit.  Hot melt tape can hold its adhesion down to -40 degrees Fahrenheit.

Almost anything has the potential to freeze, and the adhesive on your carton seal tape is no exception.  While it is very tolerant of the cold, none are immune to the effects of extreme cold.  Make sure you prepare accordingly when sealing your boxes and don’t forget to factor in both the destination of your shipment and the route it will likely follow.  Also keep in mind that the primary mode of transportation for ground parcel shipping and all LTL/freight shipping is in trailers (transiting via truck or rail) which are not climate controlled.  Even packages shipped via air will be in non-climate controlled environments for potentially extended periods of time.

The Effect of Extreme Cold on Boxes

Factoring in the variables noted above regarding carton seal tape, it’s also important to note how extreme cold can affect your boxes.  The biggest problem with extreme cold and boxes would be moisture.  This can happen before or after the tape is applied, particularly as the box makes its transit and passes from non-climate controlled environments to those that are climate controlled.  Such cases can produce moisture on the box either as frost or snow melts, or simply in the form of condensation resulting from temperature changes.

To accommodate for this, it’s important, once again, to look at the type of tape being used.  All of the standard pressure sensitive carton seal tapes – acrylic, hot melt, and natural rubber – have good resistance to moisture.  But of these, the tape with the greatest moisture resistance is natural rubber.  It also has the best adhesion to boxes with dusty or rough surfaces or those made of recycled materials.

The moisture and/or condensation that can affect the outside of your box can also affect the product inside.  In this case, it’s important to look at protecting the product itself, as well as the box in which it ships.  The best protection would typically be to enclose the product in a poly bag.  This will protect it from most moisture issues, including those where the box is exposed to snow or ice which later changes to water and could penetrate the box, exposing the contents to moisture or even weakening the box to the point of risking fall-out.

Recommendation: Natural Rubber Tape

To ensure the best adhesion in any temperature or environment, natural rubber carton sealing tape is the best selection for carton seal.  It is also, unfortunately, the most expensive.  If you can't justify the cost of natural rubber, acrylic tape or hot melt tape carton tape will generally be sufficient, but not as reliable in extreme cold as the natural rubber. 

 

Natural rubber will give you the best adhesion (keeping in mind that it must be applied at temperatures of at least 32 degrees Fahrenheit) in extreme cold and also hold its adhesion down to -30 degrees Fahrenheit while still retaining its hold in spite of any reasonable humidity or moisture.

Take a look at the natural rubber tapes that are available and contact us with any questions you may have.  We will be happy to assist you in ensuring your product gets where it needs to go as safely and reliably as possible.