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There is a massive increase in prices for 2019 - letters only go up 10%, but first class package shipping is now based on area you are sending it ( zones ) .
According to the OFFICIAL RELEASE it will now cost me up to 3x more to ship small packages ( non commercial rates ) !
It appears that there may be price increases coming from all of the LTL carriers soon.
The reason given is that there is a shortage of Class A & Class B drivers.
That wouldn't surprise me. The Fed's have been working toward tighter regulation of people working in the trucking and transportation industry for years now. The annual physicals are more stringent. They also seem to be working toward a more complex system of endorsements that place further limits on what the drivers can and cannot do. ie: They may place limits on whether or not someone with a class lisc. can drive interstate.
All around, it serves to narrow down the number of people that can be hired to do the available work that needs to be done thus creating a labor shortage.
I don't know how many others feel as though i do but i got fed up with all of the government B.S. and turned in my class license a few years ago. Driving wasn't my prime gig. It's just something i did on a temporary basis when things were slow.
Anyway ... yeah ... labor shortage.
There may be some other factors in the mix as well.
Thanks for posting! I probably wouldn't have found out about it until prices were implemented. I will be keeping this in mind as I keep selling online. This makes me wonder about Amazon now. I have recently noticed they've hired their own delivery personnel for selected areas (I think selected areas; if not, everywhere then) and I hardly ever get my package through USPS anymore. Makes me think they either knew about this, or simply saw it coming. Either way, I expect there to be some decline in shipping choice of the USPS now, as they are often more expensive than almost any other carrier. Thank you again for bringing this to our attention! :)
Amazon has at least a couple of different delivery services- Amazon Prime and Amazon Flex. I think lots of people already know about Prime, but Flex is an interesting concept. It is only happening in certain parts of the country and allows drivers to work part-time, create their own schedules, etc. You drive to their warehouse each day and pick up a load of packages to deliver.
I know someone in another part of the country who does this part time (probably 20-25 hours a week or so) and says he will make $50-60k this year. A potential drawback is all the extra miles you put on your vehicle.
The thing about Flex is that deliveries are expected to be made within 1-2 hours. Also, it is used to deliver food as well. Some recipients may choose to tip you, which can add to your income a bit. It is not available in my area, or I'd seriously consider doing it.
I have to admit- it would be interesting juggling Amazon Flex and scrapping and Curb Co. at the same time...
The volume of packages keeps going up because of online shopping yet the post office keeps closing hubs. Fuel prices seems kind of steady.
Seems like there are more reports of shipping trucks flipping over on the highways these days, driving too long and falling asleep or drug use. I think tighter requirements for drivers and less hours driving would be a good thing. If there is a real shortage then pay will go up and more people will get certified.
Domino's pizza delivery ?Quote:
Originally Posted by recyclersteve
Driving taxi ? They deliver packages as well as passengers. I used to get paid in cash every day. That was nice. ;)
I used to work for a delivery service in a major metropolitan area back in the 80's. It's about the same thing as flex. You're an independent contractor that runs his own vehicle and delivers packages. I wasn't that good at it ... but the guys that knew the city inside and out did okay. It would be a lot easier with GPS guiding you from point to point these days.
Anything like that where you are ?
LTL prices were up 50% last time I got a quote from a buyer here on the forum that usually was the cheapest way to go. I heard about a "shortage" of drivers too .
Hopefully they fix that soon to keep the prices more stable.
My average cost for 2 pallets of about 1200-1600 pounds in total was anywhere from $125-140. That shot up to last quote 238.00
They changed the way they were classifying to the buyer thus the price hike. I used to get class 50 but now his shipper classes at 90 or 100
My shipper classed it at 70 so I was able to ship for $178.00
It's a numbers game to find the sweet spot now. It is based on density per load. In other words pack that stuff as tight and heavy as possible
because higher density = lower class . It also may help your density/weight ratio to use heavier pallets like oak. My next shipment of pallets is going out soon
and I'll update how I made out but I am going to input different weights, measurements etc to see if I can find the sweet spot of density to get the best
price on shipping. There are online class calculators to figure it out. Kinda when I used to ship Fed ex - 65.00 lbs was a known sweet spot for best price per pound.
Shipping costs come right off the top so at times I wish I were closer to the buyers .
You're telling me that a 13 oz or less package that cost say $4 as FCP with Postal is now going to be pushing $12...??? That's just nuts. The Postal system is going to price itself out of existence before long. A steady part-time 2nd job is looking more and more the way to go for me than dinking around with various side gigs. Most of my ebay things I sell are "smalls" in price and shipping costs is already the deciding factor in many cases if people are willing to buy or not. The era of diminishing returns may be here...