PLAN NOW
For Big Dimensional Charge Increases Coming in January. |
By DOUG CALDWELL
VP of International for AFMS Global Logistics Management Service in Portland Oregon. |
Late on a Friday afternoon in early May, FedEx dropped a bombshell – effective January 1, 2015, all ground shipments, regardless of size, will be subject to DIM (short for dimensional) charges. For many shippers, this will amount to a double-digit rate increase, and that will be on top of the yet-to-be-announced 2015 rate increases (last year’s increase was 4.9%). Currently, only an estimated 15% of FedEx ground shipments — those 3 cubic feet or greater — are subject to these charges. FedEx now delivers about 4.6 million ground packages per day, so that’s 3.9 million new daily packages that will now be subject to the charges.