DHL and UPS impose new parcel surcharges as FedEx limits EU exports

DHL and UPS have introduced new surcharges in their home markets for various parcel services while FedEx has imposed new limits on exports from Europe as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to disrupt international demand and transportation capacity.

In Germany, DHL Parcel resumed its international business parcel service to several major overseas markets at the end of May but introduced new ‘crisis surcharges’ in parallel to cope with high operating costs. These weight-based surcharges for B2B parcels include Australia (€3.60/kg), Brazil (€3.10/kg), Japan (€1.45/kg), South Africa (€3.10/kg), South Korea (€2.50/kg), Singapore (€2.10/kg) and Taiwan (€2.80/kg).

The surcharge for DHL Paket International shipments to the USA was already adjusted on May 11 from a flat fee of €16 per package to a weight-based surcharge of €2.20/kg. In addition, DHL Parcel has also resumed shipments to Canada but advised customers that these will be transported as ocean freight due to very limited transport capacity and “will be subject to considerable delays”.

UPS imposes surcharge on US B2C deliveries

For its part, UPS introduced a surcharge on some categories of US domestic packages as of May 31 in addition to its existing international surcharge. The new US domestic surcharge is specifically targeted at businesses that are currently shipping more than usual.

The surcharge of $0.30 per package applies for Ground Residential and Surepost deliveries for shippers whose weekly volumes exceed their February weekly average by more than 25,000 packages. In addition, customers who ship more than 500 Large Packages per week will have to pay a surcharge of $31.45 per package.

FedEx limits EU – US volumes

Meanwhile, due to transatlantic backlogs, FedEx has put a temporary restriction on all FedEx Express and TNT Economy shipments from Europe to the United States, Canada, Latin America and the Caribbean to a maximum of 100 kg per shipper per day, effective from May 29th, 2020, until further notice.

This move follows a surge in China – Europe volumes in recent weeks that led the company to add extra flights to accommodate the demand. However, delays in imports may still occur, not least as clearance teams are processing significant extra volumes, according to a service update.

FedEx had already suspended various services from Asia Pacific (including China) to the rest of the world, including freight and economy shipments, due to capacity limitations. There is also a daily limit of 100kg per shipper for International Priority shipments from China & Hong Kong to Europe.

In Europe, FedEx made a number of adjustments to its network at the end of March, including re-routing shipments from the Charles de Gaulle (CDG) Paris hub to Cologne and expanding the cross-border trucking network which resulted in increased transit times for shipments moving within Europe.

But the company said in its latest service update: “We are now pleased to confirm that we transitioned volumes back to our CDG hub with effect from June 1st, 2020. As a result, most intra-European FedEx Express Priority and TNT Next Day shipments are expected to be delivered as of the next working day again to the best of our ability, and so far as external circumstances allow (subject to unchanged COVID-19 restrictions).”