Your business’s shipping strategy is critical to your bottom line. But how can you know if you’re getting the best rates for shipping your product? There are a few guidelines to check to ensure that you have the best pricing available.

Multi-Carrier Contracts

“Shopping around” is a customary practice to garner the best price on anything from produce to electronics. A company’s shipping business is worthy of considerations from multiple carriers. A multi-carrier approach ensures that your business receives the greatest savings on shipping. By having a two-pronged approach to your shipping, you can transition from one carrier to another if it means garnering the best pricing. Another option is to consider using a supply chain management company that can pass along savings to their customers.

Advantages of Dimensional Pricing

Dim weight pricing doesn’t have to be a detriment to your company - in fact, you can use it to your favor if you’re aware of your packaging. Most corporations have already reduced the size of their shipping packages amid rising dimensional weight costs in the past few years. However, recent dimensional divisor reduction requires shippers to address this problem immediately. Transitioning to even a slightly smaller box with less void fill or padding can make an enormous difference.

Dimensional discounts with USPS apply to packages less than 20 pounds and less than 50% of a cubic foot. To determine if your packages qualify, the following formula is used:

(Length x Width x Height)/194 – all in inches

Other discounts can apply as packages take up even less of a cubic foot than 50%. For example, if a small, relatively heavy item were to be shipped via USPS and is charged off actual weight, the price will be much higher than if the dimensional discount formula is applied. 

E-Commerce Effect

We’ve discussed the impact of e-commerce on shipping costs in the past. As e-commerce business continues to grow, the rules on small parcels will only get more complicated. Dim Weight Solutions cannot overstate the importance of knowing your package dimensions. While the dimensional surcharges will continue to change, it is not necessary to sit back and absorb the increases without action.

It is never too late to revitalize and re-shape your business’s shipping strategy. A combination of changes can make a major impact on savings on shipping. Though changes can seem daunting, especially for an established corporation, Dim Weight Solutions is ready to assist in the transition.