Thailand Post has advised that as a result of the Tropical Depression Dianmu there has been flash flooding in many areas of the northern, north-eastern and central parts of Thailand.
Consequently, delays may be experienced in the following areas:
13xxx, 14xxx, 15xxx, 16xxx
21xxx, 24xxx, 25xxx
30xxx, 32xxx, 33xxx, 34xxx, 36xxx, 37xxx
40xxx, 42xxx
60xxx, 61xxx, 62xxx, 63xxx, 64xxx, 65xxx, 66xxx, 67xxx
72xxx
The Postal Service, in addition to pursuing services changes that would slow 40% of first-class mail, is pursuing a new service standard that would slow delivery of about a third of small, lightweight packages.
USPS executives told the Postal Regulatory Commission Monday that the proposed service change to its first-class package service (FCPS) — lightweight packages that weigh less than a pound — would cut costs by reducing the volume of packages that travel via contracted air delivery.
Read full article here: USPS still expects ‘modest growth’ for small packages as it proposes slower delivery | Federal News Network
Source: Federal News Network
A message from our CEO, Lee Bucktrout…
Having worked in the mailing and fulfilment industry for near on 30 years, I have been fortunate to gain a wealth of experience during this time. Early on in my career, I developed a passion for the mailing industry and this buzz fuelled my desire to start my own business. Taking the plunge in 2000, UK Postings was born with a team of two, fulfilling and distributing magazines and direct mail all over the world.
Ten years on in 2010, Mail Right International was established in New Jersey, USA. With over 30% of our international mail traffic heading for the US, it made perfect sense! Having a local presence in the US allowed us to work directly with the United States Postal Service (USPS), creating an invaluable relationship but also access to local rates and direct injection services. This was the start of our export journey.
Bringing these two successful companies together in 2014 under the banner of UKP Worldwide (UKPW), giving our international brand one name. That same year we also took our USPS partnership to the next level by becoming a Global Direct Entry (GDE) Wholesaler and launching our US eCommerce shipping and return services.
Continuing to grow our brand, develop UKPW and its staff in being the industry specialists we pride ourselves in being, we took the early opportunity of diversifying our service offering to become an Authorised Economic Operator (AEO) in 2016, before BREXIT was even a thing! Being AEO continued to build on our reputation of being compliance specialists as well as providing additional benefits to our customers, such as total supply chain security and robust customs procedures.
Having worked in the mailing industry for near on 30 years, nothing makes me prouder than reflecting on the journey UKPW has taken and the colleagues that have helped us make it all possible. Our most recent success and string to our bow was the opening of our third site next to London Heathrow in 2019, this site manages all of our customs clearance for returned goods, inbound mail and parcels. Our new partnership with Whistl UK, means we can offer a seamless customs clearance for imports, transhipment of mail and parcels to the UK and on into Europe and beyond.
I would like to take this opportunity to say thank you to my colleagues, customers, suppliers and industry partners many of whom are now personal friends who have helped make UKPW a success.
I look forward to the day we can celebrate with more than six people, travel for social reasons, meet with friends and family from another household and party long into the night, depending on where you all live!
A piece from our Sales Director, Guy Cliffe…
When you’re posting a marketing campaign, or magazine overseas, it’s very easy to choose the cheapest supplier without thinking through the ramifications of your choice – particularly during these crazy COVID times. Some destinations worldwide are harder to reach than others, with delays to countries including popular destinations like Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and the US.
Remember there are different service options available depending on how quickly you might want to deliver your items. ‘Direct Entry’ means we might look at using the postal authority of the receiving country and post on a local service. So if you are posting something from the UK to the US, we could use a direct USPS service. But remember the US has different weight and dimension restrictions, so a UK size Letter may need to post as a Large Letter in the US, which could increase your anticipated costs. Similarly, all countries have different weight breaks and sizing bands, so the rules for posting on a Direct Entry service are different from posting on an International postal service. Alternatively, we could use Royal Mail, but this is likely to be more expensive and they still have to hand traffic over to be delivered locally in-country, so paying a premium for a Royal Mail service may not solve any potential delivery delays. And we can also post using another international postal authority and this might be cheaper, but take longer (certainly as long as Royal Mail, but possibly longer than a direct service). There are also a myriad of local country alternatives to the main postal provider (just like we have alternatives here in the UK like Whistl, Citipost, The Delivery Group, etc.). However whilst this may reduce prices, the service may take slightly longer to deliver, depending on the country – unlike the UK where the delivery time is comparable (and on occasion even quicker!)
There’s also the thorny issue of Priority/Non Priority/Standard/Economy; what do they all mean? Most countries don’t have a 1st and 2nd class postal delivery like exists in the UK, they just have a single post service. And whilst a UK 1st class service might take 1-2 working days to deliver domestically, a US 1st class service has a delivery expectation of 1-4 working days and for 2nd class that rises to 4-9 working days! So a UK 2nd class service will likely deliver quicker than a US 1st class service when comparing domestic services, so there is no like for like and it can add to the confusion when you’re managing a campaign that is delivering to multiple countries across multiple continents.
So there are many different options available and I have always found that being completely transparent about all the options means I can provide the best possible advice. There is no ‘one size fits all’ answer!
I’d be happy to discuss and provide the best advice for any future campaigns you might be considering posting and it’s never been more important to make sure you are using the most appropriate service to match your needs/requirements and get the best value for money.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/guycliffe/
As covered in our news story on the 17th August, the United States Postal Service (USPS) filed notice with the Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC) for a temporary price increase. Unfortunately, on 4th September 2020, the PRC approved this temporary change, taking effect on 18th October 2020 until 27th December 2020.
The planned temporary price adjustments are in response to increased expenses and heightened demand for online shopping package volume due to the coronavirus pandemic and expected holiday eCommerce. As a result of these changing conditions, the Postal Service is planning a timed limited price increase on all commercial domestic competitive package volume from 18th October until 27th December 2020. Retail prices and international products will be unaffected.
The planned price increase would go into effect at 12:00 am Central on 18th October 2020 and will remain in place until 12:00 am Central 27th December 2020.
The planned prices, approved by the Governors of the Postal Service on 6th August, would raise prices on its commercial domestic competitive parcels – Priority Mail Express, Priority Mail, First-Class Package Service, Parcel Select, and Parcel Return Service.
The time-limited adjustment will increase prices for our commercial customers in line with competitive practices without impacting customers at the retail level. In doing this, the Postal Service is protecting the retail consumer during the vulnerable economic period while increasing prices on commercial volume during heightened volume levels.
No structural changes are planned as part of this limited-time pricing initiative, allowing customers the greatest ease in implementing the new prices with minimal complexity.
The Governors believe these temporary rates will keep the Postal Service competitive while providing the agency with much needed revenue. The forecasted additional revenue from the time-limited increase will depend on the volume of packages shipped between 18th October and 27th December 2020 at commercial rates.
If you have any questions regarding the temporary increase, please don’t hesitate to give your Account Manager a call.
As many of you will have experienced over the last few months, delivery times for postage of mail and parcels has been dramatically affected around the world during the coronavirus pandemic. Despite these challenging times, we are pleased to report that we have kept your goods moving during this period, albeit with some delays due to lack of passenger flights and country lockdowns.
The last month has seen a lot of countries reducing lockdown restrictions and some passenger flights reinstated, however, the landscape and the guidelines are constantly changing, along with travel advice from the Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO) changing from week to week. As an example, the US is not letting British National’s cross their borders if they have been in the UK, Ireland, Schengen zone, Iran, Brazil or China within the previous 14 days. These individual restrictions to the US – and similar restrictions in other countries means – reduced passenger flights, which in turn means limited capacity and less mail being transported worldwide, leading to inevitable delays.
We are constantly working with our tried and tested postal suppliers from around the world to maintain delivery services and to ensure goods are delivered, however, delays should be expected.
In spite of the constant changes and challenges, we are pleased to advise that we can and are getting our consignments delivered but unfortunately, some delays are still unavoidable at this present time and we don’t believe delivery timeframes are going to improve for a while and until there is an increase in passenger flights. We aim to continue to keep you informed of any changes, so you can consider these challenges when planning your campaigns and advising your customers of delivery aims. Please find our current delivery aims below, please bear in mind these additional delays to help avoid disappointment.
To keep in touch with the latest country restrictions and delivery delays, please visit our Service Alerts page: https://www.ukpworldwide.com/news/service-alerts/
Many thanks for your patience during these challenging times and please stay safe.
Many thanks,
UKPW Team
The United States Postal Service (USPS) filed notice with the Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC) today of a temporary price change taking effect on 18th October 2020.
The planned temporary price adjustments are in response to increased expenses and heightened demand for online shopping package volume due to the coronavirus pandemic and expected holiday eCommerce. As a result of these changing conditions, the Postal Service is planning on a time-limited price increase on all commercial domestic competitive package volume from 18th October until 27th December 2020. Retail prices and international products will be unaffected.
The planned price increase would go into effect at 12:00 am Central on 18th October 2020 and will remain in place until 12:00 am Central 27th December 2020.
The planned prices, approved by the Governors of the Postal Service on 6th August, would raise prices on its commercial domestic competitive parcels – Priority Mail Express, Priority Mail, First-Class Package Service, Parcel Select, and Parcel Return Service.
The time-limited adjustment will increase prices for our commercial customers in line with competitive practices without impacting customers at the retail level. In doing this, the Postal Service is protecting the retail consumer during the vulnerable economic period while increasing prices on commercial volume during heightened volume levels.
No structural changes are planned as part of this limited-time pricing initiative, allowing customers the greatest ease in implementing the new prices with minimal complexity.
The Governors believe these temporary rates will keep the Postal Service competitive while providing the agency with much needed revenue. The forecasted additional revenue from the time-limited increase will depend on the volume of packages shipped between 18th October and 27th December 2020 at commercial rates.
If you have any questions regarding the temporary increase, please don’t hesitate to give your Account Manager a call.
Read Lee Bucktrout’s (CEO, UKPW) comments on the recent price increase when shipping to the US in the latest issue of The Exporter magazine.
Are you affected by the price hikes on post to the US from July 1st?
Prices are literally doubling from some suppliers – with Royal Mail announcing a £4.46/kg increase for all formats as well as further increases to their price per piece for eCommerce items.
Why the sudden change?
The United States has changed the way they work with the Universal Postal Union (UPU) and how deliveries made by the United States Postal Service (USPS) are calculated. The US took this decision to discourage overseas imports and to encourage US citizens to buy direct from US sellers, which in turn has resulted in international postage price rises from the 1st July.
How can UKPW help?
Put simply, we have a strong and reputable relationship with USPS, with whom we have been working in partnership with for over ten years. And we have our own office in the US in New Jersey. The result – direct injection of your post and parcels into the US on a direct USPS service.
So talk to us NOW for an up to date quote or for a more detailed analysis of why the prices are changing.
Email: info@ukpworldwide.com
Call: +44 (0) 1844 398880