UPS to compete with rivals FedEx with 4.9% pricing increase

US parcel delivery giant UPS has revealed its plans to compete with fellow American company FedEx by increasing its rates for 2015 in North America. Taking effect from December 29th 2014, UPS has said its UPS Ground, Air, International and Freight services between and within the US, Canada and Puerto Rico will go up by an average of 4.9%.

It was announced last month that FedEx were to increase their prices by 4.9% also, taking effect from 5th January 2015. The two parcel delivery companies are also due to introduce dimensional weight pricing in the attempt to improve its profit margins for the growth in lightweight e-commerce parcels. UPS first announced its decision to do so in June of this year, revealing it will apply dimensional weight pricing specifically for its Ground and Standard services to Canada.

UPS’s new pricing system is also due to take effect from 29th December 2014, while FedEx’s decision to introduce dim-weight pricing will apply as of 5th January of next year.