Shipping Industry News

Freight invoices contain numerous variables — contracted rates, freight classifications, fuel surcharges, and accessorial charges — that make billing errors common and difficult to detect, often resulting in silent overpayments across large shipment volumes. The most frequent error types include misclassifications, carrier reweighs, duplicate billing, quote-to-invoice mismatches, and recurring accessorial charges that signal underlying operational inefficiencies. A strong audit process validates every invoice against shipment records, contracted rates, and supporting documentation rather than simply checking whether totals appear reasonable. Automated freight auditing tools like +PAY by Lojistic improve on manual review by applying consistent standards across all shipments continuously, surfacing cost patterns that inform carrier negotiations and operational improvements beyond just recovering overcharges....

Parcel spend management is the ongoing process of tracking, auditing, and optimizing small parcel shipping costs across carriers, contracts, and surcharge programs — going well beyond simple invoice payment. Key cost drivers include surcharge creep, zone inflation, carrier diversification complexity, and contract terms that are negotiated but never enforced, all of which can cause spend to rise gradually without triggering obvious alerts. Effective programs combine automated invoice auditing, continuous accessorial analysis, and centralized carrier data to identify billing errors and operational inefficiencies before they compound. Shippers that build structured parcel spend management programs gain both immediate cost recoveries and long-term strategic leverage through better data for carrier negotiations and operational decisions....

UPS has expanded its Surge Emergency Fee structure across multiple shipping lanes. Effective May 3, 2026, a $0.32/lb fee applies to most U.S. international shipments. Existing fees remain: $1.50/lb for U.S.-Israel and U.S.-UAE routes, and $1.34/lb for certain Middle East lanes. The critical shift is structural, not just financial. Fees are now listed as active "until further notice," with UPS reserving the right to adjust them "at any time." This moves surcharges from predictable, temporary events to indefinite, rolling costs — mirroring how airlines dynamically price routes. For high-volume shippers, the impact compounds quickly. Forecasting becomes harder, margins tighten, and oversized shipments face the steepest exposure. Experts recommend multi-carrier diversification, packaging optimization, and real-time shipping analytics to monitor surcharge activity and control costs as carrier pricing grows increasingly dynamic....

The USPS is introducing an 8% fuel surcharge in response to ongoing global supply chain disruptions and rising fuel costs, signaling a broader shift in how carriers manage pricing volatility. While the increase may seem modest, it adds immediate cost pressure for shippers—especially ecommerce businesses—and often cascades across the industry as other carriers adjust their rates. These changes ultimately impact customers through higher prices or stricter shipping incentives. To stay competitive, businesses need greater visibility into shipping data, stronger auditing practices, and more strategic carrier management....

UPS quietly increased its fuel surcharge structure in March 2026 by adjusting the underlying index tables, meaning shippers are now paying higher surcharge percentages even when fuel prices remain the same. While the increase is roughly 1%, it compounds with recent general rate increases (GRIs), driving noticeable cost creep across nearly every shipment. Because fuel surcharges apply so broadly, these subtle changes can significantly inflate total transportation spend over time without obvious warning signs....

Most companies struggle to control shipping costs not because data is unavailable, but because it’s fragmented across systems, making it difficult to identify true cost drivers. Freight and parcel analytics solve this by analyzing different shipping behaviors—freight focusing on lanes, contracts, and carrier performance, while parcel focuses on zones, service levels, and surcharges in high-volume environments. By centralizing and analyzing this data with shipping analytics software, companies can move from basic visibility to continuous optimization, uncovering actionable insights that reduce transportation spend over time....

Freight audit & payment exists because carrier invoices are not a reliable source of truth on their own. Most mid-market and enterprise shippers assume their negotiated carrier agreements protect them. They don’t. Contracts define what should be charged. Freight audit and payment solutions determine what actually gets charged, catch deviations, and stop invalid charges before...

Large and bulky packages have always pushed shipping costs higher, but in 2026, UPS and FedEx amended the rules and criteria that determine when packages are hit with Additional Handling or Oversize/Large Package Charges. Many businesses that historically avoided extra fees because their shipments fell below legacy criteria (like length and girth) could now see...

UPS and FedEx have quietly implemented a new round of fuel surcharge increases, separate from, and in addition to, their 2025 General Rate Increases (GRIs).FedEx changes took effect December 1, 2024.UPS changes take effect January 5, 2025.Most shippers will see the impact only when invoices start arriving, but by then the increases will already be...

Find out how the UPS 5.9% average general rate increase (GRI), effective January 5, 2026, will impact the bottom line of your shipping costs, from Lojistic....