More expensive shipping rates in 2022?

International shipping fees increase each year and so does this year. The higher shipping rates plus expanded surcharges has already welcomed you to the 2022 year, making the shipping cost and your overall online store operation costs even more expensive. For those of you who don't get this well, we’ll give you a quick summary of how the rates of DHL, FedEx, and UPS change and how you should deal with it.

1. The 2022 shipping rates increase for DHL

Starting from January 1, 2022, the rate of DHL Express has increased by 4.9% for account holders in Asia. The same increase rate is applied to Asian countries such as Japan, Singapore, Taiwan, Malaysia, etc, as well as in the United Kingdom, France, Netherland, and other European countries. On the other hand, in the United States, and Canada, 5.9% general average shipment price has increased for DHL account holders.

As a continued effect from COVID-19 pandemic, the Emergency Situation Surcharge (ESS) will remain and the new rate for this surcharge is effective from February 14th, 2022. Here are the details for the adjusted ESS per origin and destination combination. (Charge in USD per KG)

DHL Express Emergency Situation Surcharge as of February 14, 2022

But no worries, when creating DHL shipping label inside Ship&co application, you can check the handling fees and the surcharge applied to your shipment. The below photo shows how the DHL rate shows in Ship&co.

2. The 2022 shipping rates increase for FedEx

Earlier on January 3, 2022, FedEx Express’s shipping rate, for US domestic, US export, and US import services, increased by an average of 5.9%, similar to the DHL, yet depending on your contract with FedEx, the percentage increase could be more or less. Moreover, there are changes to shipping surcharges and fees that may apply to your shipment, affecting the total shipping rate of your package.

  • January 17, 2022 - FedEx Freight introduced a No Shipment Tendered surcharge that applies when a pickup is performed and no shipment is tendered to the carrier.
  • January 17, 2022 - The International Out-of-Delivery-Area Surcharge and International Out-of-Pickup-Area Surcharge rates will be determined based on the corresponding tier of the ZIP code, postal code, or city of the shipment’s origin and/or destination location for International Express Freight and Parcel services.
  • January 17, 2022 -  A Delivery and Returns Surcharge will be assessed on packages that are delivered or returned using FedEx Ground Economy services.
  • January 24, 2022 - The Additional Handling Surcharge and Oversize Charge rates for U.S. Express Package Services and U.S. Ground Services will be determined based on the shipment’s zone.
  • Details on these changes can be found here.

Also, early in January, FedEx Express has launched a new set of service options: FedEx International Priority® (IPEOD), FedEx International Priority® Express (IPE), and FedEx International First®, giving you a more variety of shipping options while a FedEx International Connect Plus®, targeting shipper in APAC region, also remains. Check out below photo and this link to see how it shows when creating FedEx shipping labels inside Ship&co

3. The 2022 shipping rates increase for UPS

The rate increase of UPS was already set to take effect last year (2021) on December 26. No surprises, UPS general rate raise for 2022 is at average of 5.9%, matching the same jump for DHL and FedEx for the United States. The rate increase could depend on where you are and the contract you have with UPS, but in select markets, including Japan and the United Kingdom, the UPS rate has an average 2.8% net increase. Based on UPS announcement, 2.8% is their lowest ever (annual) rate increase.

In addition to the above GRI raise, Peak/Demand Surcharge rates for certain UPS shipments also increased, taking effect from February 20, 2022. This increase applies to 19 countries in Europe to North America.

Just for you to keep in mind, what mentioned above is just an average number for DHL, FedEx, and UPS. It’s better to constantly check your shipping rates on your contract with carriers to avoid an unpleasant surprise.

Re-think about your shipping strategy?

Now, it’s a good time to re-think about your shipping strategy and take actions to mitigate shipping costs for your online store. You can absorb those increasing numbers in your cost as long as you still have a good profit margin from your store. At the same time, it’s crucial to make your monthly shipping fee visible and optimize the cost by multiple carriers strategy to make sure you take the right control of your online store shipping process.

Make shipping easier with Ship&co

Ship&co is a shipping management platform that help sync orders from online shops instantly and help online business owners spend less time on the pesky task to create shipping labels. The app helps prepare ready-to-print shipping documents in just two clicks, making shipping task faster than ever! Sign up now and try it free for 14 days!

If you run into any shipping troubles, drop a message here: hello@shipandco.com