Tag: USA

Post offices push modern solutions to help you lick stamp-and-go holiday traffic

Posted by | Dec 1, 2007 | |

‘Tis the season for mailing heavy packages and standing in lines at post offices across the Treasure Coast.

But U.S. Postal Service officials say the wait often could be cut to next-in-line length if more customers used services available on home computers or at the self-service machines at many post offices.

Postal services now are available online at www.usps.com and other Web sites, said Postal Service spokesman Joseph Breckenridge. Last year, 22 percent of the service’s revenue came from Internet, compared with 9 percent in 2004.

It’s part of an effort that includes phasing out old, coin-operated stamp dispensers — the ones that look like candy machines. The postal service says they are too costly to keep up. As a result, most people have a choice of going online, standing in line, or, at larger post offices, using an automated, self-service machine when the lobby is open.

BEFORE YOU STAND IN LINE, CONSIDER GOING ONLINE

Your home can be a post office via the U.S. Postal Services www.usps.com Web site.

With a computer and printer, you can print postage labels on regular paper and have your package picked up if you don’t want to drop it off at a post office.

You must register to use services that cost money. One option for printing postage is to go to the upper right of the Web site’s front page and click on Sign In for printing shipping labels, scheduling a pickup and more.

You can also visit PC Postage at www.stamps.com and print out postage at home.

MAILING TIPS

Avoid the lines by visiting post offices during quieter mid-morning and mid-afternoon periods. The busiest times are at opening, from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m., and from 4 p.m. until closing.

Use automated postal centers. Larger post offices have self-service machines open during lobby hours, generally 24 hours a day. Most postal transactions may be done on those machines, which have weight scales. Payment is by debit or credit card. 

Visit contract stations. The U.S. Postal Service has outlets in retail stores. A Postal Service Web site, www.usps.com, lists all facilities, hours and locations.

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FedEx Ground to Increase 2008 Rates by 4.9 Percent

Posted by | Nov 30, 2007 | |

FedEx Corp. will increase the standard list rates for FedEx Ground and FedEx Home Delivery by an average of 4.9 percent. The new rates will be effective Jan. 7, 2008.

FedEx Corp. previously announced an increase to the net average shipping rate for FedEx Express by 4.9 percent, which is composed of a 6.9 percent increase in standard list rates, offset by a 2.0 percentage point reduction in its fuel surcharge. These rates also are effective Jan. 7, 2008 and apply to U.S. and U.S. export express package and freight shipments.

Additional changes will be made to other FedEx Ground and FedEx Home Delivery surcharges effective Jan. 7, 2008.

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Supreme Court denies FedEx appeal

Posted by | Nov 29, 2007 | |

The Supreme Court of California on Thursday denied the final appeal of FedEx Corp.’s domestic ground unit, which tried to overturn a lower court’s ruling that FedEx drivers are employees and not independent contractors.

The package delivery company claimed its drivers are independent contractors, which under federal labor laws prevents them from organizing, and from receiving medical, pension and other benefits given to employees.

Last month, a federal judge approved class-action status for a lawsuit filed on behalf of about 14,000 FedEx Ground delivery drivers.

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Fuel cost ups shipping bill (U.S.)

Posted by | Nov 29, 2007 | |

Carriers once again are responding to higher oil and gasoline prices by passing along the costs. Rather than raise base rates, they impose fuel surcharges.

– DHL raises the Air Express and International surcharge from 18.5 percent of the total shipping bill, to 19.5 percent. The surcharge for Ground Delivery service rises from 5 percent to 5.3 percent.

-UPS raises the Ground Delivery fuel surcharge from 5 percent to 5.25 percent. The surcharge for air and international deliveries goes from 16.50 percent to 17.50 percent.

FedEx fuel surcharges go up the same as UPS, for the same categories.

In catalogs and on Web sites, most of the tables on shipping costs don’t include a fuel surcharge.

The U.S. Postal Service, whose rates are governed by a federal commission, can’t impose fuel surcharges.

That doesn’t stop the postal service from taking other steps to realign pricing with the actual costs of processing the mail. First class stamp rates rose from 39 to 41 cents in May, Since then, the postal service also takes more consideration of the size and shape of a piece of mail, when calculating prices.

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US online retailers increase payment options

Posted by | Nov 29, 2007 | |

Online fraud and the credit squeeze has forced US retailers to increase the number of payment options available and it seems to be boosting sales.

Due to U.S consumers’ worries about the risk of fraud from online purchases with credit cards, e-retailers are increasingly offering alternative payment options. E-retailers on average accepted 2.6 different payment methods this year, up from 2.1 in 2005, says a report from U.S. payments processor CyberSource.

Offering more payment methods appears to boost sales. Last year, sales increased by an average 14 percent for e-retailers offering three or more payment options, CyberSource says.

More than half of online users who are worried about ID theft say that concern has affected their online shopping, a Gartner survey in August 2007 found. Among those consumers, 13 percent said they have stopped shopping online; and 68 percent said they’re more cautious about where they purchase goods online.

In the US there are an increasing amount of users who are not shopping online because of a fear about ID theft and getting their credit card number stolen.

This can be a problem for lesser-known small and midsize retailers, who are most likely to lose business from consumers concerned about online payment, Avivah Litan, a vice president and analyst at research firm Gartner says. “The promise of the Internet was that it would level off the playing field, but it didn’t turn out that way.”

Alternative payment options include Bill Me Later, which sends customers a monthly bill and lets them pay by cheque or money order; and Google Checkout and PayPal Express Checkout, which let customers’ provide financial details only to them, rather than giving personal information to retailers.

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