Express Delivery

For Cyber Week, which ShipMatrix defines as the week of December 1-7‑and a period in which more than 100 million parcels per day are handled, with more than 80% of these parcels being holiday gifts and delivered to residences—the firm reported very strong performance results for FedEx, UPS, and the United States Postal Service (USPS).

With the existing contract between global e-commerce retailer Amazon and the United States Postal Service set to expire in October 2026, media reports published yesterday indicated that there could be some shifts coming in that relationship.

Operating revenue, at $80.5 billion, saw a 1.2% annual gain over fiscal year 2024, which USPS said was largely paced by its USPS Ground Advantage offering, as well as what it called strategic price increases in its mail and shipping groups. And its net loss under generally accepted accounting principles, at $9.0 billion, trailed the $9.5 fiscal 2024 net loss.

As part of the plan, DHL will move its Manhattan service center to a new 92,505-square-foot site in Jersey City, New Jersey, by the end of November 2025. The new building is about five miles from Lower Manhattan and is designed to make deliveries smoother, safer, and more efficient.

UPS said that it is installing air conditioning in 5,000 of its existing delivery vehicles in the hottest regions across the country and also testing air conditioning in the cargo area of its package cars.

The firm said that based on its estimates it expects that 2.3 million packages will be delivered over this year’s peak, representing a 5% annual gain, attributing the expected increase to one more shopping day than there was in 2024.

Effective today, August 29, the de minimis exemption, which allows shipments under $800 sent to the United States to not be subject to tariffs, officially will be removed. That was the edict delivered in a White House executive order in late July.

Entitled “Eye on the Last Mile,” the report is based on feedback from more than 200 United States-based supply chain and logistics leaders.

USPS said that the objective of temporary price adjustment, “is to help cover extra handling costs to ensure a successful peak season.”

Third quarter fiscal year 2025 earnings issued this week by the United States Postal Service (USPS) saw a steeper net loss, at $3.1 billion, than the $2.5 billion reported a year ago, for the quarter.

Following an executive order issued in May, which ended the de minimis exemption—allowing shipments under $800 sent from China and Hong Kong to the U.S. to not be subject to tariffs, the White House this week issued a new executive order suspended the de minimis exemption for various imported goods.

The package from UPS includes $1,800 per year of service at UPS, with a minimum payout of $10,000, with all years of service honored. The company has more than 10,000 full-time drivers with 25 years of service or more.

FedEx said that this new pricing and rating structure is for parcel pickups in the United States and Canada. And it added that this new rating structure will charge weekly for regularly scheduled (U.S. and Canada) and automated pickups (U.S. only), regardless of service type—whether it is FedEx expedited or standard service—with on-call pickups in the U.S. charged per stop.

The new four-year contract includes raises, better pensions, mental health benefits, and protections around AI and automation.

This move is expected to have a major impact on online retailers like Shein and Temu, which rely on sending goods directly to U.S. shoppers without paying tariffs.