UPS Contract Negotiations & FedEx Contract Negotiations

LJM Group has been helping companies (re-)negotiate their UPS/FedEx Agreements for many years. We actively negotiate dozens of new Carrier Agreements every month.

Our clients spend anywhere from $500K to millions of dollars per year with UPS/FedEx.

There is very little we haven’t seen or negotiated. We have saved our clients hundreds of millions of dollars with our experience, our knowledge, and our insight.

We typically save our clients on average an additional 19.6%. The following are some tips for you to consider next time you negotiate your UPS/FedEx Agreement.

Set 1

• Everything in your Agreement is negotiable.
• You can re-negotiate at any time with your Carrier; you should not wait for your agreement to end.
• Never sign an addendum or an Agreement that locks you into a period of time and penalizes you if you terminate the Agreement early.
• The devil is in the details. Completely understand your shipping data, your shipping profile and your shipping characteristics. You can bet that your Carrier does!
• Never waive your right to file for a Money Back Service Guarantee/Guaranteed Service Refunds; no matter what the Carrier promises, it is not to your advantage.
• Do not put all your eggs in one basket. Split your business with the Carriers 80% – 20% or even 90% – 10%. Always keep the Carriers knowing that their competitor is always an option.
• Install a Third Party-Carrier Neutral Shipping System. Your UPS WorldShip and FedEx ShipManager shipping systems were given to you by the Carriers for a reason—do you really think the Carriers are giving you something for “free”? You will be able to negotiate a much better Agreement when you have shipping options. The amount of money you save by having a Carrier-agnostic shipping platform will be much greater than the nominal monthly cost of the system. If you have a Carrier-provided shipping system, if your system is interfaced to your ERP system (host system) and if you are giving close to 100% of your business to a single Carrier, you are known in the industry as a CAPTURED ACCOUNT. The Carriers own you and know you aren’t going anywhere. Divorce is expensive. Do not be put in this position; your poor contract reflects it.

Set 2

• Don’t let your Carrier relationship get in the way of negotiating a competitive Agreement. Your Carrier representative is compensated by how much they grow their profits from your business. The lunches, the sporting event tickets, the doughnuts, and all the other goodies are wonderful, but don’t let them get in the way of getting what you deserve.
• Use the USPS, regional carriers, and consolidators as leverage when negotiating.
• Use your LTL spend as leverage for better overall  shipping discounts.
• Understand all your Accessorial Charges and how they affect your total spend.
• Understand Dimensional Weight Pricing and how it can significantly increase your costs.
• Look at you minimum net charges and how they affect your actual discounts.
• Speak with a parcel shipping consultant who handles FedEx and UPS contract negotiations professionally. They will likely save you 10% to 30% more than you will be able to save by doing it yourself.

Carrier Agreements

Carrier Agreements have become very complicated.

The above FedEx and UPS contract negotation tips are just a few to consider when negotiating your Carrier Agreements.

Remember, there is profit in confusion, and these Agreements have certainly become confusing.

If you want to be absolutely certain that you have, and maintain, the best Agreement available, speak with the professionals at LJM Group at 631-844-9500 or email us at info@myLJM.com.

Our services are strictly contingency based. Just like our Parcel Auditing Services, our only fee is a percentage of the savings we help you achieve. You have nothing to lose. Call today for help with your FedEx or UPS Contract Negotiations!