DHL and FedEx announce 2021 rate increases

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Two giants of the logistics industry, DHL and FedEx, have announced 2021 rate increases in a number of different territories.

Last Monday, FedEx declared that they would be rising rates in 2021 between 4.9% and 5.9% on shipments between the U.S. and Canada, Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The increases shall affect FedEx’s Air and International, Ground, SmartPost, and Freight customers.

FedEx justified the jump in price by saying that they had invested in several key areas:

“These rate changes enable FedEx to continue investing in service enhancement, fleet maintenance, technology innovations and other areas to serve customers more effectively and efficiently.”

Some four days later, DHL then announced that they would be increasing their 2021 rates in numerous countries. Prices will increase by as much as 6.9% in India, while rates in the Czech Republic are to rise by 5.9%. In Thailand, New Zealand, Australia and the Philippines, the increase is 4.9%.

Full data on DHL’s rate increases has not been announced as of yet, hence the rather irregular list of countries listed above. One would expect further announcements to be made in the coming days.

However, the DHL press releases in all of the aforementioned countries have been almost identical, irrespective of the territory it applies to. In the statements, DHL followed FedEx in saying the price rises would are due to improvements to their service and infrastructure:

“Supporting our customers in reaching their business goals with individually tailored services according to the needs of their business is one of our main goals at DHL Express. To this end, we have been investing largely in our international network. The annual price adjustment enables us to further develop our infrastructure while allowing us to apply state-of-the-art technologies and individual delivery processes to ensure best-in-class customer solutions. In response to the increased demand for logistics expertise due to rising item volumes in the e-commerce market, we have invested heavily in the renewal of our aircraft fleet as well as our global hub and gateway network. These and future advances will help us, our customers and partners, make a significant contribution to improving our ecological footprint.”

The rate rises from the two renowned logistics companies appears to be part of a trend; some companies, including UPS, had already introduced surcharges to help cover the cost of operating during the pandemic. This, on top of a surge in demand for online deliveries, has seen share prices at UPS and FedEx grow by almost 40% and 60% this month according to Bloomberg.

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