Your small parcel data is waiting to tell you its story. Hidden within it are little gems of insight that will help you to reduce your transportation spend. Yet your small parcel spend is ever increasing because the carriers are constantly increasing rates and changing criteria for accessorial charges. By July 22, 2025, UPS had already adjusted its fees 36 times and FedEx 48 times—none of the adjustments in your favor. With declining parcel volume, carriers are laser-focused on squeezing more profit from every package.
The good news? Those “hidden gems” in your data can be uncovered through a shipping optimization assessment. This process reveals where savings are possible and helps you offset carrier increases. You can approach the assessment in two ways:
1. BI Tool
Leverage one of the many transportation BI tools on the market to uncover potential savings categories. Allow your analyst with small parcel knowledge to interpret the data. Make action plans to achieve the potential savings.
2. Manual Assessment
If you do not have access to a transportation BI tool, have your analyst pull your small parcel data, configure the data into a usable format, and interpret the data. Develop action plans to achieve the potential savings.
If you do not have a knowledgeable small parcel analyst, reach out to a transportation consultant for help with your data.
Watch for these common small parcel savings opportunities:
Address Correction Charges—Carriers apply a fee when a package is shipped to an invalid or incomplete address, so it’s a good idea to use address validation software to eliminate bad addresses. UPS charges $22.50 and FedEx charges $24 or more per occurrence when they make the correction.
Late Payment Charges—These charges are self-inflicted. Ensure accounts payable pays your bill on time. Both UPS and FedEx charge 9.9% of the total past-due invoice balance.
Unauthorized Package Charge—Any package that is over 108” long, greater than 165” in length + girth, or heavier than 150 lbs, will incur an unauthorized package charge. These large packages should be shipped by LTL, not via a small parcel carrier. UPS and FedEx charge a $1,775 fee per package when you exceed their maximum limits.
Large Package Surcharge—Any package greater than 17,280 cubic inches or heavier than 110 lbs will be hit with a large package surcharge. These packages should be evaluated to determine if the carton size can be reduced or the shipment split into 2 cartons. If that’s not a possibility, ship it via LTL. UPS charges from $205 to $305 per package. FedEx charges from $240 to $305 per package.
Additional Handling Surcharge—This surcharge applies to any package greater than 40” on the longest side, greater than 30” on the second longest side, greater than 105” in length + girth, that weighs more than 50 lbs, or that is packaged in non-standard materials. These packages should be evaluated to determine if the carton size can be reduced or the type of packaging changed to a standard corrugated carton. UPS and FedEx charge from $25 to $55 per package.
Additional Handling Assessment Example: One customer was shipping larger apparel items in poly bags. Any item over 6” thick was being charged with an additional handling packaging surcharge. By changing their routing instructions to ship these larger items in a corrugated carton, the customer saved over $42,000 per year.
Carrier accessorial charges like this are only the beginning. If you do not have solid small parcel knowledge within your organization,a transportation consultant can help. With the right parcel shipping optimization assessment, you can uncover hidden savings in your data and achieve the small parcel savings that optimization makes possible.