OSM Worldwide, which dubs itself the nation’s fifth-largest e-commerce parcel delivery provider, said Tuesday it will not impose peak-season delivery surcharges.
OSM joins delivery providers such as Veho and AxleHire to not impose any delivery surcharges this holiday season.
Chicago-based OSM is a postal work-share provider, meaning that it aggregates packages for induction into the Postal Service’s transport infrastructure for residential deliveries. OSM uses the Postal Service’s Parcel Select program under which postal customers hand off parcels deep into the postal network for final deliveries.
Because the Postal Service has already announced that it would not impose peak-season surcharges, there would be no reason for OSM to levy charges of its own, said Nate Skiver, who runs LPF Spend Management, a parcel consultancy.
Other providers like Veho and AxleHire need to be price competitive in a crowded market with slack demand relative to the past three years, according to Skiver. For them, eschewing peak-season surcharges was an easy decision, he said.
Separately, regional parcel-delivery carrier LSO has announced that it would assess a $1.50 per package peak surcharge on all residential deliveries between Oct. 30 and Jan. 7. Plano, Texas-based LSO, which serves eight states in the Southwest and Midwest as well as Mexico, will avoid surcharges based on service type and volumes tendered by specific customers.
LSO also said it would impose a 5.9% general rate increase, effective Jan. 1. The rate increases, which apply to shipments not tendered under contracts, match those of carriers UPS Inc., FedEx Corp. and DHL Express, the time-definite international air unit of DHL. DHL Express’ rates will apply to U.S. outbound shipments. It does not operate wholly within the U.S.