ERP Consultant Blog

The DIM Weight Wake-Up Call: 4 Ways to Reduce Shipping Costs

Written by Adrian Montgomery | Mon, Aug 31, 2015

Shipping Costs Increased Since January 1, 2015

The DIM Weight Wake-Up Call: 4 Ways to Reduce Shipping Costs

If you are an ecommerce, retail, distribution or manufacturing company you probably ship a lot of products to customers. Your shipping costs may have increased since January 2015. The two major carriers UPS and FedEx have expanded their ground packages shipping costs based on the same cost they used before for airplane shipping called DIM weight pricing. DIM weight is calculated by the dimensions of the package (LXHXW) instead of the weight of the package. If you are shipping a package and the actual weight costs more than the DIM weight you will be charged the higher price. If you are shipping a package and the actual weight costs less than the DIM weight you will still be charged the higher price. If you want to save money you might be better off selecting a carrier like USPS in many of these scenarios. USPS still does not apply DIM weight pricing to domestic priority packages under 1 cubic foot.

In order to compete in today’s increasingly competitive retail, distribution or manufacturing markets businesses must streamline costs wherever possible. Having the right shipping software integrated with your ERP system can allow you to ship more for less and to put more focus into growing your business.

There are always increased demands on manufacturers, distributors, retailers and online-retail stores during the holidays. With the new DIM Weight rules UPS and FedEx have implemented this year it is more important than ever to insure your shipping costs stay in check.

In preparation for this upcoming holiday shipping rush, it’s a great time to ask, “Am I paying too much on shipping?” The holiday season is a great time because our economy gets a boost, business is great but there are several challenges that come with it. During the holidays capacity is often tight, and shipments are extremely sensitive from both a replenishment and order delivery standpoint.

In order to compete and stay profitable in this consumer-driven market, reducing your shipping costs is critical. To make sure you’re not paying more than you should, you’ll want to employ a mix of carriers to find a cost-effective shipping strategy for your business.

V-Technologies understands the complexity of holiday shipping, which is why we’ve joined forces with Endicia and Parcel Partners to assist businesses in their effort to maintain a high level of customer service and profitability during the holiday season.

Download our video to learn the following:

1. The Dimensional (DIM) Weight calculation wake-up call
2. A Comparison of FedEx, UPS and USPS Shipping Rates
3. Endicia Pay-On-Use Returns™
4. New Packaging Options to Help Save Money

About V-Technologies, LLC:

Founded in 1987, V-Technologies is a shipping software development company who offers a selection of solutions to meet the growing demand for integrated shipping. StarShip and ShipGear are the two flagship shipping software products. V-Technologies develops interfaces with SYSPRO, Sage Software’s Sage 100 (formerly MAS 90 and MAS 200), Sage 500 ERP, Sage 50, Microsoft Dynamics GP, Exact Macola, QuickBooks, Fishbowl, Amazon and eBay.

V-Technologies has partnerships with other supply chain management solutions such as EDI integration with HighJump True Commerce, RedTail, SWK’s MAPADOC, Edisoft and SPS Commerce along with popular barcoding solutions such as Scanco, ScanForce and Panatrack.

Additional information about V-Technologies and its solutions is available at http://vtechnologies.com