USPS proposed a new rule that would discontinue the use of dual shipping labels, which are currently used by private shippers like UPS, FedEx, and DHL to identify both carriers. These types of labels are most often used for services where USPS handles the last mile of delivery.
The proposal reads:
“The Postal Service has reviewed the practice of using dual shipping labels and has found that this practice no longer serves the interests of the Postal Service. As a result, the Postal Service is proposing to discontinue the use of dual shipping labels. Items bearing dual shipping labels should not be accepted and may be returned to the sender.”
Consolidators account for about a quarter of total USPS parcel volume, according to Value Added Resource, but Postmaster General Louis DeJoy is looking for ways to boost postal revenues and efficiencies while encouraging shippers to use its Ground Advantage service instead of consolidator services.
The result has been that carriers are keeping more of the packages they had previously handed off to USPS in their own delivery networks for the final mile. For example, FedEx rebranded their SmartPost service to Ground Economy and UPS moved more of its SurePost volume to its own network for last mile.
The proposed dual label discontinuation has not yet been approved, and is currently open for public comment until Nov 14th. However some label providers and carriers are already making changes to their tracking label systems in anticipation of the change.
Last month I reported that USPS is ending discounts for shipping consolidator partners that drop off packages at its delivery units, finalizing a push that began months ago to end the subsidization of last-mile delivery for other carriers, which is the most costly leg of the journey. Instead, USPS wants to incentivize consolidators to use its Parcel Select offering to bring more volume to its facilities earlier in the shipping process.
While I understand ending last-mile discounts for consolidator partners to help USPS curb some losses each year, I don't quite understand the rationalization behind ending the dual labels.
If a consolidator is willing to pay the non-discounted prices to USPS, what's the difference if they use a dual label?
The change feels petty. However it's possible I'm misunderstanding something.
I reached out to the article's author, Liz Morton, who commented on my LinkedIn post:
“My wild guess would be it may have more to do with the decision a few months ago to stop accepting drop offs of FedEx Ground Economy/SmartPost & UPS SurePost packages at USPS facilities.
Dual labels may be confusing, especially to consumer shippers or smaller online sellers who may purchase labels through marketplaces and they may still try to take those packages to USPS.
Several marketplaces put out an announcement about it, but not everyone reads those or may have gotten the message.
If USPS is still seeing a decent amount of people trying to use them for drop off, I can see where maybe they would consider that “no longer serving the interest of the postal service” and took this action to try to relieve themselves of that headache by removing what they think could be causing the confusion from the label process.
Other than that, I agree with you if the consolidator is willing to pay the non-discounted price, it shouldn't matter too much.”