DHL is shutting down their air and ground package service in the United States, effective January 30, 2009. Though continuing to be a leading presence in the international shipping world, DHL has lost billions of dollars in revenue in the past few years domestically, causing this drastic change to take place. The real question is, how does this change affect you as a business and what options do you have to move forward? For one, DHL’s departure means that your tariff rates will go drastically up when switching over to a national carrier. Also, depending on the volume of your daily shipments, you may not even be eligible for a discounted tariff based on UPS and FedEx’s customer standards.

This leaves the small to medium size shipper in between a rock and a hard place, since they need to ship their packages regardless of what fees they may face. A little known secret is that there are other options besides FedEx and UPS. Regional Carriers in the U.S. deliver to 70% of the population, with the remaining 30% accounting for the furthest remote areas where delivery just is not cost efficient. Unless your company sells products that are only needed in those remote areas, Regional carriers can easily fill your delivery needs at a lower cost than the national alternatives.

For more information about regional carriers across the US, please visit our Regional Partners page on ww.easternconnection.com.