Parcel Rate Negotiation

Learn what FedEx and UPS don't want you to know. Cut your parcel rates by 10 to 35%

Calculate your savings potential

Free. About two minutes. No call required.

Book a call
Visual

0+

Years in business

0+

Shipping clients

$0M+

Freight under contract

Parcel, LTL, truckload, air, ocean, intermodal

WHAT YOU GET

Rates negotiated without information asymmetry

The carriers we work on:

images (10)

FedEx and UPS

The big two have refused to negotiate through third parties since 2011. So we stay out of the room, rebuild your rate structure, and coach your negotiator.
DHLExpress_0

DHL, Amazon, On Trac and regional carriers

We negotiate these directly, in your name.
closeup-woman-calculating-bills-

Your 3PL's

Parcel rates sit bundled inside a fulfillment contract with a 3PL, so we help you see what you are paying.

Where we go deep for you

Carriers benefit from information asymmetry, and price parcel with sophisticated software. Negotiating them down takes an equal level of sophistication on your side. We rebuild your rate structure against your own shipment profile, re-rate every offer through our internal software Xact Negotiator, and hand your team the position to negotiate from.

Did you know UPS adds fuel surcharges before applying your discount?
  • Base discounts

    Against what comparable shippers actually pay, not against your last contract.

  • Whether a discount is a saving at all

    A carrier can hold your base rates and take the increase in an accessorial instead.

  • Accessorials

    Residential, hazmat, delivery area, peak. Where the money quietly leaks.

  • DIM and cubic pricing

    Which repriced whole catalogs of shipments when the rules changed.

  • Minimum charges

    Which override your discount.

  • Fuel

    Applied before the discount, not after.

  • The GRI

    Announced at an average that almost no shipper actually pays.

  • Freight preferences

    We know why carriers give discounts and how to meet the criteria.

What the service has produced for our clients

499fc57d0b6fe90cb833258adf390ec32b1cefba
Parcel Rate Negotiation Parcel Pharmaceutical

$21M saved — Top 10 pharmaceutical company

Parcel savings from peer benchmarking alone, with no competitive bid.

Read the full case study

Parcel savings, client by client

Annual parcel spend, what we saved against it, and the percentage that represents.

Industry Spend Annual savings Savings
Biotech $2m $1m 50%
Biotech $3m $0.75m 25%
Consumer & retail brands $6m $1.5m 25%
Consumer & retail brands $6m $1.2m 20%
Consumer & retail brands $4m $0.75m 19%
Consumer & retail brands $32m $6m 18%
Consumer electronics $48m $7m 14%
Entertainment $60m $15m 25%
Entertainment $12m $2.5m 21%
Entertainment $52m $10m 19%
Pharmaceutical $52m $11.2m 21%
Pharmaceutical $45m $9m 20%
Pharmaceutical $62m $11.7m 19%

Most engagements are gainshare pricing

We prefer to accept the risk and get paid on contingency.

Time to ROI for our clients has been as short as a few months.

Some engagements are fixed fee, usually where the work is analysis rather than negotiation.

What we charge
Group 45-1

Example savings. Actual range can be 10–35%

Is this the service for you?

  • You spend $1M or more a year on parcel.
  • Your parcel bills grow faster than your volume does.
  • You cannot put the freight out to bid without risking service.
  • Your last contract was signed before the current DIM and cubic rules.
  • Someone inside the company owns the number and can act on what we find.

Who does the work

Paul Brinkman, the President, participates in every engagement himself. He reviews every analysis, sits in the negotiations, and stays through implementation.

No junior consultant individually inherits your account after the sale.

Behind Paul is a bench of analysts and engineers who build the data and the models, plus founder Giles Taylor, who started the firm in 1997 and still weighs in.

Meet the Team
159884cbbf32b02a7030c6ec1c41ab39d676dad1

How much are you leaving on the table?

Get an instant calculation of your savings potential. Based on the database of carrier contracts we have audited and negotiated for 600+ clients since 1997, and on current benchmark data showing what companies with your profile pay today.

Ready to get started?