The UPSocalypse may be here. (Read if you are using UPS)

[ilikehockeyjerseys]

UPS does not seem to be allowing pickups. As we all can assume, they are likely at capacity. 

I place my pickups for the night before. I placed a pickup last night. I had a delivery coming in this morning from UPS. When the driver arrived, he informed me that he never received a notification for my pickup. He told me that they are no longer doing pickups. I asked whether drop spots were still accepting parcels, his response, "I'm not supposed to tell you that they are".

He is my regular UPS guy (both my regular UPS and Canada Post guys are great, so I'm lucky). He took my pickups as a courtesy, even know he wasn't supposed to. 

After checking my e-mails, I noticed that I did receive confirmation for my pickup request, but my request was never scheduled. When it is scheduled, you will usually receive an e-mail that says something like "You have a pickup today". 

I went and looked at the pickup website, and it seems they have disabled pickup requests. You can fill out the information, but you receive an error that is not resolvable. I assume this is their way of preventing additional pickups. 

I did reach out to UPS customer service to see if there is any way to ensure you can still receive pickups, so I'll update if I have any useful information. I plan to edit my handling time later depending on what I find out.

This might be a YMMV situation. If you have any outstanding packages, and accessing a drop spot isn't too out of your way, it might be a good idea to drop them off ASAP in case more individual drop spots begin refusing shipments (which some people have reported already). My local drop spot is still accepting packages, so I am not trying to alarm anybody. It may just be pickups that are affected, and it is possible that it is area specific. 

[lotzofuniquegoodies]

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@ilikehockeyjerseys wrote:

Another update, UPS took my domestic standard stuff today.

I was told via the UPS Twitter account that if I signed up for on-route pickup, they would take my Domestic Standard (Canadian) packages. After I signed up, I was told by a CSR on the phone that wasn't correct and that they wouldn't take domestic standard, even for those with a UPS subscription. It turns out that it is in fact correct and they will pickup Domestic Standard with a subcription.

YMMV, because it is possible that maybe my UPS guy wasn't supposed to take them, but he seems convinced he is okay to take them since I am not paying for a pickup subscription. He said he is allowed to take "up to 40". 

https://www.ups.com/ca/en/business-solutions/pickup-dropoff-options/daily-on-route-pickup.page

Honestly, I don't even know what they are charging me, but for the rest of the month there is no way whatever they charge isn't worth it for the hassle of not having to go to the UPS store. I have terrible timing because I just dropped off six 20 KG boxes yesterday using an Uber XL! (don't worry, I tipped...)

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@ilikehockeyjerseys 

To anyone who recently purchased UPS stocks. Congrats!!!

Fedex shares are down.  

FedEx Corp

279.35 USD

-0.064%

[gamescheckout]

I was told by a UPS driver that they are overloaded and they are highly encouraged to work overtime. Where they get paid double or something.
They have also been delivering in rental trucks, same with Purolator. So the extra $2 charge makes sense.

[ilikehockeyjerseys]

Here is eBay's recent post concerning UPS:

Due to a surge in shipment volumes, as of December 8, 2024, UPS has applied a demand surcharge of $2.00 CAD to all parcels in its Canadian network—domestic shipments, imports into Canada, and exports from Canada to the United States. This surcharge has been reflected on eBay Labels and in calculated shipping starting December 10, 2024. If you purchased a UPS label on eBay between December 8 and 9, you will not be issued the surcharge.

Additionally, UPS has suspended on-call pickups for Domestic Standard shipments as of December 4, 2024 due to the surge in parcel volumes. On-call pickups remain available for Air and International UPS shipments. 

Sellers can still access shipping from UPS and FedEx at eBay-negotiated discounts through eBay Labels. 

eBay will continue to monitor the situation and adjust guidance as necessary. Please keep an eye on the Community Board for further updates.

As always, thank you for being part of the eBay seller community.

https://community.ebay.ca/t5/Announcements/Updates-regarding-UPS-shipping/ba-p/514721

[byto253]

I read on a US hobbysit forum that US shipper's are jacking rates way up to ship to Canada.  From the way they were talking the $2 extra is a deal.  Good old dynamic or surge pricing.