Pitney Bowes hikes US, international e-commerce shipping rates

E-commerce and parcel shipping provider Pitney Bowes Inc. (NYSE: PBI) said Wednesday that it will impose a 5.9% tariff rate increase on first- and last-mile e-commerce deliveries in the U.S. and on cross-border delivery services to 207 countries and territories.

In addition, the Stamford, Connecticut-based company will apply a 4.9% tariff hike on U.S.-based reverse logistics services for product returns. All of the increases take effect Jan. 3, Pitney Bowes said.

The 5.9% domestic rate hike will apply to parcels weighing more than 1 pound, Pitney Bowes said. The U.S. Postal Service (USPS) is Pitney Bowes’ exclusive provider of last-mile delivery services for forward movements and first-mile pickups for returns shipments.

Separately, Pitney Bowes launched on Tuesday a same-day delivery service through its cloud-based transportation management system (TMS) known as SendPro Online. Under the door-to-door program, parcels will be delivered in under two hours within a 50-mile radius. The maximum weight of each parcel is 50 pounds. The company will use multiple carriers for the same-day service.