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Covid-19 Shipping

BSG is committed to servicing our customers in this unprecedented time of need. A crucial aspect of our ability to service our customers is transportation and freight. The following provides detail on how customer orders may be impacted as carriers adjust to the ever-changing regulations and challenges of COVID-19.

CURRENT CHALLENGES

As many of you are aware, COVID-19 has had broad effects on the way businesses operate. Certain industries have experienced significant negative impacts, while others have had challenges keeping up with the growth they have experienced. In addition to the direct effects of COVID-19, the continued and accelerated shift to online ordering and in-home deliveries has had a large impact on US domestic shipping. We are seeing unprecedented order volumes within many markets across the country. Furthermore, in order to keep employees safe our carrier partners have had to update their warehouse procedures regarding how trucks are loaded and unloaded and ultimately how the product is delivered to you. While necessary, these risk mitigating processes have a negative effect on carrier efficiency.

POTENTIAL SHIPPING IMPACTS & RECOMMENDATIONS;

Carriers are already operating at peak volumes.
UPS and FedEx are experiencing record volumes, and they are expecting this to continue through mid-January 2021. Both carriers have been operating at peak volumes consistent with holiday levels since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. As we approach the holiday season, carriers are forecasting record-high volume and reduced capacity as online consumer purchasing increases.

Potential delays are likely due to unprecedented volumes.
BSG is working diligently to mitigate impacts to customer shipments, but these impacts may be unavoidable, depending on the volume the carriers see during this time. Due to these unprecedented volumes, even on guaranteed service levels such as Next Day Air, potential delays are likely.

Ship to a commercial address whenever possible.
In addition, nearly all carriers are imposing surcharges, specifically for residential deliveries. These surcharges are impacting customer freight costs. While these surcharges are already in place, they are expected to increase from November 2020 to January 2021. To reduce additional costs, BSG recommends shipping to commercial addresses, rather than residential addresses, if possible.

Delivery Times and Service Guarantees.
Due to varying regional COVID-19 restrictions and regulations across the country, peak volume and reduced truckload capacity, some shipments may be impacted by delivery delays. If a business has signage posted indicating it is closed, if possible, it is recommended to also post signage indicating deliveries are being accepted, with a location.

Shipment Costs.
While BSG strives to reduce or eliminate additional shipping costs from our customers, you may experience temporary increases in freight charges as the transportation industry continues to see reduction in cargo capacity, surcharges and peak volumes.

Order early whenever possible.
We understand that many of our customers manage inventory on a Just-In-Time basis, however we ask that customers order a few days earlier than usual if at all possible.

Please let us know of any changes!
If you have changed your business hours, please make sure to note this when placing your order.

We are very grateful for our customers and as always strive to service you with excellence. We will continue to ship our products out on time and we are working to add carriers to our network where additional capacity is needed. We are also in the final stages of launching a new Transportation Management System which will allow our carriers to more seamlessly integrate with our order processing and warehouse fulfillment. We are very excited to be finally completing this project!

If you would like more information regarding the current state of freight and Logistics these articles highlight some of the current challenges:

Wall Street Journal Logistics Report – Freight Networks Overfilling; Financing for Suppliers; Waiting for Delivery

Phoenix Logistics: COVID-19 Logistics Industry Update

 

Feel free to contact us if you need any help or have additional questions. If you would like to speak directly to a member of our Logistics team, please reach out to us at BSGLogisticsGroup@bsgcraft.com.

We wish you, your families, and your communities the best. Stay Safe and Healthy!

The BSG Logistics Team