The 2023 GRI Breakdown

This year a hot topic in the logistics industry is the GRI. Announced by UPS, USPS, FedEx, and OnTrac/LaserShip (among pretty much every regional carrier), GRIs are sure to make an impact on shippers’ bottom lines.  

In this article, we’ll break down what these announcements mean.  

What is a GRI?

A GRI, or General Rate Increase, is an adjustment in the base price of shipping. GRIs vary from carrier to carrier and year to year. So, it’s important to know what they are and how they’ll impact individual businesses. The 2023 GRIs have been announced and gone into effect for almost all major carriers.

How is a GRI different from other surcharges?

A GRI is different from a surcharge in several ways. Unlike a GRI, a surcharge is added to individual shipments for specific reasons, whereas a GRI is a rate increase for every shipment of that type. Think of the GRI as a change in the baseline and a surcharge as a fee on top.  

Common surcharges include extra fees for services such as Saturday deliveries, fuel charges, residential deliveries, and oversized handling. The most well-known surcharge is the peak season surcharge. All major shipping carriers add surcharges to most shipments during the winter holiday season when these companies are most busy.  

The 2023 GRIs

GRI’s can be a bit complicated to track. They’re not announced simultaneously, and the ‘general’ rate increase is not applied universally to all shipments. Instead, ‘general’ refers to the average change in rates.  

The GRI announcements for the following year typically occur between September and November. Keeping track of each carrier can be difficult. For that reason, I’ve compiled the GRIs for the major carriers and their most common shipments. Additionally, a link to each carrier’s full rate list for 2023 is below the table.  

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See full list of 2023 rates here:

1. UPS
2. FedEx
3. USPS

Smaller regional carriers like OnTrac/LaserShip have also announced a GRI of 6.9% for 2023. Check out their full rate list here.  

To be clear, these rate changes will not be universal even within the service type. The rate changes also vary based on dimensional weight, shipping zone, and your minimums. Taking a deep dive into each carrier’s 2023 rates will help you get a clearer picture of how the changes will impact your bottom line.  

The 6.9% described by the carriers is an average increase on the base transportation cost only. If you add the surcharge increases, that average of 6.9% becomes much larger. As you prepare financially, adding 6.9% to the shipping budget will prove inefficient and put you well over budget at the end of the year.

If you don’t know how this will affect your company’s bottom line, we can do a GRI analysis. This will tell you exactly what to expect this year. Get in touch with us today: https://www.idrivelogistics.com/talk-with-an-expert.