There is a possibility that there will be a United Parcel Service (UPS) labor strike beginning August 1, 2023 when UPS’ current labor contract with employees expires. Department Buyers (Buyers) should consider providers other than UPS until there is more certainty. Should the strike take place we can expect an impact on operations depending upon UPS’ ability to continue operations with limited staffing.
Departments should understand any shift away from UPS is also challenging, given no single commercial provider can absorb all the packages that would normally arrive by UPS. Buyers may consider language on any purchase orders directing shipments away from UPS in the short term.
In addition, the Procurement Office is working with Document Solutions, and are taking steps to minimize potential disruptions to UT Austin’s inbound and outbound shipping operations.
Mitigating steps include:
- Contacting all UT Market suppliers to understand the potential impact of a UPS strike on their service and what contingencies or mitigation strategies they’ve developed to address potential delivery interruptions.
- Adding eShipGlobal trainings for departments that have not yet transitioned fully to the eShipGlobal shipping platform.
- Campus Distribution Services can assist with shipping via the U.S. Postal Service for standard and Priority Express parcel and mail services.
- Evaluating the possibility of using eShipGlobal for some inbound shipments in the short term.
Please plan ahead and prepare for potential longer lead times for both inbound and outbound shipments.
Outbound Shipments
Outbound shipments are shipments that originate from a UT location. Outbound package processing is currently managed by our partner, eShipGlobal. If you are already using eShipGlobal, you are all setup up and ready to select any other available carrier from the list within the eShipGlobal site.
UT Austin contract pricing and our accounts are already set up with FedEx and DHL. You can find all available shipping options by selecting “show quote” when entering your shipping information.
If you are not registered with eShipGlobal, please take steps to complete your account setup as soon as possible. Once you have access to the eShipGlobal website, you will immediately be able to ship and select the carrier of your choice. This is critical to ensure you can connect to our FedEx contract via eShipGlobal as FedEx advised they will be limited in their resources and have deployed an allocation strategy to prioritize their current customers.
For more information see eShipGlobal News.
To register for training, click on the link below. Training topics covered include: how to find the eShipGlobal website, how to setup an account, how to choose your carrier, how to view shipping quotes, how to print a shipping label, and how to process payment.
- July 26, 2023 10:00 AM – Q&A Session*
- July 28, 2023 12:00 PM
- July 31, 2023 12:30 PM
- August 2, 2023 9:00 AM
- August 4, 2023 2:00 PM
Please note that the scheduled Q&A Session is for questions related to issues around transitioning from one carrier to another, canceling currently scheduled shipments, or related issues. The Q&A session does not provide system training.
Inbound Shipments
Inbound shipments are shipments that originate from a supplier or person for delivery to a UT location. Inbound freight is often included in the PO price from suppliers. When shipping is not included, suppliers will add shipping to the quoted price. Either way, it is the seller’s responsibility to select a provider to deliver the package from their location to UT Austin.
However, we have the option to use eShipGlobal for inbound shipping, if necessary. If you are already using the eShipGlobal website, you can create a shipping label right now within
eShipGlobal for packages arriving at a UT location. You can send the supplier a shipping label or invite them to create their own label.
