How much are Purolator’s peak season surcharges?

How much are Purolator’s peak season surcharges?

Purolator applies surcharges to parcels that require special handling, which covers five different services. And each of those has an added charge during the peak shipping season from November 3, 2024 until January 18, 2025. Depending on the level of service, the increase could be a modest $6 CAD per piece up to $450 CAD per piece. Price jumps are unwelcome news at any time, but particularly during the festive holiday season. And so this blog introduces you to a Canadian shipping broker – Secureship – whose bulk buying agreement with Purolator and others can save you up to 50% from a carrier’s standard delivery price.

Table of Contents

• Parcels That Require Special Handling
• Purolator’s Seasonal Surcharges
• Year Round Savings with Secureship
• Conclusion

Parcels That Require Special Handling

Purolator designates five categories of parcels that require special handling, and they include:

• Additional handling: Unboxed items or high-risk goods not packaged properly
• Oversized: A parcel heavier than 23 kg, or has a length between 122 cm and 274 cm
• Residential heavyweight: A package weighing from 32 kg to 68 kg and delivered to a low-density area
• Large package: A package with a girth between 330 cm and 419 cm
• Over maximum limit: Package heavier than 68 kg or longer than 274 cm or with a girth bigger than 419 cm

The next topic covers the seasonal surcharges for each of the aforementioned cases of special handling

Purolator’s Seasonal Surcharges

Purolator's seasonal surcharges apply to parcels that fall into the following service categories: additional handling, oversized, residential heavyweight, large package, or over the maximum limit.

The effective period of seasonal surcharges is from November 3, 2024 until January 18, 2025. And while some of the extra charges are nominal, others are quite substantial as shown below:

Service	Surcharge (CAD)/piece
Additional handling	$6
Oversized	$6
Residential heavyweight	$6
Large package	$50
Over maximum limit	$450

Year Round Savings with Secureship

While Secureship cannot reduce surcharge fees for special handling services, it can reduce your shipping costs year round. During its 17-year history, Secureship has formed bulk buying agreements with Purolator, FedEx, and UPS that could reduce the basic cost of shipments anywhere from a third to one-half off a carrier’s walk-in rate.

The amount of the discount depends upon the carrier selected and the delivery time – the sooner the package needs to arrive, the more it costs, typically. So, your choice is a balance between what is a parcel’s desirable arrival time and your budget.

Conclusion

The surcharges Purolator levies on parcels because they exceed weight or size thresholds or due to their contents or the type of container are boosted during the busy shipping season that starts on November 3, 2024 and ends on January 18, 2025. The level of service a parcel demands dictates the amount of the surcharge, which may be as low as $6 CAD or as high as $450 CAD per piece. While it may be difficult to avoid shipping parcels during that busy season, whenever you use Secureship’s shipping calculator, you will find numerous shipping options with variable delivery times and prices. However, whichever you choose from Purolator, UPS, or FedEx, the price will definitely be less than if you were to take the parcel to a carrier’s outlet (up to 50% off the retail price).