ShipStation COVID-19

Updates & Resource Hub

Last updated: Updated: May 11, 2020

At ShipStation, we’re working to keep you informed on the latest developments stemming from the recent outbreak of COVID-19. We know that as members of the communities you serve, businesses like yours may be experiencing unexpected challenges during this time. While we all wait for what comes next, we wanted to let you know where ShipStation and any of its partners currently stand. We will continue to keep you updated on anything that can impact or improve your shipping experience as we navigate this together.

Carrier Updates

Amazon has suspended inbound deliveries of FBA items into the following departments. This is currently in effect until April 5th, 2020: 

  • Baby Products
  • Health & Household
  • Beauty & Personal Care (including personal care appliances)
  • Grocery
  • Industrial & Scientific
  • Pet Supplies

Australia Post and its subsidiary, StarTrack, are continuing normal operations domestically. They are experiencing delays with international shipments. Physical signatures for specific parcels are no longer required, but customers must still be present when these parcels are delivered. Australia Post and StarTrack self-service kiosks at post offices are currently closed. 

Canada Post will is currently experiencing delays due to high volumes and absenteeism from employees. Delays are expected to improve as the weeks progress. For more information, please visit their website for updates and alerts related to specific communities that may be significantly affected by the COVID situation.

In response to COVID-19, DHL has issues an Emergency Situation Surcharge that will be applied to each shipment effective April 1st, 2020.

DHL has suspended partial or all services to a number of international destinations. Effective April 1, 2020 and until further notice, charge an Emergency Situation Surcharge to all Time Definite International (TDI) shipments. The following countries have suspended services:

  • Brunel Darussalam
  • Cayman Islands
  • Chile – Easter Islands
  • China
  • Czech Republic – Delivery suspended to the following area codes, 584 01, 783 21, 783 24, 783 91,  and 784 01
  • Djibouti
  • Ecuador
  • French Polynesia
  • Honduras 
  • Hong Kong – Except DHL Parcel International Direct
  • Kuwait
  • Lebanon
  • Libya
  • Macaco
  • Maldives
  • Mauritania 
  • Moldova
  • Mongolia
  • Montenegro
  • Morocco
  • Myanmar
  • New Caledonia
  • Peru
  • Philippines
  • Somalia
  • South Africa
  • Sri Lanka
  • Suriname
  • Tunisia

DPD’s major focus remains on limiting contact between couriers and customers. They have outlined an in-depth list of ways to minimize the spread of the disease. 

Money Back Guarantees are suspended until further notice, effective immediately. This impacts all FedEx Express, FedEx Ground, FedEx Freight, and FedEx Office services. FedEx also announced it is giving $1 million to small businesses. 

FedEx is continuing to deliver packages. FedEx also announced it’s temporarily suspending signature required for most deliveries in the U.S. Except for shipments with adult signature required, a physical signature is not required for Ground or Express services.

Italy and Saudi Arabia: Restrictions and limited carrier activities into and out of impacted regions are in place. Existing containment measures in Italy continue to impact service throughout Italy. A number of airlines have suspended flights to and/or from Italy. The Saudi Arabian government now prohibits the arrival of flights originating in or passing through airports in the following countries:

  • Bahrain
  • Egypt
  • United Arab Emirates (UAE)
  • Iraq
  • Italy
  • Korea
  • Kuwait
  • Lebanon
  • Syria

Malaysia: The government has closed all non-essential services effective March 18, 2020. FedEx Logistics is operational in Malaysia; however, due to the movement control order, arriving cargo cannot be received by shippers. No cargo will be received until the movement control order is lifted, which is currently scheduled for March 31, 2020.

Vietnam: The Vietnamese government has implemented a 30-day halt to issuing visas. Carriers are responding with plans to cut passenger flights. Australia and New Zealand: Effective March 20, 2020, the Australia and New Zealand governments are restricting arriving air passengers to only citizens and residents.

FedEx also shared this effected area checker:
We have been and will continue to operate to and from impacted areas as local conditions and restrictions allow. Check which FedEx services are available in your area by selecting a country and entering a post code.

 

Hermes’ main focus is to minimize contact between couriers and customers. They are keeping their teams up to date on sanitary practices to avoid the spread between people. As more details are available, Hermes will make announcements

Parcelforce has announced that it will not require an electronic signature on handheld devices. The driver will instead enter the first and last name of the person receiving the parcel. Same day ad hoc collections will be suspended until further notice—next working day collections are still available. Additionally, timed services will be reviewed and possibly maintained, but there is a possibility of delays. Similarly, international delivery guarantees may experience delays. 

Parcelforce will be imposing additional surcharges to various service locations. The following weight and destination-based surcharges are as follows:

£3.55 per kilo for all parcels to New Zealand
£3.15 per kilo for all parcels to South Korea
£3.15 per kilo for all parcels to India
£3.00 per kilo for all parcels to the United Arab Emirates
£1.50 per kilo for all parcels to South Africa

For information about Purolator and service updates related to Covid-19, you can access the latest details here.

Royal Mail is taking its approach seriously in connecting people via their parcel and letter delivery. And because many people may not have the option to leave their homes, they are maintaining service as usual with minor delays.

COVID-19 is impacting International Deliveries. Service to countries is changing daily, and this bulletin provides their most up-to-date information. For instance, deliveries to countries like South Korea and Lebanon have been put on suspension until further notice.

Sendle is delivering parcels without disruption within Australia and to the United States. They are experiencing other international delays, and are currently not able to ship to South Korea or Spain.

‘Signature on Delivery’ parcels will be changed to ‘Authority to Leave’ in order to reduce contact.

Effective March 26, 2020, UPS has suspended UPS service guarantees until further notice due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Shipments created during this time are not eligible for service refunds.

Avoiding Undelivered Shipments: As some businesses have reduced hours or closed, please check that your recipient is still receiving shipments. If the location is closed, UPS will hold your shipment and attempt to complete the delivery at a later date if the receiving location has indicated to UPS that it will re-open within 9 days. However, if the location is closed indefinitely, UPS will return the package to the sender.

Commitment times for UPS Next Day Air Saver® and UPS 2nd Day Air A.M.® services scheduled for delivery on or after March 30, 2020 will be extended to end-of-day until further notice.

Major Update April 17, 2020 Domestic USPS services are experiencing delays.

USPS Priority Mail and First Class Package Services will likely see their two to three-day delivery windows extended to three or four day. Priority Mail Express and Priority Mail Local 1-Day deliveries are not impacted at this time, though.

The USPS will be suspending International service to the following countries, effective Friday April 24th, 2020:
Algeria
Egypt
Montenegro
Antigua & Barbuda
Estonia
Morocco
Argentina
Ethiopia
Nicaragua
Aruba
Faroe Island
Nigeria
Azerbaijan
Ghana
Pakistan
Bahamas
Grenada
Philippines
Bahrain
Haiti
Qatar
Bangladesh
Iraq
Sierra Leone
Barbados
Israel
St. Marten
Belize
Jamaica
Suriname
Chile
Kazakhstan
Trinidad &Tobago
Burkina Faso
Liberia
Tunisia
Colombia
Mauritania
Turks & Caicos
Dominican Republic

The Postal Service is currently unable to accept items destined for affected countries at any Post Office® or postal facility location, effective April 3 until further notice.

Customers are asked to refrain from entering items addressed to any of the below countries into the USPS system. The below list of destinations are suspended as of April 10, 2020:

  1. Angola
  2. Benin
  3. Bolivia
  4. Bosnia and Herzegovina
  5. Botswana
  6. Burundi
  7. Cameroon
  8. Cayman Islands
  9. Chad
  10. Cook Islands
  11. Costa Rica
  12. Cuba
  13. Curacao
  14. Democratic Republic of the Congo
  15. Ecuador
  16. Fiji
  17. French Polynesia
  18. Gambia
  19. Guatemala
  20. Guinea Bissau
  21. Guyana
  22. Honduras
  23. India
  24. Kenya
  25. Kiribati
  26. Kuwait
  27. Kyrgyzstan
  28. Laos
  29. Lebanon
  30. Lesotho
  31. Libya
  32. Madagascar
  33. Malawi
  34. Maldives
  35. Mauritius
  36. Moldova
  37. Mongolia
  38. Mozambique
  39. Nepal
  40. Netherlands Antilles
  41. New Guinea
  42. New Caledonia
  43. Panama
  44. Papua New Guinea
  45. Paraguay
  46. Peru
  47. Republic of the Congo
  48. Rwanda
  49. Samoa
  50. Saudi Arabia
  51. Senegal
  52. Seychelles
  53. Solomon Islands
  54. South Africa
  55. Sudan
  56. Sri Lanka
  57. Tajikistan
  58. Tanzania
  59. Timor-Leste
  60. Tonga
  61. UAE
  62. Uganda
  63. Uruguay
  64. Vanuatu
  65. Venezuela
  66. Zambia
  67. Zimbabwe

Other notes of importance around these locations:

  • These service disruptions affect Priority Mail Express International® (PMEI), Priority Mail International® (PMI), First-Class Mail International® (FCMI), First-Class Package International Service® (FCPIS®), International Priority Airmail® (IPA®), International Surface Air Lift® (ISAL®), and M-Bag® items.
  • For already deposited items, other than GXG, Postal Service employees must endorse them “Mail Service Suspended — Return to Sender” and then place them in the mail stream for return.
  • For any returned item bearing a customs form, the Postal Service will, upon request, refund postage and fees on mail returned due to the suspension of service.
  • For all other returned items not bearing a customs declarations form, the Postal Service will, upon request, refund postage and fees on mail returned due to the suspension of service, or the sender may remail them with the existing postage once service has been restored. When remailing under this option, customers must cross out the markings “Mail Service Suspended — Return to Sender.”

USPS continues to have a temporary suspension of the guarantee on Priority Mail Express International destined for China and Hong Kong, which has been effective since Monday, Feb. 10, 2020, due to widespread airline cancellations and restrictions into this area.

March 28, 2020: USPS is making a change to its policy around deliverying mail to businesses that are closed. Current policy is to indicate the date the mail is first returned to be held at the delivery facility, and hold for 10 days. In order to accommodate businesses during this challenging time, USPS will now extend the hold period to 30 days before returning the items to the sender.

Once the business reopens, delivery should immediately resume unless other arrangements have been made. If the business fails to make alternative delivery arrangements or does not submit a request to hold or forward its mail after 30 days, the process of returning mail to the sender will resume.

Customers may see delays in mail and packages destined to China as well as from China, as well as to and from European countries subject to restricted passenger airline travel.

On March, 23 2020 USPS announced suspension of Priority Mail International service’s guarantee to certain European countries, which include:

  • France
    • Also, La Poste has advised that effective March 30, 2020 through April 15, 2020, it will be unable to accept inbound letter-post flows in their entirety for the upcoming weeks, during which there will be four days of reception: Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. Efforts will be focused on urgent flows and the delivery of small packets able to help people during this confinement period. Therefore, La Poste is asking mailers worldwide to defer their non-urgent shipments to France
  • Great Britain
  • Spain
  • Sweden
  • Switzerland

The following countries have suspended certain mail services:

  • Romania: CN Poșta Română SA has advised that it is currently unable to send letter-post and parcel-post items to an increasing number of countries both within and outside the European Union. Therefore, it is no longer accepting letter-post and parcel-post items for international destinations to which transport capacities are unavailable.
  • Kazakhstan: The country has declared a state of emergency until April 15, 2020 which may result in delays of inbound shipments.
  • Denmark: Post Danmark (PostNord Denmark) has suspended signature on delivery. Delivery will be conducted via methods that limit human contact, with immediate effect.
  • Grenada: Grenada Postal Corporation, has advised that the Government of Grenada has declared a limited state of emergency for 21 days effective March 25, 2020. Outbound and inbound mail delivery services and other services will be affected.
  • Nepal: Nepal Post has advised that the Government of Nepal has extended the suspension of all incoming international flights to Nepal until April 15, 2020, and the country is in lockdown until April 7, 2020. These measures are adversely affecting the collection, transmission and delivery of mail items.
  • Colombia: Servicios Postales Nacionales S.A. 4-72, has advised that, owing to the emergency resulting from the spread of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), there will be significant delays in all of its international inbound and outbound letter-post, parcel-post and EMS services.
  • Bolivia: Agencia Boliviana de Correos has advised that effective from March 22 to April 15, 2020, it is temporarily suspending all mail services.

The Postal Service will continue to accept and process mail destined for the aforementioned countries. This mail will be held within their network and will be delivered once mail service is restored.

 

Refunds for Items to International Countries Where Service has Been Suspended
Due to COVID-19, international shipping has been suspended to many countries. The list of countries with mail service interruption is updated frequently; for the most current list please visit the USPS international service-alerts page. For more information on how to request a refund, head here.

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Coronavirus: Its Impact on Ecommerce

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How to Implement an Ecommerce Shipping Strategy

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Additional Resources

North America 

Small Business Administration Preparedness Guide

CDC Interim Guidance for Businesses and Employers 

Combating the Coronavirus, US Chamber of Commerce 

Implications for Business, McKinsey & Co. 

Information for Communities, Schools, and Businesses 

OHSA Resources for Workers and Employers on COVID-19

Get Your Workplace Ready for COVID-19

Canada Public Health Services

Government of Canada Outbreak Update

United Kingdom

Guidance to Employers and Businesses About COVID-19

COVID-19 Guidance for UK Businesses

National Federation of Self Employed & Small Businesses

Coronavirus Financial Support

COVID-19 What You Need to Do

Australia 

Federal Government Health Portal

Australia Post COVID-19 Information Centre

New South Wales

Victoria

Queensland

South Australia

Tasmania

Western Australia

Northern Territory