--- title: "What 1,600 Merchants Are Doing About Rising Shipping Costs" url: "https://www.shipstation.com/en-au/blog/what-1600-merchants-are-doing-about-rising-shipping-costs/" type: "post" modified: "2026-11-13T15:24:17-06:00" --- Business is good. Shipping costs are not. That’s the split in [ShipStation’s Q4 2026 Shipping Insights Report](https://www.shipstation.com/guides/shipping-insights-report-q4-2026/), which surveyed 1,600 decision-makers in September 2026 and found that 85% of merchants rate their own business as good or excellent, while 75% say their shipping costs increased this year. The survey covered US retail, manufacturing, wholesale and distribution, and transportation businesses, and the picture is consistent. Merchants feel positive about their own companies, but only 40% say the same about the economy. And the one line item dragging down confidence is the cost of getting orders out the door. Here’s the good news: 70% of merchants say shipping will matter even more to their success next year. They’re not waiting for rates to fall. They’re getting smarter about what they can control. Here are some of the highlights from [ShipStation’s Q4 2026 Shipping Insights Report.](https://www.shipstation.com/guides/shipping-insights-report-q4-2026/) The full report goes much deeper. Carrier fees are taking a bigger bite ------------------------------------- Carrier surcharges and fuel fees now sit at the top of the difficulty list. The report found that 52% of merchants cite them as a major challenge, up from 31% in the previous survey. Shipping costs overall are the biggest shipping and logistics challenge for 35% of merchants, more than double any other issue. And the pressure compounds. Nearly three in four merchants (72%) saw shipping and freight costs climb in the past three months. Only 2% saw a decrease. About 35% still spend more than 15% of total revenue on shipping, freight, and fulfillment. Here’s what stands out: merchants aren’t pulling back. More than half plan to increase their investment in shipping and freight operations, and 50% name reducing shipping and carrier costs as a top-three priority for next quarter. They’ve figured out that fulfillment drives repeat purchases and brand loyalty, so they’re spending smarter instead of spending less. **The takeaway** Rising costs don’t have to mean a shrinking shipping operation. You can’t save your way out by picking the cheapest option every time. Find the best rate for every parcel and LTL freight shipment, and keep delivery times intact. A single default carrier isn’t a strategy. It’s a habit. AI is moving from optional to essential ---------------------------------------- Much of what makes shipping expensive hides in small inefficiencies: details entered by hand, rates that vary by carrier, and data scattered across systems. Freight makes it worse. The report found that 58% of freight shippers in the previous survey ran freight through a provider disconnected from their parcel platform, so quotes, tracking, and invoices lived in separate places. This is where merchants are turning to AI. About 34% say it’s critical to growing their business. Another 43% say customer expectations are rising, and 22% struggle to find or keep staff, up from 16% last time. Put those together, and the appeal is obvious. Automation that learns how your business ships and pre-fills weights, dimensions, and carrier settings gives hours back to lean teams and prevents the mistakes manual entry invites. The report puts the gains at 35% less time to create a shipment and more than 80% less time to set up an LTL order. It also points to what’s coming: plain-language questions about where shipping spend climbed last week, box recommendations before an order is packed, and automatic audits of carrier invoices against quoted rates. **The takeaway** Manual entry costs you time and invites mistakes. Automate the repetitive work so your team can focus on the tasks that grow the business, and use clearer data to see where costs are creeping up. Merchants are going global anyway ---------------------------------- Here’s the surprise. Even with tariffs and trade policy in flux, 89% of international shippers say tariffs, trade policy shifts, or global disruptions have hurt their plans, and 49% name tariffs and trade policy as their top pain point. And yet, 66% expect their international volume to grow. About 42% plan to enter new markets, while only 19% plan to pull back. That’s more than two to one in favor of expansion. Then there’s the biggest gap in the report. About 53% of international shippers only roughly estimate landed costs before a package ships, yet 86% say a guaranteed, all-in cost for duties and taxes upfront would be extremely or very valuable. Guessing at landed costs isn’t a plan. It’s a risk you pass on to your customer, and eventually to your bottom line. **The takeaway** Cost pressure and growth aren’t mutually exclusive. Start with proven markets, calculate duties and taxes upfront, and keep customs paperwork accurate so there are no surprise fees at delivery. Three moves worth making now ----------------------------- You can’t control carrier rates or trade policy. You can control your response. The report boils it down to three moves: 1. Optimize every shipment: Compare real-time carrier rates on every parcel and LTL freight shipment instead of defaulting to a single provider. 2. Automate the busywork: Let automation handle repetitive entry so your team can focus on growth. 3. Eliminate cost surprises: Know the full cost of every international shipment before it leaves the warehouse. Start with the move that costs you the most hours. If your team is still keying in weights and dimensions by hand, automation pays off first. If international orders come with surprise fees, start with landed costs. Get the full picture --------------------- Carrier costs will keep moving. The gap between merchants who respond and merchants who wait is widening. This post covers the highlights. The Shipping Insights Report: Q4 2026 goes further, with the full survey data on shipping costs, AI, and international growth, plus charts you can share with your team. [Explore the full report](https://www.shipstation.com/guides/shipping-insights-report-q4-2026/).