Ongoing measurement
The parcel price index
A rate increase is usually announced as a percentage against a list price. Very few shippers pay that price, so the percentage tells them almost nothing. Once a month we take six cartons that never change, send them down five lanes that never change, and write down what the checkout would have charged. The result is one number and a table anybody can check.
Latest issue
August 2026
Basket average $26.97 at checkout, on $23.04 of carrier cost. Twenty-five of thirty prices unchanged from July to the cent; the 3 lb shoebox moved all five that did.
July 2026
Basket average $26.60 at checkout, on $22.70 of carrier cost. UPS cheapest on 16 of thirty quotes, USPS on 10, FedEx on 4.
Issues stay listed as they accumulate. A single issue is a snapshot; the point of the series is the movement between them, and with two issues that movement is now measurable: the basket average rose from $26.60 to $26.97, and one carton out of six is responsible for all of it.
The basket
| Carton | Dimensions | Weight | Stands in for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Book box | 8 x 5 x 1.5 in | 1 lb | The smallest thing worth posting |
| Shoebox | 13 x 9 x 5 in | 3 lb | The most common resale parcel there is |
| Clothing box | 16 x 12 x 8 in | 5 lb | A folded order from a small shop |
| Appliance box | 18 x 14 x 12 in | 10 lb | Where zone pricing starts to bite |
| Tool carton | 16 x 16 x 16 in | 20 lb | Dense weight in a compact cube |
| Oversized light carton | 24 x 18 x 18 in | 12 lb | Volume charged instead of weight |
Destinations: Atlanta, Chicago, Miami, Los Angeles and Seattle. Five cities spread deliberately across the zone ladder so a single lane cannot dominate the average.
For editors and reporters
One thing to be plain about before anybody quotes us. The headline price in an issue is a checkout total on our own site and our fee is inside it, so each issue also prints the carrier cost underneath and the carrier's counter price where one is published. Three numbers, kept apart, and the fee follows a formula that does not move between issues. Any change to that formula gets stated in the issue that changes it.
The figures are ours to give away and we would rather they were used than sat on. Take the table, name the month, and link the issue so a reader can see when it was measured. If a story needs the underlying quotes, the raw capture for any issue is available on request at info@smklog.com, including the services that lost and the transit windows they came with.
Questions
How often does a new issue appear?
Once a month. The basket is quoted on the same day each month and the issue goes up the same week.
What stays fixed?
The six cartons, their dimensions and weights, the Newark origin and the five destinations. Only the prices are allowed to move. If anything else ever has to change, the issue that changes it will say so on its own page.
Where do the numbers come from?
A live request to the system that prices a real order on our site, so each figure is a complete checkout amount rather than a published tariff. Nothing is modelled and nothing is carried over from a previous issue.
May a publication use these figures?
Yes, with the month named. A link back lets a reader check the date, which changes faster here than in most datasets. Reach us at info@smklog.com if you want the underlying quotes.