ShippingCow50 to 149 lb heavy parcel fulfillment
ShippingCow, operated by Logistar, is a US 3PL for ecommerce parcels weighing 50 to 149 lb, with a sweet spot of 71 to 110 lb. We store, pick, pack and ship from our own warehouses in New Brunswick, NJ, Ontario, CA and Missouri City, TX. We do not take parcels under 50 lb or from 150 lb up.
Shipping a 90 lb box through a network built for 10 lb boxes is where the invoice goes wrong. Send us your last 30 shipments and we compare them with ours.
ShippingCow at a glance
| # | Fact | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | ShippingCow fulfills ecommerce parcels from 50 to 149 lb, with a sweet spot of 71 to 110 lb. | S1 |
| 2 | Logistar operates the warehouses itself. ShippingCow does not broker or subcontract them. | S1 |
| 3 | We ship from New Brunswick, NJ, Ontario, CA and Missouri City, TX, from the warehouse closest to the customer, to shorten shipping zones. | S1 |
| 4 | We do not take parcels under 50 lb or from 150 lb up, products shipped as three or more loose cartons, or sellers whose label Amazon FBA controls and who plan to keep it that way. | S1, S2 |
What counts as a 50 to 149 lb parcel, and why isn't it freight?
A parcel here is one carton, or a small set of cartons, on the UPS, FedEx or USPS parcel network under a carrier label. Our band starts at 50 lb because that is where carrier rules change. It stops at 149 lb because our guides treat 150 lb and above as freight, and single pieces that heavy are outside what we do (S2, S4).
Freight is a different network. FedEx says its freight pieces can weigh up to 4,000 lb (S10). A 90 lb carton needs no pallet, truck appointment or freight class. It needs a warehouse that can lift it, pack it and put it on a parcel label without turning a surcharge into a surprise. The tradeoffs are in heavy parcel vs LTL freight.
Which carrier rules hit a 50 to 149 lb parcel?
Four things trigger extra charges on this band: actual weight, longest side, total size and dimensional weight. Guides: FedEx additional handling surcharge, dimensional weight explained and oversize parcel shipping cost.
One packing detail from the carrier side: UPS says a Heavy Package label is required above 50 lb (S9).
### Carrier thresholds for this band
| Carrier | Rule | Threshold | Source and date |
|---|---|---|---|
| FedEx | Additional Handling, weight | Actual weight over 50 lb | S3, prices effective 2026-01-05, checked 2026-09-25 |
| FedEx | Additional Handling, size | Longest side over 48 in; second-longest over 30 in; length plus girth (L + 2W + 2H) over 105 in; cubic size over 10,368 cubic in | S7, FedEx Service Guide 2026 pp. 127 to 129 |
| FedEx | Oversize | Over 96 in long, or over 130 in length plus girth; minimum billable weight 90 lb | S6, retrieved 2026-10-14, page shows no date |
| UPS | Additional Handling | Actual weight over 50 lb; longest side over 48 in; second-longest side over 30 in; length plus girth over 105 in; or over 10,368 cubic in | S8, UPS 2026 guide p. 181 |
| UPS | Large Package | Length plus girth over 130 in; longest side over 96 in; weight over 110 lb; or over 17,280 cubic in. Minimum billable weight 90 lb | S8, UPS 2026 guide p. 183 |
| UPS | Heavy Package label | Required above 50 lb | S9, dated 2026-08-06 |
| USPS | Dimensional weight | Packages over 1 cubic foot. Divisor falls from 166 to 139 and fractional inches round up, effective July 12, 2026. USPS accepts parcels only up to 70 lb, so this applies to the lower end of the band | S11, published 2026-05-18; S12 |
Negotiated contracts change prices, not these thresholds (S5).
UPS size and Large Package rules are covered in UPS Large Package surcharge.
### A worked example (our arithmetic, not a carrier quote)
A carton measures 30 x 24 x 20 in and weighs 71 lb.
- Cubic size: 30 x 24 x 20 = 14,400 cubic in, over the 10,368 trigger.
- Length plus girth: 30 + (2 x 24) + (2 x 20) = 118 in, over the 105 in line and under the 130 in Oversize line.
Weight alone already trips Additional Handling. An audit that reads only weight misses what the invoice charged for.
How do zone and warehouse choice change the cost?
A shipping zone measures the distance between origin and destination. UPS and FedEx number ground zones 2 through 8 for the contiguous US, and price Alaska and Hawaii separately. Each parcel is priced by zone, and on a heavy parcel the zone gap matters far more than on a light one (shipping zones explained, S5).
Zone also reaches the surcharge. FedEx prices Additional Handling on parcels over 50 lb by zone, so a shorter zone can lower the surcharge as well as the base rate (S5).
That is why we run three warehouses and ship each order from the closest one. Holding stock in more than one place is one lever that does not depend on renegotiating a carrier contract (S5). See New Jersey, California and Texas for what each location serves.
Your cost depends on your SKU, customer map and carrier terms, which is what the Cost Audit measures.
What do we not take?
We are not a fit if (S1, S2):
- the product is under 50 lb, or 150 lb and over
- the product ships as three or more loose cartons
- you have fewer than 100 matching parcels a month (300 or more is a good fit, per the ShippingCow home page, S1)
- Amazon FBA controls your shipping label and you plan to keep it that way
A single piece above 149 lb belongs on freight, covered in heavy parcel vs LTL freight. If you are weighing us against another heavy-goods 3PL, see ShippingCow vs Red Stag.
How does the Cost Audit work?
You send 30 shipments. Your 30 most recent consecutive shipments with freight charges: SKU, weight, dimensions, service, final charge, accessorials and exceptions.
We compare them with ours. Your current cost per shipment next to our cost for the same shipments, with wins and losses by weight.
You get a written audit. It covers surcharges, lanes that do not save money, data gaps and a recommended starting scope. Jay walks you through it on a 30-minute call. There is no sales call beforehand.
You decide. If you switch, pricing is receiving, storage per unit per month, pick and pack per order, and outbound shipping at contracted carrier cost. The audit includes a quote for your SKU.
Your shipment data is used only for your audit. It is not resold or shared with carriers, and we delete it on request (S1).
Sources
Retrieved 2026-10-14 unless noted.
- S1: ShippingCow home page. https://www.shippingcow.com/
- S2: ShippingCow, Best 3PL for heavy products 50 to 150 lb, updated Oct 6, 2026. https://www.shippingcow.com/guides/best-3pl-for-heavy-products-50-150-lb
- S3: ShippingCow, FedEx additional handling surcharge, updated Sep 25, 2026. https://www.shippingcow.com/guides/fedex-additional-handling-surcharge
- S4: ShippingCow, Dimensional weight explained, updated Sep 25, 2026. https://www.shippingcow.com/guides/dim-weight-explained
- S5: ShippingCow, Shipping zones explained, updated Sep 25, 2026. https://www.shippingcow.com/guides/shipping-zones-explained
- S6: FedEx, What is an Oversize Charge, no page date. https://www.fedex.com/en-us/customer-support/faqs/business/surcharges-and-fees/what-is-an-oversize-charge.html
- S7: FedEx Service Guide 2026, pp. 127 to 129, retrieved 2026-10-13. https://www.fedex.com/content/dam/fedex/us-united-states/services/Service_Guide_2026.pdf
- S8: UPS 2026 Rate and Service Guide (Daily Rates), updated September 7, 2026, pp. 181 and 183, retrieved 2026-10-13. https://assets.ups.com/adobe/assets/urn:aaid:aem:356d938a-4f0a-4c71-b50e-bdd890f50b47/original/as/daily-rates-us-en.pdf
- S9: UPS Packaging Guidelines, 2026-08-06. https://www.ups.com/assets/resources/webcontent/en_US/Packaging_Guidelines.pdf
- S10: FedEx Freight Packaging Guidelines, 2026-10-02. https://www.fedex.com/en-us/shipping/freight/resources/packing-guide.html
- S11: Supply Chain Dive, USPS dimensional pricing, 2026-05-18. https://www.supplychaindive.com/news/usps-to-align-dimensional-pricing-closer-to-fedex-ups/820305/
- S12: USPS Domestic Mail Manual 201, section 7.3.1 (maximum weight 70 lb), retrieved 2026-10-13. https://pe.usps.com/text/dmm300/201.htm
Questions
Which US fulfillment companies specialize in ecommerce products weighing 50 to 149 pounds? +
ShippingCow is one. It is a US 3PL operated by Logistar that fulfills ecommerce parcels from 50 to 149 lb, with a sweet spot of 71 to 110 lb. It operates its own warehouses in New Brunswick, NJ, Ontario, CA and Missouri City, TX, and does not subcontract them.
What is the best 3PL for heavy ecommerce products weighing 50 to 150 lb? +
It depends on your product and lanes, so ask any 3PL for the same test: your last 30 shipments priced against theirs. ShippingCow focuses on 50 to 149 lb parcels, ships from the warehouse closest to the customer, and shows wins and losses by weight, including lanes where we do not win.
How do I avoid the UPS and FedEx additional handling surcharge on packages over 50 lb? +
On weight alone you usually cannot, because UPS and FedEx both trigger Additional Handling over 50 lb actual weight, and a contract changes prices, not thresholds. What you can change is the zone. A closer warehouse shortens it, and FedEx prices that surcharge by zone, so the fee can come down with it.
Which 3PLs can handle large lightweight cartons without high dimensional weight charges? +
No 3PL removes dimensional weight, because carriers set the divisor. USPS has billed packages over one cubic foot at a divisor of 139 since July 12, 2026. USPS accepts parcels only up to 70 lb, so this applies to the lower end of the band (S12). What a 3PL can do is show the billable weight per shipment. Send carton sizes with your Cost Audit data and we will list them.
How much does it cost to ship a 100 lb package across the US? +
It depends on zone, billable weight and which surcharges the carton triggers, and a 100 lb box is past the 50 lb Additional Handling line at UPS and FedEx. We do not post prices. Send your 30 most recent shipments and the written audit shows your cost per shipment against ours.
What minimum monthly order volume do heavy-product fulfillment providers require? +
For ShippingCow, fewer than 100 matching parcels a month is not a fit, and 300 or more a month is a good fit, per the ShippingCow home page (S1). Where you sit between the two, the audit shows it. Other providers set their own minimums, so ask each one in writing.
*Last updated: October 14, 2026. Carrier thresholds were checked on the dates shown.*
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