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Joe Weppler / June 26, 2020

Changes to Visa fees delayed – but not for long

Visa is making changes to the rates that merchants pay to accept its card. According to a report from Bloomberg, the changes will be the biggest in a decade. Visa had planned to roll out these changes in April and October but delayed them until April 2021 in light of the coronavirus pandemic.

“The exception is the planned interchange reductions in the supermarket segment will go forward. We believe this is the right decision to ensure the long-term stability of the digital payments ecosystem,” according to the missive.

The exception Visa refers to is a reduction in transaction fees at large grocery stores and supermarkets. In other words, supermarkets will be paying less to their processor when a customer decides to pay with a Visa card — and that reduction in fees has the potential to impact the prices a customer pays for their goods. Generally speaking, processing fees are passed down the line — the higher the fee a store pays, the higher their prices are to offset the cost.

According to the document Visa sent to the banks outlining the changes, the company’s interchange rates will go up or down depending on both the type of merchant and the way a customer pays for their purchases. Examples include eCommerce sites, which are slated to see higher interchange fees, while transactions related to real estate and education are planned to decrease.

The same document stated that “Visa is adjusting its default U.S. interchange rate structure to optimize acceptance and usage and reflect the current value of Visa products.”

While these changes amount to just a few cents on each transaction, the numbers add up quickly. Processing fees have a major impact on the bottom line for most merchants — retailers, in particular, have struggled with the huge amounts they pay to their processors each year — and that number has only gone up, both due to increased fees in general and more consumers turning to cards over cash to pay for their products.

According to a Nilson report, general-purpose credit, debit and prepaid cards issued in the United States combined to generate $7.584 trillion in purchase volume in 2019 — up over 8.2% over 2018. Merchants that accepted those cards paid over $116.43 billion in processing fees. Cards with Visa, Mastercard, American Express and Discover accounted for $4.234 trillion of that volume.

While the changes proposed by Visa refer to their “published rates,” it’s important to note that banks and payment networks can negotiate deals with retailers for reduced pricing. Only time will tell if these changes will go into effect by the new planned date of April 2021, or if further changes will be made on account of the continuously evolving effects of the pandemic on the economy.

Joe Weppler / June 19, 2020

Will NAFTA’s Replacement Impact Your Small Package Shipping?

The United States, Mexico, Canada Agreement (USMCA) will soon go into effect, replacing the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) that has governed the trilateral trade bloc in North America since 1994. All three countries have now submitted the formal notification of their ratification, and the new agreement will come into force on July 1, 2020.

This is a hard transition date, meaning that shipments that arrive in the US, Mexico, or Canada on July 1 will follow USMCA regulations. So what does this mean for your small package shipping environment?

If you’re shipping packages between these three countries, USMCA regulations may require new data elements in order to clear customs and receive the appropriate duty treatment. There are several key changes that differentiate the USMCA from NAFTA. For specifics on the details, check out the links at the end of this overview.

Certificate of Origin

The USMCA does not require a specific certificate of origin document like NAFTA does. A claim for preferential tariff treatment under the USMCA requires nine minimum data elements on an invoice or separate documents that describes the originating goods with sufficient detail to enable their identification. The claim must also be accompanied by a specific statement, signed and dated by the certifier.

Minimum Value Thresholds

While the U.S. threshold remains at $800USD, there are new de minimis value thresholds for shipments into Canada and Mexico. The de minimis is the price threshold below which fewer or no taxes are charged on a shipment. These thresholds are different for both duties and taxes, so make sure you know the new rates and how they apply to your normal shipments.

Auto & Dairy

There are new economic growth and market access requirements for the automotive and dairy industries.

Under USMCA, 75% of auto content and components must be manufactured in one of the USMCA countries to attain a zero-tariff rate.

The agreement also increases market access to Canada for certain U.S. dairy products and introduces new tariff rate quotas to allow more dairy imported to Canada duty rate.

Exemptions for Low-Value Shipments

Thankfully, the USMCA provides that there is no certification of origin requirements for shipments value below $1,000 USD or its equivalent in currency as established by the importing USMCA country. A written statement certifying the goods will still be required.

For details on how the agreement might affect your shipping, you can read compliance guidelines at the U.S. Customs and Border Protection website at www.cbp.gov. The USMCA in full can be found on the Office of the United States Trade Representative’s website at www.ustr.gov.

Joe Weppler / June 12, 2020

The Effects of a Pandemic on Waste Disposal

If there’s one constant about the human race, it’s that we’re constantly generating waste. Nearly everything we touch on a daily basis comes with some sort of packaging — from our food to our clothes to our toiletries and everything in between. Nobody wants to deal with garbage themselves, so we pack it up, send it off to the waste operators, and hope we never see it again.

The coronavirus pandemic has had a tremendous impact on almost every aspect of our lives — and that pipeline that treks the trash away is no different. So how is the waste sector coping with the pandemic?

Adapting to the New Normal

Municipal waste operators had to work fast to adapt their waste management solutions to the realities of the pandemic. Residential waste volumes drastically increased with the influx of people self-quarantining in their homes. With the massive influx of household trash came the redirection of resources in order to address the situation.

Communities nationwide took different steps, some suspending yard waste collection, others pausing curbside recycling pickup. Waste collection companies shifted their workers away from the commercial routes where businesses sat empty and towards the suburbs. They also made plans for the worst case scenario — their drivers getting sick.

Even now, as communities across North America have begun re-opening their doors, concerns persist about exposure to the front-line workers. Labor unions are pushing for answers around paid leave, and social distancing rules and requirements are forcing changes around collection routes.

Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) has become even more important than ever before. All too often, industry accidents happen because employees simply don’t like wearing extra protective gear or find it uncomfortable. A renewed emphasis and enforcement on wearing proper PPE has taken hold, and waste operators are getting it wherever they can despite the shortage.

For example, take Barney Shapiro, the owner of Tenleytown Trash operating in Washington, DC, and Maryland. Shapiro has turned to the Washington National Opera’s costume department, who are sewing masks for frontline workers. He jumped at the chance for extra masks because, like the rest of the waste management industry, Shapiro knows that the health and safety of his employees directly correlates to how well the massive influx of trash gets handled.

As the re-opening phase begins, even more new challenges appear with it. Waste operators are now dealing with the impacts of the measures taken during the initial phase of the pandemic — once again forced to adapt to stabilize operations. Waste operators across the globe are coming together to make plans for the transition to a post-pandemic world, sharing best practices while also tackling the unique challenges of their own environments.

Despite the difficulties and thankless nature of their jobs, waste operators have kept us from drowning in our own trash throughout the course of one of the greatest challenges of the 21st century. So next time you see a waste disposal worker — make sure to say thanks.

Joe Weppler / June 5, 2020

Experiencing “Zoom Fatigue?” You’re not alone.

You won’t find the term in any psychology textbooks, but experts are saying that “Zoom Fatigue” is rapidly becoming a common occurrence for people working from home during the pandemic.

The term started as slang for the exhaustion people are experiencing conducting their day-to-day activities through video-calling interfaces like Google Hangouts, Skype, Microsoft Teams and the eponymous Zoom. Google searches for the term have steadily increased since early March, and psychologists say that several factors are leading to Zoom fatigue.

So why are we finding these video calls so draining? How are the current circumstances contributing to the problem? And what can we do to combat it while still maintaining the rules and habits that keep us safe?

Filling in the Gaps

In an interview with The Inquirer, Eric Zillmer, the Carl R. Pacifico professor of neuropsychology at Drexel University explained that partial blame falls on the lack of nonverbal cues in video calls.

“An amazing amount of neuronal mass is dedicated to reading people’s faces, sensing emotions, social cues, the ambience, intuition,” said Zillmer.

But on video calls, much of that information is lost — whether to fuzzy, stuttering video or simply the two-dimensional nature of a face on a screen. Without these visual social cues, our brains are working overtime in an attempt to hyper-focus on words alone.

“You have to fill in the gaps,” Zillmer said. “And that takes cognitive energy. You get tired more quickly.”

The issue is compounded when there are multiple people on a single call. Your brain struggles to understand each, which can lead to not understanding any.

Always On

It’s not just work. During the pandemic, when quarantine is the norm, video calls aren’t just about doing business. They’re how we connect — with friends and family, professors and classmates, and even church. We’re following along with our yoga instructors, participating in educational webinars, and checking in on our loved ones.

There’s a common denominator with all these calls we experience throughout the day — a little picture of ourselves in the corner. In normal day-to-day interactions, we don’t see ourselves. In video calls, our faces are omnipresent. This leads us to be hyper-aware of ourselves — from our physical appearance to our environment. Our brains magnify every perceived flaw, and we can’t escape the feeling that everyone in the call is looking directly at us.

If that isn’t mentally exhausting enough on its own, being on camera also puts us in “performance” mode. We sit up straight, we put on a big smile, we over-articulate verbally and we over-emphasize physically. Think about the last in-person conversation you had. Did you stand three feet away from them and stare at their face the entire time? No — you looked around, your peripherals taking in other people or objects. On camera, we worry that looking away makes it look like we’re not paying attention. Without those breaks in the “constant gaze,” our brains get tired.

Thankfully, there are some steps you can take to combat Zoom Fatigue. The most obvious being cut down on the number of video calls you participate in. There are a few ways to go about this:

Designated Meeting Times

You can establish times designated for “No Meetings” to give you time to refresh your brain and focus in on non-video related tasks. You could even designate a day to be specifically meeting free. If it’s conducive to how your team operates, you could do the opposite and schedule all your meetings in one day so you can keep the rest of your week Zoom-free.

Meet Only When Necessary

There’s a classic office saying that follows many meetings that don’t see much participation — “That could’ve been an email.”

Take advantage of emails and chat platforms. Text-first has the added benefit of forcing you to write down your thoughts — which will often lead you to think more critically about your ideas and even solve your problems before you hit send.

If someone is asking you for a video meeting, learn to say no if you don’t think the meeting will be valuable. Provide alternatives, ask for documents or video — a lot of the time people ask for a meeting as a default when the problem at hand could just as easily be solved with an email. If Zoom Fatigue is getting to you, don’t be afraid to say no. Your time and energy are valuable.

Play by the Rules

Sometimes, calls are unavoidable. When they are, set rules for yourself and your team and conduct your calls within them.

Create an agenda and stick to it. If your meeting is going to be long, schedule breaks. If your meeting software has the option, consider hiding the view of your camera to reduce that “performance” mode tendency. If video isn’t necessary – consider some good, old-fashioned voice communication.

Finally, if you need to have a meeting and it needs to be on video — do your best to keep it short. Go in prepared, say what needs to be said, and get out. Your brain will thank you for it.