“So yes, base pricing plus 50 to 100 basis points of product mix is a reasonable expectation going forward, and we'll be focused on maintaining that unit cost spread to drive operating leverage.”

In context

“Brian Dykes (Chief Financial Officer): Yes. Thanks, Tom, for the question. First, I think what's really important is to think about the revenue-per-piece and cost-per-piece spread. As we transition from the first half to the second half, we are wrapping up some material pricing changes we made last year, so we will actually see both numbers come down a little. We were at 9.3% in the second quarter for revenue-per-piece in the U.S.; about half of that was fuel and about half was base pricing and mix. That will come down closer to 4 to 4.5% as we work through those impacts from last year. On a two-year stack, it still shows really strong pricing. The same dynamic happens with cost-per-piece: as we brought down the cost of the network, we expect cost-per-piece to decline as well, and we will maintain roughly a 50 to 100 basis point spread. As we roll forward, that unit cost differential to drive operating leverage is our focus heading into 2027. We will continue to have an impact from Amazon as we work through the first half of 2027 and normalize that volume, but we do expect some product mix benefit. So yes, base pricing plus 50 to 100 basis points of product mix is a reasonable expectation going forward, and we'll be focused on maintaining that unit cost spread to drive operating leverage.”