Filed under: Industry, Competitive strategy, United Parcel'B' (UPS)Officials at the Platinum Shield Association, whose members own and operate United Parcel Service (NYSE: UPS) franchises under the Mail Boxes Etc. banner, said that UPS puts higher shipping costs on its franchisees because UPS manipulates the dimensional weight system used to calculate package size and weight for shipping.Joel Wightman, a franchisee in New York quoted a recent memo the UPS Store Area Franchise Developer sent to UPS franchises, which said that UPS is altering their shipping weights of packages. Mr. Wightman warned shippers by saying, " "If you as a franchisee are being hit with substantial UPS billing adjustments for restated dimensions of your store's shipments, and you are convinced that your original dimensions are accurate ... Look carefully at ...