So you are saying Source One, Golf Warehouse, Printing Inc. do not have contracts? So every other year, FOR THAT ENTIRE YEAR, when these companies switch shipping you are saying its not because of a contract?
Ignorance is not a pretty thing. I don't even understand the gibberish you posted.
The contract is a tool to try and incent the customer (shipper) to ship as much volume via a carrier as possible.
The contract never includes as exclusivity clause locking in the shipper to only using one carrier (such as UPS).
The primary focus of the contract is pricing and the intrinsic value of streamlining processes.
A contract will have several tiers based on volume levels and shipping characteristics (origin - destination pairs).
The carrier will bill on a weekly basis once the manifests for the customer are run through the contract model and based on contract compliance and volume levels, the customer is priced at a discounted rate as outlined in the terms and conditions of the contract.
If the customer diverts volume to another carrier, their discounted rate is reduced on that weeks bill to the carrier.
The contract that a customer "awards" to a carrier is the end result of the customer's playing the carriers off one another leaking details of what one carrier offers to the other carriers to try and get a deeper discount rate.