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UPS surcharges range from pennies per piece, on most fuel surcharges, to $12.50
each for Saturday Pick-up & Delivery. The U.S. Postal Service®, on the other hand, includes Saturday and Sunday pickup and delivery for no additional charge.
These are roughly the same surcharges that FedEx applies and at the same rates. Effective Jan. 2, 2006, FedEx reported an average increase in their Express rates of 5.5% and, with a reduction in fuel surcharges, a net average increase in Express of 3.5% (3.9% for Ground).
However, the real cost increases must also consider their surcharges, which also rose. While UPS and FedEx base rates may 'only' have gone up in January 2006 by 3.5-3.9% according to these carriers, the real cost increases are hidden in their surcharges. Some of FedEx's Surcharge Increases included a Residential Delivery Surcharge hike of 5% for Express and Ground Service and a 16.7% hike for Home Service. The Delivery Area Surcharge increased by 4.0%, from $1.25 to $1.30, for Commercial (Ground/Express) and 5.0%, from $2.00 to $2.10, for Residential (Ground/Express) deliveries.
The effect of such surcharges-often added after-the-fact by UPS and FedEx-on the price of each piece can be hard to find, calculate, or understand as they are reported by the carriers, particularly in the UPS Delivery Service Invoice. Also, given
the effects of negotiated discounts and after-the-fact surcharges, it is likely that neighboring businesses, shipping the same package to the same location pay entirely different amounts to UPS and FedEx.
With the Postal Service®, however, postage payment is transparent, with no confusing invoices including hidden fees. Shippers know, up-front, exactly what they'll pay based on weight, Class of Mail™, number of zones, and extra services. Postal fees are truly for extra services, such as Signature Confirmation™, Collect on Delivery (COD), and Return Receipt for Merchandise, which are identified and paid for up-front. In addition, Postal customers can benefit from many rate calculations that are ounce-based versus pound-based. No surcharges are tacked on after-the-fact by the
Postal Service.
Unless you are shipping with the U.S. Postal Service, parcel shippers should heed the
all-too-common warning of "Buyer Beware."
Rate Comparison Service
Window Book has been helping companies save thousands of dollars since 2003 with Rate Comparison Service. If you would like to find out how much you can save using US Postal Service, contact postalspecialist@windowbook.com. |