Survey Shows Many Companies Are Unaware Of Full Costs of Shipping

A recent Endicia® survey of more than 500 small businesses that sell goods online reports more than one third (34 percent) of the surveyed businesses do not know if their shipping provider has instituted a fuel surcharge. 

Here is what you need to know about fuel surcharges:

• A fuel surcharge is an additional fee that is added to the base shipping charge.
• UPS, FedEx, and DHL and many regional carriers impose a fuel surcharge on all their services.
• Fuel surcharges today are an additional 8.25% on ground shipments and 28.5% on international and air shipments.
• The US Post Office does not impose a fuel surcharge.
• The fuel surcharge also applies to accessorial charges, like residential delivery, rural area charges, etc…
• Many shipping systems, like WorldShip & Clippership, require the user to configure their software to add fuel surcharges.
• Fuels surcharges can change any time, so users have to monitor what the carriers are doing and change their system in order to have accurate rates.

In order to save on your shipping costs, the best advice I can provide is to compare services and prices amongst multiple carriers and make sure that the fuel surcharge is included.