Archive for the ‘Fuel Surcharges’ tag
Fuel Surcharges…They’re still Here!
them trucks sure is thirsty
We tend to associate fuel surcharges with airlines but they are a very convenient concept for big business across the board. The shipping industry is a major user of the concept. Businesses get to separate the surcharges from their core pricing, and tack them on as a bait and switch at the end. Not only that, but they also tend to be very ’sticky’. Oil prices are around $45 a barrel right now, down from $147 in July, but big surcharges are still being charged all over the shop, and passed on down the supply chain, ultimately to the consumer.
I recently ordered a product online, and had to pay a “fuel surcharge” for shipping. Never seen that trick before, but it might have something to do with a surcharge trick from, say, UPS. UPS make a big hoo-hah about green vehicles, but diesel fuel is still their staple, and right now it’s a nice earner for them too. All figures are from the UPS website.
Let’s start with the good news.
UPS recently changed the fuel surcharge to its customers for ground shipping. From November 3rd through November 30, 2008, the surcharge was 8.25%, triggered, according to UPS, by an average diesel fuel price of between $3.98 and $4.05 per gallon. On December 1, 2008 the surcharge went down to 6.75%, triggered says UPS by a diesel price of between $3.50 and $3.58 per gallon.
These numbers seem a little high to you?
Well, US Energy Information Administration figures suggest UPS accidentally got its numbers wrong. Read the rest of this entry »
