This is a continuation of Shipping is Ridiculous.
Fuel Surcharges
Nowadays there is a common thread among the dedicated freight couriers mentioned: a fuel surcharge. And it’s not to be taken lightly. As if the base rates aren’t high enough, due to the high cost of crude oil, a fuel surcharge is added to all shipments, even on ground services. The amount of the surcharge is variable, even within the UPS service family and service area. The least we can ship a ground package for, for example, is $7, with $2 surcharge added. We can also ship the same package to the Midwest by air for $45, with an added surcharge of $10. Then ship that same package to California (where fuel prices are even higher) and the base rate goes up to $50 with $15 added for fuel. Yes, shipping is ridiculous! We have no control over fuel prices or what couriers add to their already substantial base rates. UPS posted a profit of $19 billion a few years ago — we suppose they don’t want to drop any of that into their gas can. Thus, customers take up the slack. We strongly suspect this is true of all the couriers. Anyone paying for their own fuel?
Are You A Doubter?
If you think we’re leading you down a primrose path so as to justify the high price of freight, think again. We invite you to call the various couriers mentioned above and ask about their rates. Pretend you have a one-pound package that you want to ship half way across the country via a next day service. Be sure to ask if there are other charges, too: pick-up, drop-off, fuel, and handling. Ask about guarantees, too. You’ll see we’re not making any of this up — it truly is a crappy situation that we’re all stuck with.
You may be tempted to mention some other competitor that is doing it more cheaply. This may be true, but people do tend to get what they pay for. These other companies may have higher individual product prices, or their guarantee may be more lip service than problem remediation. Maybe they guarantee their bugs are alive but nothing more. They may use a less reliable or longer duration shipping service. Shipping is ridiculous so something’s got to give. It has to be paid for by some method, even if the method isn’t exactly clear to you, nothing’s for free.
Online Ordering Can Help
We can offer a tiny bit of relief (actually a huge relief if you take advantage of it). If you order online from this site, we offer a fixed shipping rate. If you order one bottle of bugs or twenty of them, you will pay the same freight charge for your order. We can do this because the biggest shipping rate is applied to the first pound. Subsequent pounds are increased incrementally. We figure the larger the order the more we’ll profit, and to make shipping less painful, we’re taking the extra freight out of those profits. We didn’t post a $19 billion dollar year (not even close), but we’re still going to lengths to help lessen your pain. We all have to chip in to share the load. If the couriers won’t do this it’s their choice. Regardless, we will try and do the right thing.
Any Suggestions?
The problems, obstacles, challenges, and options revealed in this article are what we are aware of. There could be some real money-savings options out there that would lower freight while offering the level of service we all need. But we don’t know about these options yet. If you, on the other hand, have an idea or solution you’d like to share I’m sure everyone would be grateful. Please share your idea by posting it below as a comment (while comments remain open), or just use our form to contact us. We’re all ears. If you don’t have a suggestion or remedy to offer, that’s cool, we understand. It’s a vexing issue. We do hope, instead, that you’ll at least lend us your understanding.
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Kip Kussman responds:
Posted: August 1st, 2008 at 10:36 pm →
We are facing the same problem with freight costs. A customer who buys a 400.00 bamboo bed does not understand why it costs 350.00 to ship it.