We talked about energy surcharges for hotels. Well, I am selling a couple of computers on Ebay and will be shipping them via UPS and, according to their site, they are adding a fuel charge to their shipments. Here's their statement... As the price of fuel has risen dramatically over the past year, UPS has worked diligently to maintain normal pricing for customers. We have succeeded for quite some time, but the sustained high level of fuel costs now is significantly impacting our cost to serve you. We had hoped to avoid any surcharge indefinitely, but we are now forced to implement a temporary 1.25% fuel surcharge on all Air, Ground and International packages tendered to UPS on or after August 7, 2000. Billing If you have a UPS account number, the 1.25% fuel surcharge will be included on your weekly bill. If you are an occasional UPS customer, a 1.25% surcharge will be included in your shipping charges. Services Affected (U.S., Canada, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands) The surcharge will be applied to the basic transportation rates for the U.S., Canada, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. This will include Air, Ground and International shipments tendered to UPS on or after August 7. The temporary surcharge will also apply to the following charges in the U.S., Canada, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands: One-time Pickup Charges Early A.M. Charges International Extended Area Charges Remote Delivery Charges Services Not Affected The surcharge is applicable only to UPS Air, Ground and International transportation services. The temporary fuel surcharge does not apply to charges for most additional services, including: Excess Value Package Insurance; Call Tag; C.O.D.; Address Corrections; Delivery Confirmation; Hazardous Materials; Missing or Invalid Account Numbers; Proof of Delivery (P.O.D.); Saturday Delivery & Pickup; Ship Notification; Verbal Confirmation of Delivery; Weekly Service Charge (Daily Pickup Accounts). International Customers Outside the U.S., Canada, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands The temporary fuel surcharge will also apply to the basic transportation rates for all customers outside the U.S., Canada, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. ------------------ The internet is about the free exchange and sale of other people's ideas. - Futurama
This is BS... just another for the man to make a buck! Fuel surcharge... harumph... they are using this "energy crisis" as a scapegoat to charge YOU more! rH ------------------ visit: The Psychedelic Groove House of Rockets Basketball Love!
Jeff Is the following a misprint? "We had hoped to avoid any surcharge indefinitely, but we are now forced to implement a temporary 1.25% fuel surcharge on all Air, Ground and International packages tendered to UPS on or after August 7, 2000." ------------------
Nope. I copied and pasted it right from the UPS website. ------------------ The internet is about the free exchange and sale of other people's ideas. - Futurama
I look at it as the cost of business. Will UPS give us a discount when prices fall below 1.00 a gallon ? If they raise rates, I think it would be wise to not put the specific reason and just do it. ------------------ "norm, would you like to buy an indian scalp ? This deal isn't gonna make or break me Norm, so don't jerk me around." Harry Carey "Norm, if I had a mohawk scalp, I wouldn't be sitting here talking to you."
So what you're saying is that it doesn't cost them more to fly when fuel prices go up? DAMN THOSE BASTIDS!!! ------------------ NBA Draft Lottery is May 20th. Start praying now.
Off topic, but I can't resist posting it, and I don't wanna start a whole thread about it. From some pinko Salon article . . . Instead, Bush's surprising answer to California's energy crisis, as well as rising prices at gas pumps around the nation, has been to hawk his massive tax cut. Consider this zany exchange from his press conference last Friday. A reporter asked, "What would you say to American families who may pay as much as $3 at the pump this summer at the same time that oil companies in this country are experiencing and enjoying record profits?" To which Bush replied: "What I say is, I worry about the fact that hardworking people are paying high prices at the pump. It concerns me a lot. And therefore, the Congress needs to cut taxes as quickly as possible to give people money to be able to deal with this situation." Of course, passing a $1.3 trillion tax cut in order to let Americans give more money to energy companies may seem a strange form of public policy. . . . [This message has been edited by jamcracker (edited May 17, 2001).]
I was going to note essentially the same thing. Where was UPS's fuel cost rebate for consumers when gas prices were extremely low just a few years ago? ------------------ Houston Sports Board Film Dallas.com AntiBud.com
Extremely low fuel costs the last several years were a portion of the reason there was limited inflation. Due to low fuel costs, UPS may not have raised rates as much as they would have otherwise during the last several years. However, its unlikely that they'd ever LOWER rates simply because that's bad business. Businesses aren't here to benefit us, they are here to make profits for their owners and shareholders. Now that UPS is a public company (as of last year), they have an even greater responsibility in this area. ------------------ http://www.swirve.com ... more fun than a barrel full of monkeys and midgets.
Shanna, some "businesses" make it seem like they are here to benifit us. UPS could say, "look overnight delivery for 10 bucks. We're here to benefit you." But, they will always make a profit. TINSTAAFL. Look, I'm a Democrat also, and I know businesses arent here to benefit us, but I also don't believe in raping the private citizen. This UPS crap is the same as hotels charging for elctricity. Heck, if you're gonna charge more, do it. This will leave it up to the consumer to decide whether or not it's worth it to pay. There is ALWAYS a cheaper way. UPS and hotels raising costs are merely looking for the bottom line. Unfortunately, they believe stating the reasons why they are raising costs as a valid reason to do so. They think it makes sense. Well heck, my electricity bill has gone up, but have I asked for a discount from UPS or Hilton ?Pizza delivery co.'s have raised costs for years now, and I prefer not to know why.Raise your costs if you feel like it, but I could care less why. I will determine whether your business is worth it or not. ------------------ "norm, would you like to buy an indian scalp ? This deal isn't gonna make or break me Norm, so don't jerk me around." Harry Carey "Norm, if I had a mohawk scalp, I wouldn't be sitting here talking to you."
Raise your costs if you feel like it, but I could care less why. I will determine whether your business is worth it or not. If you don't care why, that's fine -- you can just ignore the information. Some people may actually want to know the reasons, though. More information is always good. In terms of the validity of the information, it is very much a true cost for them. The US Postal Service had something like $500 million in added expenses last year due to higher fuel costs. ------------------ http://www.swirve.com ... more fun than a barrel full of monkeys and midgets.
I doubt the fuel surcharge will be removed. I'm still waiting for the "temporary" sales tax increase that was enacted in the early '80s in Texas to go away (when it was passed, lawmakers referred to the tax increase as temporary, but it didn't have a built-in phase-out date, and the tax has never been lowered since then. Actually, it's gone up again a few times. It's not that I particularly mind that the tax rate is what it is. I just think it's funny when they call something temporary that clearly is not. Actually, I'm sure UPS is different. We may never see prices lower than they are now again, but I imagine they'd stop calling any price increases a fuel surcharge at that point). The point about fuel costs making inflation low thereby allowing UPS to not raise their rates as quickly doesn't address my point, though. Personally, I think that if they're going to add a fuel surcharge rather than simply building in the cost of doing business into their rates (they can even explain that they are raising rates because of increased fuel costs), they should also subtract a fuel rebate when costs are low rather than building in the costs of doing business into their pricing structure. When you have surcharges on the way up and no rebates on the way down, it makes people suspicious of your true motives. Simply from a PR view, I think they should pick one method of pricing or another, rather than trying to mix them all together. And UPS does not break out the rest of their prices to show us their costs of doing business, why should they do it in relation to fuel costs? ------------------ Houston Sports Board Film Dallas.com AntiBud.com
Simply from a PR view, I think they should pick one method of pricing or another, rather than trying to mix them all together. From a PR standpoint, I think if you can tie each rate increase to a "crisis" or other external factor, you don't look as greedy to the average customer. Basically, it's similar to the idea of giving bad news when there's lots of it elsewhere -- that way, you don't stand out. ------------------ http://www.swirve.com ... more fun than a barrel full of monkeys and midgets.
They can still say they are raising rates because of the fuel crisis without making it a surcharge. Now they've set a precedent, though. When fuel costs go back down, people will ask where the fuel rebate is (aside from taking the surcharge away). Of course, the surcharge is simply a way to mask their real financial needs. UPS has taken a bath on their investment earnings, and that's the reason they're losing money, not the price of fuel. And fuel costs actually had the smallest increase of all their expense items in the first quarter compared to last year and accounts for only 3.76 percent of their operating expenses (compared to 3.87 percent for the same period last year. So, as a percentage of total expenses, fuel costs have gone down for UPS over last year). ------------------ Houston Sports Board Film Dallas.com AntiBud.com
Also, a 1.25 percent surcharge on all domestic and international packages would add $88 million to their first quarter revenues, compared to only $9 million in increased fuel costs for the same quarter over last year. So, UPS is charging almost ten times what they need to in order to make up for increased fuel costs. Or I guess I should say "would be" since the first quarter is over, and they didn't have the surcharge then. We'll have to wait and see how the surcharge affects earnings in the current quarter. ------------------ Houston Sports Board Film Dallas.com AntiBud.com [This message has been edited by mrpaige (edited May 18, 2001).]
Understood. I just feel that this is the crutch that UPS needs to raise rates. I guess it is temporary, so maybe it will be removed when gas is cheaper. BTW, a good business is one where both sides are benefitted. ------------------ "norm, would you like to buy an indian scalp ? This deal isn't gonna make or break me Norm, so don't jerk me around." Harry Carey "Norm, if I had a mohawk scalp, I wouldn't be sitting here talking to you."
