Delivery Fuel Sur Charge???

[chopped]

Me again.. I just got a quote for delivery of an item that has to come via truck freight. I cant belive they have a 70 dollar fuel surcharge.The other company im also considering must have it built into the price or the shipping cost.As the 70 dollars defiently turns me toward the other company.
Im not sure what to do with this. Should i wait for fuel to drop? What could possibly be their motive to post this charge?:confused2:
maybs take a look at the drivers books to see the miles and the fuel consumption and only pay the 'true' cost lol:laughing::laughing:

 

[dave1949]

If the price from either company is roughly the same, it doesn't really matter to you that one breaks out the surcharge. They may just want your to realize how much fuel costs them, or some companies may use the fuel surcharge info for something in their accounting.

I don't think fuel is going to drop, it has been going the other way lately.

 

[ctlguy]

Speak with anyone that deals with trucking companies on a regular basis and you will find that fuel surcharges are just a part of shipping costs this day and age. Outfits that do not have a surcharge are probably not travelling very far so have an easier time of calculating thier costs. But for the most part it is here to stay.

 

[bcp]

A surcharge of $70 could be a lot or a little, depending on weight and distance.

Bruce

 

[brcisna]

Delivery fuel sur charge has been going on for over the road trucking companies, for 4-5 years or more by now.It is at least an honarable way for trucking companies to adjust their pricing for long hauls as diesel prices goes up and down,,,mostly up!Imagine filling a semi with 300 gallons of diesel at $5.00 versus $4.50, AKA: $1500 a pop! The $70 extra seems pretty small when you look at the big picture like this...

 

[jimrs]

The problem I see is this is a never ending surcharge. Our local trash pickup was charging a surcharge on our bill and then rolled it into the monthly charge every month. The next time gas went up they did it again. Gas went down and the price stayed the same. Next time they had a price increase they started charging gas surcharge again. Now they rolled it into our normal billing price. They are charging double what they were when this started. I know gas is a big factor in the charge but it only goes up and we are paying less for gas than we were when this started.

 

[Bluegill2]

The sur charges started a few years ago when fuel got so high. Fuel came down and sur charges stayed. Price of truck shipping varies a lot, so best to shop around.

 

[chopped]

My local gravel company started using the surcharge also.I assumed it was temp. and that they just wanted to let people realize the fuel used.One load came to the house it was 7 dollars surcharge(13 mile run one way:confused2::confused2 The next truck came and it was 13.50..and the next was also 13.50.Now the fuel certainly didnt jump in that 60 minute interval ..lol
The next couple weeks I got yet another load, and I told them I had 5 gallons of fuel in a can that Id put in the truck
smart azzz. They delivered it and there was 0.00 fuel charge.:thumbsup:
I think the trouble lays in that it is thought to be a temp thing but the fuel rarely drops so it has to be written into the overall price.
Example when I go to the food store or home depot etc. Where I live its all coming by truck.So the fuel is 'passed' on to us the consumer. Plain and simple.Its a business decision.Very similiar to ''free shipping''We are smarter to know its built into the price.
This rant mostly got started because I was pricing a particulr tractor item online. I had found that the same item could be bought via ebay with '''free shipping''' for a certain price. (just under 2000) this item was in california and im east coast.So acreoos the country ''free'' The same item was priced by a company that was within 600 miles of my house. Their price was 145 dollars less than the 2000 one priced but didnt inclue shipping. Upon getting a quote, I found that it would overall cost me close to 500 dollars more. nd this include a fuel surcharge.
So my math shows.70 dolars for 600 miles is .11666 and 3098 miles would be 361 dollars. surcharge mind you this is fuel surcharge only not even including the freight sharge..
perhaps as a customer id rather have a straight amount of what the cost is from the factory to my house without breaking it down in segment, because after all the bottom figure is all that matters to me.

 

[Ed of all trades]

Most semi rigs get between 5&6 mpg that a lot of loot Its got to come from somewhere. :2cents: