subject: Reasons For Fuel Surcharge [print this page] People who use the courier service often for sending medical courier packages across the country will be familiar with a term called fuel surcharge in their bills. You may be wondering what qualifies your package to be billed for fuel surcharge. It is quite easy to realize when you are going to be billed extra. There are three main scenarios where your courier company will charge you extra.
The first reason for the fuel surcharge is the fluctuating prices of oil and fuel all over the world. Petroleum is a precious resource and it is getting expensive day after day. Your courier company charges you according to the operating costs incurred in completing your order. To cover for the escalating oil and gas prices, the company may levy a fuel surcharge on your order. So whenever you hear on the television that there is an increase in fuel rates, expect a fuel surcharge to be deducted on your next order.
You may also see a fuel surcharge in your bill if you change your delivery location to a nearby site. This may look odd to you as the cities may be very close. But the truth is taking a different route costs money. More manpower, more fuel and more time will be required to deliver your package those extra miles to a new destination. So remember that prices for sending packages to different states and cities may have a large discrepancy. So expect a fuel surcharge in your courier bill when you are expanding your business to a new city.
The third reason for seeing a fuel surcharge on your medical courier bill is the volume of deliveries to your destination area. If you are sending a parcel to a big metropolitan city the cost will be minimal. But if you are sending a delivery to an off the course town, the cost will be much higher. The reason for this discrepancy is simple. When a hundred people send a parcel to the same city, the cost can be divided quite economically among them. But since only a few people are sending parcels to obscure locations, you have to bear a big portion of the cost.
The good news is that there are ways to reduce the fuel surcharge on your bill. If you know in advance when you will be shipping the parcel, the company can make a plan so all parcels going to that location are sent in a single trip. This will save a lot of transportation costs and the discount will be passed on to the customers.
