While surcharges seem insignificant individually, they quickly add up. Initially it looks like just a few dollars here and there, but for FedEx customers, 28% of business shipping charges are surcharges, according to a recent report by Shipware. It is critical that any business shipping packages understand which surcharges to look out for, and how Refund Logistics can help eliminate those unnecessary expenses to save your business money.
Surcharge 1: Dimensional Weight
To calculate a package’s dimensional weight, a carrier takes the volume of a package and divides it by the dimensional weight to find its billed weight. If that billed weight is heavier than the original weight of the package, the carrier will charge based off of the heavier weight, causing that shipment to cost more.
Dimensional weight charges are a sign that you are either shipping light products or you are packing your products inefficiently. While you might not be able to change the type of product you are shipping, you can always aim to increase the efficiency of your packing.
Surcharge 2: Address Correction
The address correction surcharge is applied to your invoice anytime your parcel carrier, whether UPS or FedEx, has to fix an incomplete or incorrect address. A simple human mistake by staff or a customer can cost your business more than expected when accounting for the potential volume of this incident. Even though the address change is a charged fee, it will often cause the carriers to ignore their commitment to deliver your product on time to your customers. Despite the address correction, the guarantee from your carrier still stands and should be honored. Refund Logistics makes sure that it is.
Refund Logistics automatically checks every address correction against the USPS database for accuracy. These address correction fees are often erroneous. We have those errors reversed and credited back to your account.
Surcharge 3: Residential Delivery
Refund Logistics’ software and account specialists can also help your business understand how the residential delivery surcharge is impacting your bottom line. This surcharge is applied when your parcel carrier delivers to a residential address, whether a business is located there, or the address has been rezoned for commercial use. Carriers are infamous for finding ways to tack on this fee and drive up your business’ costs, but they’re not always as expedient in ensuring your package is delivered on time or being transparent in the amount of money you’re owed.
In addition to residential deliveries and address corrections, carriers like UPS and FedEx add on other surcharges such as the delivery area, Collect on Delivery requests and Saturday pickups. Refund Logistics monitors the accuracy of these additional charges, as well.
Monitoring, identifying and correcting these extraneous fees manually is impossible. That’s why partnering with a dedicated 3rd-party partner like Refund Logistics will simultaneously free up your time, save your hard-earned money and put you in an advantageous position when negotiating with your preferred carrier.
Are you ready to start saving money and ensuring timely delivery? Contact Refund Logistics to set up your 100% contingency account and receive the refund your business deserves.